When I am viewing a digitized film in Historical Records, some images are unavailable, gray, or fuzzy

Three kinds of image visibility errors can exist when viewing records in FamilySearch historical records:

Photo Not Available for some images on the digitized film

This problem can occur when you view image thumbnails of a collection. You try to open the image but receive a message instead that says "Photo Not Available." The problem is different from seeing "Photo Not Available" for all of the images of an entire collection.

A Photo Not Available error typically looks like this image. Please notice that most images are available, but some show the Photo Not Available message. The error does not apply when all the images show Photo Not Available.

Fuzzy or unreadable
The thumbnail image looks readable. But when you click to enlarge the image, the larger image is fuzzy or illegible.

Example of fuzzy image:

Gray image
When you click to enlarge a thumbnail image, the larger image is either replaced or partly covered by a solid gray color band.

Report problems

For these problems, please find the image in the new image viewer. If you see the same problem there, use the Feedback button.

1. Locate and copy the film number in the upper left portion of the image viewer. Notice the image number.
2. Open Explore Historical Images.
3. To the right of the blue Search button, click More Options.
4. In the Image Group Number (DGS) field, enter the film number and click Search.
5. Click the Image Group Number in the search results.
6. Navigate to the image number of concern.
7. On the left edge of the screen, find and click the Feedback button.
8. Click one of the small faces that appears.
9. Fill in and submit the form. Your report goes directly to the team that maintains our record images.

Related articles

What to do when an image is too big or too small, sideways, or hard to read
Where do I find the film number for a record image?