Where Is My Photo Library On Mac

The first time you start up Photos after upgrading, your Mac will copy over your photo library into the new software (if you explicitly set up more than one old iPhoto library, you’ll have to copy them over yourself). It doesn’t go back and delete the old one, though. Mar 20, 2016 The Photo Booth Image File Location in Mac OS X. If you want direct access to the photo booth image files through a directory path, for quick access with the Go To Folder command or through the command line, the files are located in the two following locations, depending on the pictures themselves: /Pictures/Photo Booth Library/Pictures/. Feb 23, 2017 Open the Finder in Mac OS and go to your home directory Go to the “Pictures” folder Locate the file named “Photos Library.photoslibrary” Right-click (or Control+Click) on “Photos Library.photoslibrary” and choose “Show Package Contents”. Make sure all the photos are there, and that everything is working before deleting the Photo library on your Mac. Remember you will need to plug in your drive (or connect to it via WiFi in order.

With the upgrade to Photos, many Mac users have been left with a duplicate iPhoto library on their Macs. Here’s how to delete iPhoto library and clear out some clutter.

Machine

iPhoto used to be the standard photo editor and photo management system on Macs, at least for the average computer user. Like it or not, however, that all changed when Apple first introduced the software, nearly a year ago. If your Mac came from Apple with Photos already installed, you don’t need to worry about old iPhoto libraries.

A Mac that was upgraded to a new version of OS X that added the Photos app, however, can end up with what look like duplicates of their photo libraries. The first time you start up Photos after upgrading, your Mac will copy over your photo library into the new software (if you explicitly set up more than one old iPhoto library, you’ll have to copy them over yourself). It doesn’t go back and delete the old one, though.

Here’s where things get a little bit confusing: you don’t actually have two copies of your photos. Thanks to the way OS X (the software that powers your Mac, like Windows powers a PC) works, your pictures aren’t actually stored in those libraries. Instead, they’re stored somewhere else on your hard drive, and each library has what Apple calls a “hard link” to the pictures. As a result, each library can access the photos, but store separate information about them. You can delete either library safely; only if you were to delete both libraries would you lose access to your pictures.

While having a second copy of your photo library doesn’t take up that much extra space on your computer, it can still be confusing – first of all, each library reports that it’s a certain size, which can make it difficult to figure out how much room is left on your Mac. Additionally, if you need to back things up, it can be hard to figure out where your files are.

Still with us? Let’s recap:

  • if you upgrade your Mac from iPhoto to Photos, you’ll get a second photo library
  • if you had multiple iPhoto libraries (you would know if you did), you’ll need to copy them into Photos manually
  • the libraries each link to a single copy of your photos, rather than storing each photo twice
  • it can appear that your libraries are taking up more space than they are, thanks to the way hard links work
  • you can safely delete either photo library – only if you delete both of them will you lose access to your photos

How to delete iPhoto library on your Mac

Now that you understand why you might want to delete an old iPhoto library, and why you don’t necessarily have to, let’s talk about how to actually do it.

Before you do anything like this on your Mac – that is, delete something potentially important – you should back up your software with something like Time Machine.

Read: How to Backup Your Mac with Time Machine

That way, if you accidentally delete something important, or something else goes wrong, you can always roll things back to how they were when you started. This is really easy, and there’s nothing to be concerned about; it’s just good practice to back things up (and keep them backed up) before you muck about in your computer.

First, you’ll need to open a Finder window: you can do this by clicking on the Finder icon (it looks like a square face) on the dock, or by clicking on your Mac’s desktop background and hitting ⌘+N (Command + N) on your keyboard.

Next, look at the left-hand column in the new window. You’ll see a list of locations around your Mac; find the one that says Pictures and click on it. You’ll be taken to that directory, which contains libraries for Apple’s image-related apps (Photos, iPhoto, Photo Booth, etc).

In the list of files on the right, scroll down and look for your iPhoto library – it’ll be a little iPhoto icon, and the name will read, unsurprisingly, iPhoto Library. Don’t worry about accidentally deleting your Photo Booth or Photos libraries; you’ll be able to see which one is which.

To actually delete the library, you can do one of three things:

  1. Click on the iPhoto Library listing, and without letting go of your mouse or trackpad button, drag it until it’s over top the Trash icon on your dock. Once you’re on top of the Trash, let go.
  2. You can select (click on) the iPhoto Library, then right-click on your mouse or Trackpad (Apple will call this Secondary Click in your Mouse or Trackpad settings). A new menu will pop up; find the entry that says Move to Trash and click on it.
  3. Finally, you can also delete your iPhoto Library by clicking on it and hitting ⌘+Delete (Command + Delete) on your keyboard.

Read: How to uninstall apps on Mac OS X

Now that you’ve gotten rid of your iPhoto library, it makes sense to completely uninstall iPhoto – that way you won’t accidentally create a new iPhoto Library and have to repeat all these steps. It’s as simple as opening up your Applications folder, and deleting iPhoto (using one of the three steps we just discussed). For a more in-depth look at how to uninstall apps on your Mac, be sure to check out our guide above!

Where Is My Photo Library On Mac

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Wondering, “Where does iPhoto store photos?” Well, in this post, you will get to know about the location where it stores your photos, and how find photos on Mac.

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Without any doubts, iPhoto is a useful picture management application by Apple. The app was present in a Mac computer, but it replaced with Photos application in 2015. However, whenever users import photos into iPhoto, the app makes copies of their photos and leaves original files somewhere else where users can’t access easily.

No matter for what reasons you want to know the location where iPhoto stores original pictures whether for backup purpose or to transfer them into another application, you can refer to this guide. Here, we are going to show you where iPhoto stores photos in detail. Also, you will get to learn on how to find photos on Mac computer.

Part 1: Where Does iPhoto Store Photos

So, let’s begin: iPhoto stores your pictures copies in a special folder known as “iPhoto Library”. You can locate in your Mac Home folder and then, Pictures folder. Here are the detailed steps to find the location where iPhoto stores photos:

Step 1 To begin the process, go to the “Finder” in your Mac computer and after that, navigate to your Home directory.

Step 2 Thereafter, if you log-in to your Mac computer with the name “Alex”, the full path to the folder “iPhoto Library” would be Mac HD > Users > Alex > Pictures > iPhoto Library. And right-click on the folder, and then, choose the “Show Package Contents” option.

Where Does iPhoto Store Photos

Step 3 When you reach your iPhoto Library folder, you will see a set of files and folders organised with numbers. All these numbers you see are the originals files creation dates. Look at the below figure to understand.

However, if you are now using an iPhoto newer version known as Photos, then you can locate the photos in a similar way as described above. But, you have to locate the “Photo Library” folder instead of “iPhoto Library” folder. And then, tap on “Masters” to view your pictures set in folders by date.

Part 2: How to Find Photos on Mac and Transfer Photos to Mac

Where Is My Icloud Photo Library On Mac

No doubt, iPhoto or Photo application allows you to view pictures on Mac. But, what if you want to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac? Don’t worry as AnyTrans for iOS is here for you. It is mainly designed for iOS data management and transfer. With the help of it, you can manage your iPhone files including photos on Mac easily. Here are its main features and advantages on photos management:

  • Transfer any type of photos: With the help of it, you can move photos in Photo Stream, Camera Roll, Photo Library, Photo Share and Albums from your iPhone to Mac.
  • Support selective transfer: It allows you to move all photos in one go or only selected photos to your Mac.
  • Multi-directional transfer: It allows you to migrate files from computer to iPhone also, and there will be no data and quality loss during transfer.
  • Supports all data types: No matter whether you want to move photos, audios, videos, apps, contacts, or any other data type from your iPhone to Mac, it can do it with ease.

Now, Free Download AnyTrans for iOS on your computer, and then follow the step-by-step guide to view and transfer photos from iPhone to Mac effortlessly.

Free Download * 100% Clean & Safe

Step 1: Connect your iPhone and Mac.

To begin the process, launch the software on your Mac. Then, run it and connect your iPhone to a computer with the help of a digital cable. Next, move to the file category” page as shown in the figure.

Mac Where Is My Photo Library

How to Find Photo Files on Mac- Step 3

Step 2: Select photo category to transfer.

Where Is My Photo Library In Time Machine

After that, select “Photos” and then, choose a photo type you want to move to your Mac computer from iPhone. Let’s take an example of Camera Roll.

How to Find Photos on Mac with AnyTrans for iOS – Step 2

Step 3: Transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.

Here, choose the desired pictures you want to move and finally, click on the “Send to Mac button as shown in the figure.

Where Is My Photo Library On MacWhere Is My Photo Library On Mac

Mac Photos Library Location

After the process completes, you can view the transferred photos on your Mac.

How to View Photos on Mac

The Bottom Line

That’s all on how to find photo files on Mac and how to transfer them to Mac. Hopefully, this guide helps you to find the location of your iPhoto/Photo original files. However, give a try to AnyTrans for iOS software by downloading and installing it on your PC, and manage your iPhone data in a better and efficient way.

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