How to Fix Photos App Stuck on iOS 18


If your Photos app is stuck with a message saying its optimizing the library, our guide gives you the details on what to do about it.

Many iPhone users are reporting that tapping a folder with albums causes the Photos app to freeze, making album navigation impossible. Restarting the phone doesn’t help, and reopening the app often results in a black screen before it finally loads. This is likely a bug introduced in iOS 18, but there are a few ways to get the Photos app working again. Here’s what you can do.

1. Change Region to United States

Although it might feel out of left field, users have reported that changing the device region to the United States fixes the issue for them. Now, I don’t know what goes on at the back end for this to work, but it might be worth a try.

Time needed: 1 minute

  1. Go to Settings > General.

    go-to-settings-general

  2. Tap Language & Region > Region.

    language region Select Region

  3. Select United States from the list.

2. Remove Additional Languages

Similar to the method above, removing any extra system languages has also been suggested as a potential solution.

  1. Go to Settings > General.
  2. Tap Language & Region.
    language region
  3. Tap Edit in the top right corner of the screen and use the minus icon to delete any additional languages.
    Change your iPhone language in Settings

3. Use the Albums Heading

Another temporary fix, as described on the Apple Discussion Forums, is as follows:

Open the Photos app and tap on Albums at the top; don’t select an individual album. This action brings up a new header with three options: Personal, Shared, and Activity. Once this appears, you can freely scroll through your albums without any freezing or malfunctioning. If you tap directly on an album instead of the Albums heading, the app may freeze or malfunction.
Albums iOS 18 Photos Different Albums in iOS 18 Photos

Now that you have fixed the Photos app learn how to edit photos like a pro on iOS 18 with our handy guide.

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