A guest photo isn’t showing up
A contribution reaches the shared album when 2 things are true: it finished preparing, and you haven’t hidden it. Approval sits in front of both whenever the event reviews uploads first, which is why a full album can look empty to everyone but you.
Work down 4 checks in order: the review queue, the hidden shelf, the voice switch, then the album’s own status. Each takes seconds, and 3 of the 4 are settings you can change while the party is still running.
Where do I look first?
Open the event and pick Moderation. When an event is set to review contributions before publishing them, every upload lands there and stays invisible to guests until you decide. Your dashboard puts a number on it: 3 items are waiting for your review, guests cannot see them yet.
That is a per-event switch, not an account setting. Turn it off and everything sent afterwards publishes on its own, while what already waits still needs 1 approval from you.
- Open Moderation. Anything held for review waits there. Approve it and it lands in the album, on the live wall and in the downloads at once.
- Check the hidden shelf. Whatever you hid from the shared album collects in its own place and goes back with 1 tap.
- Read the album’s own status. A draft that was never paid for, or an album switched to private, hides every file at once rather than 1.
What does the guest see while it waits?
A count, and nothing about you. The album tells them that 2 moments are here but not in the album yet, and asks them to check back soon. It never says a host is reviewing, because choosing review is not the same as announcing it.
That wording exists because of a real album. On August 22, 2026 an album invited guests to be the first to add a photo while holding 16 uploads those same guests had already sent.
Where did the voice messages go?
They have a switch of their own. Turn it off and every voice message drops out of the shared album and out of the guest download, while photos and clips stay where they were. Your dashboard still holds all of them.
So an album missing only its audio points at that switch rather than at your guests. Turn it back on and every message is there again, in the order it arrived.
It’s been preparing for an hour
Then it is stuck, and waiting longer won’t change that. Preparation takes seconds for a photo and minutes for a long video, and there is no separate broken state to filter for: a file that cannot be prepared stays in the preparing state.
That is worth reporting rather than retrying. Send us the album name and roughly when it was sent, and we can see which state the file is in.
Can a file be turned away after it uploads?
Yes. The check reads the opening bytes of the stored file rather than its name, so a clip renamed to end in jpg is still refused, and the same pass measures the real size against the limit for its kind. A file refused there never reaches the album and leaves no broken tile behind.
Because it runs after the file lands, the guest saw a confirmation and you see nothing at all. Length is the opposite case: a clip longer than your plan allows is refused on the guest’s screen, with a message, before anything is sent.
The whole album says it’s unavailable
Then it is the event, not the file. An album goes dark for guests when the event is still a draft waiting on payment, when you switched the shared album off, or when a password stands in front of it. All 3 hide every contribution at once.
The tell is that nobody sees anything, including photos you know were approved days ago. Check the event status first, then the sharing switches, before you go hunting for 1 file.
| What you see | Where to look | Who can fix it |
|---|---|---|
| Album empty, guests uploaded | Moderation | You, with 1 approval |
| 1 file gone, rest fine | Hidden shelf | You, with 1 tap |
| Only audio gone | Voice switch | You, in album settings |
| A file preparing for hours | Nothing on your side | Write to us |
| Nobody sees anything | Event status and sharing | You, in event settings |
4 of the 5 rows are settings, not faults. Only the preparing row needs anything from our side.
Common questions
Do I have to approve every upload?
No. An event publishes contributions on its own unless you switch that event to review them first.
Can I bring a hidden contribution back?
Yes. It waits on the hidden shelf in your dashboard and returns to the album with 1 tap.
Does the live wall follow the album?
It reads the same list. Anything held, hidden or still preparing is absent from both.
Why would a file be refused after it uploaded?
Its opening bytes did not match the type it claimed, or the stored file was over the size limit for its kind.
What do you need to trace a file?
The album name and roughly when it was sent. That is enough to see the state the file is in.
When the upload itself failed
The other case: your guest saw an error, not a confirmation.
Reviewing uploads first
Where the queue comes from, and what it costs you on the night.
Hiding and deleting
The shelf things land on, and why the 2 are not the same.
Party photos from every phone
1 code on the table, 1 album by morning.
You checked all 4 and it is still gone
Write to us with the album name and roughly the hour it was sent. We will tell you which state the file is in, and whether it can come back.