Features

Photo Export is a focused macOS app for exporting and tracking Apple Photos backups. These are the core capabilities available today.

Library browsing

• Year/month sidebar navigation with asset counts
• Export status indicators at both year and month level (not started, in progress with percentage, fully exported with checkmark)
• Fast thumbnail grid with in-memory caching
• Full-size preview for any selected photo or video
• Detail panel showing original filename, creation date, dimensions, file size, media type, and export status

Export

• One-click export for a single month, a year, or the entire library
• Only copies assets that haven’t been exported yet
• Automatic folder creation in <year>/<month>/ structure
• Handles both images and videos
• Real-time progress tracking in the toolbar (count and current filename)

Export destination

• Standard macOS folder picker for selecting the export root
• Works with local folders, external drives, or mounted network volumes
• Selection persists across app launches via security-scoped bookmarks
• Drive status indicator in the toolbar (connected/disconnected)

Tracking and resume

• Every exported asset is tracked by its Photos library identifier
• Per-destination tracking — switching destinations reconfigures automatically
• Resume-safe: interrupted exports pick up where they left off without re-copying
• Sidebar badges update as exports complete

Queue controls

• Pause and resume the export queue at any time
• Cancel and clear the entire batch
• Queue progress visible in the toolbar

Existing backup import

• Rebuild local export state from an existing backup folder via File → Import Existing Backup… (Cmd+Shift+I)
• Four-stage process: scan backup folder, read Photos library, match files, rebuild state
• Shows a detailed report with matched, ambiguous, and unmatched file counts
• Continue exporting on a fresh install without re-copying known assets

Error handling

• Graceful handling when Photos library access is denied or limited
• Export folder unavailable or write-protected detection
• Individual asset failures are skipped and recorded — the batch continues
• Failed assets are logged with error details

Current boundaries

• macOS only (15.0+)
• Export folder structure is fixed to year/month hierarchy
• Exports run sequentially (one asset at a time)