Hello @DBSA Andrew
The Photos Library.photoslibrary file appearing grayed out in Zoom's file picker is expected behavior — it is not a permissions bug in the traditional sense. A macOS Photos library is a special package/bundle, not an ordinary folder of JPG or PNG files. Apple specifically intends for applications to access its contents through the system's Photos/Media Browser picker mechanisms, not by navigating inside the library directly via Finder or a standard file dialog.
Because Zoom's Add Virtual Background dialog uses the standard macOS file browser (not Apple's Photos picker API), macOS has no reason to prompt Zoom for Photos access — which is exactly why you never see a permission request appear in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos. Zoom simply isn't invoking the API that would trigger that prompt.
Your ability to select photos from a networked PC's hard drive actually confirms the diagnosis: Zoom's file picker can open ordinary image files just fine. The Photos Library isn't a directory of ordinary selectable image files — it's a special package — so it's treated differently by the OS.
Before escalating further, try this quick test to confirm the issue is Photos-library integration (not a general file permissions problem):
- Open Photos
- Select any image → File > Export > Export 1 Photo → save to your Desktop
- In Zoom, go to Add Virtual Background and select that exported JPG/PNG
If that works, it confirms Zoom can read local Mac image files without issue, it cannot browse the Photos Library directly.
- Export photos from Photos to a regular folder on your Desktop or Documents
- Select those exported files in Zoom's Add Virtual Background dialog
Reference:
https://support.apple.com/en-my/guide/photos/pht12e7a8015/mac
https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0060387
I hope this helps and if this answers your question please make sure to mark this as a solution.
Thank you,
Jake
