Photos "people" feature is not working on Macbook Air

appleuser_518 wrote: … I imported pictures through cable on the photos app. The pictures imported without any issue.

I'm glad that worked. Remember going forward, though, that you can't use the Finder sync with iCloud syncing. iCloud syncs automatically and continuously.

I have photos iCloud turned off on both my iPhone and Macbook

OK-- you had mentioned iCloud storage being full in the original post. Be sure that all iCloud is off at System Settings> iCloud>See All.

Is there any way of knowing that it is actually working? Because it has been multiple days and hours that I have left my laptop on for just this reason and there is not any sign of progress.

As I had said, a couple of weeks is not unheard of. The same is true for finding Duplicates, for Object IDs, visual lookup, live text, and other such things, especially ones that require scanning the whole Library before comparisons are made. Have your iPhone and Mac finished syncing? At the bottom of the Library view, do you see this?

appleuser_518 wrote: … I do not have an iCloud+ plan, hence my photos have not synced as iCloud storage is full.

This could be important. If you have iCloud turned on (in Photos' Settings>iCloud) and you don't have enough iCloud storage, then Photos may be struggling to do anything at all. Photos may not even be able to delete pictures properly, possibly skipping the "Recently Deleted" step completely, for instance, since that requires moving files around in iCloud. So you might lose pictures just because Photos can't move things around. Until you deal with this, you should turn off iCloud on your iPhone.

However, there might be a problem with simply turning off iCloud on the Mac. If you have "Optimize Storage" turned on (check System Settings>Apple ID>iCloud) then turning off iCloud may strand some files in iCloud without their having the ability to return to your Mac. So probably our best option is to buy, even for just a month, enough iCloud storage to handle your Photos Library. It only costs maybe three bucks, and it would save lots of heartache.

How did you import pictures from your iPhone? Finder "syncing" and iCloud Photos can't both work at the same time. In addition to buying more iCloud, I would double check the Library to make sure all your pictures are where you thought they should be. I've got to say, using iCloud is so much better than using a cable to transfer pictures, that you should seriously consider sticking with iCloud. Most of the problems we see here can be traced to USB syncing or not enough storage.

Back to face ID-- that takes time, even when Photos has the room. Photos has to scan pictures for faces, objects, locations, and all sorts of intricate stuff, and every one has to get done before it can start displaying stuff. So, once you get the storage situation under control, it may still take awhile, like a couple of weeks, maybe. You were right-- scan works best when the Mac is plugged in, turned on with Photos not in the foreground, and left alone.

Let us know what's going on-- we may be able to offer more options…