Network error when I try to use Clean Up feature in Photos app

Hi there 👋

Thanks for posting — and yes, that “Network Error” message is definitely frustrating when you’re just trying to tidy things up quickly.

The Clean Up tool in Apple Photos relies on background AI processing, and in some cases, these features are downloaded on demand from Apple’s servers. Even with a good internet connection, you may still hit temporary availability delays — especially if the servers are busy, the feature is rolling out regionally, or there’s a caching issue.

If it only works after a few hours, it likely means the AI model or its assets didn’t fully load right away. While Apple hasn’t published exact reasons, here are a few things that might help improve reliability:

• Keep your Mac plugged in and idle for a bit. macOS often prioritises downloading heavy on-device AI components when the system is not in active use.
• Disable VPNs or firewalls temporarily that might be interfering with Apple’s background services.
• Check for macOS updates. If you’re on macOS 15.5, you’re up to date for now — but when a point release lands, it might improve Clean Up’s reliability.
• Try using Clean Up on smaller batches of images, rather than launching it across a large group at once.

And yes — the delay is annoying when you need it right now. You’re not imagining it — this tool doesn’t behave like a typical offline Photos feature yet. Hopefully Apple improves how it pre-loads and caches Clean Up in future versions.

Let me know if the issue becomes more frequent or if it disappears with a new update.

Been happening now for 2 days now . frustrating.

Update: Ah, latest Photos update requires Apple Intelligence to be turned on in system settings. Used to work with that off.

Better error message like "Apple Intelligence must be enabled for this feature" would be good.

Real Probs with the Clean Up tool as well. For context my Apple Intelligence is on and VPN/Firewall disabling & rebooting makes no difference. I'm on the latest software on an M2 chip with lots of storage capacity & my network is super fast and stable. Lagging during "cleaning up" process which can run to minutes or just hangs forever. Also get frequent "Network Error. Clean Up Tool Could Not be Loaded" notice which blocks the whole process with no indication of when it'll be fixed other than "Try Later" (10 minutes or 10 weeks - which one?) Is there any real fix to this other than putting up with it or switching to 3rd party software.