Handling Lost Originals

If Mylio Photos+ cannot locate an original-quality version of a file, it will mark it as a Lost Original. This typically occurs when the original version of a file is deleted outside of Mylio Photos (for example, in macOS Finder, Windows Explorer, or a phone’s camera roll) before it has been fully synced to a Vault.

How to View Lost Originals

To check whether your Mylio Photos Library contains any Lost Originals:

1. Click the Dashboard icon in the left sidebar.
2. Select the Device Card for the device you’re currently using to view Device Details
3. Scroll down to the Lost Originals section. If there are no Lost Originals on your device, this section will not be shown.
4. Click on Lost Originals to see a list of all files that were deleted from the file system before they could be synced.

Restoring Lost Originals

Lost Originals can often be recovered, especially if they were deleted unintentionally and haven’t been permanently removed from the system.

Step 1: Check Your Trash or Recently Deleted Items

• On macOS or Windows, check the system Trash or Recycle Bin.
• On mobile devices, check the Recently Deleted album in your camera roll.
  

Restore the file by:

• Right-clicking (desktop) and selecting Put Back.
• Tapping Recover (mobile).
  

Step 2: Check a System Backup

If the trash has been emptied, you may still be able to restore the file using a system backup such as:

• Time Machine (macOS)
• Backblaze, Carbonite, or other cloud/local backup services
  

Locate the file in your backup and copy it back to its original folder location. Mylio Photos will detect the file and automatically remove it from the Lost Originals list.

Identifying Duplicate Lost Originals with Photo DeDupe

If you suspect some Lost Originals are duplicates that no longer need to be kept, you can verify this using the Photo DeDupe tool:

1. Click the Tools icon in the left sidebar and launch Photo DeDupe.
2. In the QuickFilters section, scroll to the bottom and use the By Custom option.
3. Enter: lostoriginals:true
4. Set the Scan Scope to Entire Library.
5. Review the results. if there are duplicate sets where one version is a Lost Original, you can use the Auto-Mark tool to select the Lost Originals and delete them.

This method helps streamline your library while ensuring you retain at least one copy of each image.

Removing Lost Originals

If the file marked as a Lost Original is no longer needed or was deleted intentionally, you can safely remove it from your library.

To delete Lost Originals:

1. Navigate to the Lost Originals section (see steps above).
2. Select the file(s) you want to remove.
3. Right-click your selection or tap the kebab icon in the right sidebar to access the Actions menu.
4. Choose Photo > Delete File(s) to permanently remove them from your Mylio Photos Library and file system.

*TIP: You can also delete files by clicking or tapping the trash can icon in the right sidebar or pressing the delete key on the keyboard.