Duplicates, skipped and failed files

An import sorts every file into one of four groups: added, already in your library, left out, or didn’t import. Your originals are never changed along the way.

Photos you already have

Magpie checks every file against your library. If the exact same file is already there, it isn’t stored a second time and is counted under Already in library. For most files this check happens before uploading, so it’s quick.

This works across imports and sources. If you import an Apple Photos export and later an iCloud data copy of the same library, the photos that are in both aren’t doubled up.

The details a duplicate brings still count. When a photo you already have arrives again, Magpie:

adds it to any albums the new export has it in,
adds people’s names and keywords,
marks it as a favorite if the new export says so,
fills in a title, description, date or place only where your library has none.

Nothing you’ve already set is overwritten.

Only exact copies count as duplicates. An edited version, or a smaller copy such as one Google Photos saved in reduced quality, is a different file and is imported alongside the original.

Copies inside one export

Google Takeout puts a photo in its year folder and again in every album folder it belongs to. iCloud parts can repeat files too. Before the import starts, the summary counts these under What we’ll leave out, and each photo is uploaded only once.

Files left out on purpose

The summary lists them under What we’ll leave out:

Items in the trash or recently deleted at Google or Apple.
Files that aren’t photos or videos, such as web pages, spreadsheets and system files.
Documents and zip files in a Google Drive Takeout, such as Google Docs, spreadsheets and PDFs. The import shows how many files it skipped. See Import photos from Google Drive.
Extra copies of photos that appear in more than one album. Each is uploaded once.
Metadata files with no matching photo. These describe a photo that wasn’t in what you chose. The other photos are unaffected.

Files that didn’t import

Sometimes a file doesn’t make it. It’s counted under Didn’t import and listed under Files that didn’t import with a reason:

What you see	What it means	What to do
Connection lost.	The upload was interrupted.	Click Try these again when the import finishes.
The upload link expired.	The file waited too long to start.	Click Try these again.
Storage didn’t accept the file.	The upload was refused partway.	Click Try these again.
We couldn’t read this file from the archive.	The file inside the .zip is damaged or unreadable.	Download that part again and run the import again.
A message about your storage limit	This file would take you over your plan’s storage.	Free up space or change your plan, then run the import again.
Only photos and videos can be uploaded.	The file isn’t a photo or video Magpie can keep.	Nothing; it’s skipped.
This file is empty.	The file has no content.	Check the original at the source.

Added, but we couldn’t make a preview. is a little different: the photo is in your library, but Magpie couldn’t make its preview. It appears in the list but isn’t retried.

Running the same import again is always safe. Files that already made it are skipped, and only the missing ones are uploaded.