How to Merge Keywords in Photos for Mac

by: léonie

Last modified: May 9, 2020 2:07 AM

3 775 Last modified May 9, 2020 2:07 AM

Occasionally we need to merge two Keywords into one keyword, for example, if we have merged two libraries and now have two different keywords for the same purpose. There is no toll for this in Photos for mac.

We have to do it manually. For example, if you made a typo and have two keywords "Dog" and "dog" and want to merge them to "Dog":

Create a smart album (File > New Smart Album) with the two rules "Keyword is dog" and "Keyword is Dog" and combine them with "Match any ....". This album will contain all photos with any of the two keywords.
Open the smart album by clicking it in the sidebar.
Select all photos in the smart album with ⌘A and open the Info with ⌘i.
In the info add the keyword you want to keep to the list of keywords, for example "Dog".
Now open the Keyword Manager with ⌘K, click "Edit Keywords" and select the keyword "dog" and click the "-" button to delete this keyword from the Keyword Manager.

You will now have only the keyword "Dog", assigned to all photos.