chridago
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Deleting old iPhoto library after updating to Photos

Dear all,

 

in order to migrate my iPhoto library to Photos after updating to El Capitan I first had to copy the iPhoto library to an external drive due to space reasons...

I immediately deleted the iPhoto library on my macbook itself after backing it up to the external drive, but didn't get any more free harddrive space (I emptied the trash, restarted the macbook, etc.) After doing so, I migrated the library to Photos and also deleted the the iPhoto library which I copied to the external drive. Also, I deleted the iPhoto app on my macbook since some users have suggested this to be a way to finally freeing up space on the harddrive.

 

Now I'm stuck with the problem that my macbook shows not a single byte more free space on its harddrive even though there is no iPhoto nor Photos library on the harddrive itself anymore, but only on the external drive which shouldn't affect the macbook's harddrive.

 

Does anyone have any clues on how to actually free up the space on my macbook so I'll be able to copy the Photos library from the external drive back to my harddrive? I'm quiet desperate here and couldn't find anything online unfortunately :/

 

Thanks a lot in advance

chridago

MacBook, El Capitan, Phtos

Posted on Dec 10, 2015 3:42 AM

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chridago

Q: Deleting old iPhoto library after updating to Photos

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  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Dec 10, 2015 8:47 AM in response to chridago
    Level 10 (85,256 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Dec 10, 2015 8:47 AM in response to chridago

    read - Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

     

    Deleting the iPhoto library saves almost no space since the iPhoto and Photos libraries share the same originals and previews - deleting either saves almost nothing - and of course deleting the iPhoto application saves even less (not sure where you read your advice but I suggest you stop as where every it is you are gei=tting bad advice)

     

    As to saving space download and run Grand Perspective to see where you disk is being used so you can make decisions on what to do - and remember that you must always have a min of 10 GB of free space and it is best to have 10% of your drive available

     

    LN

  • by chridago,

    chridago chridago Dec 10, 2015 10:35 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2015 10:35 AM in response to LarryHN

    Thanks for the info. If deleting the whole library doesn't free up any space, could you let me know where the original/ preview files are located, so I can properly delete those and copy the Photos library from my external drive back to my macbook's drive? As to where those original/preview files are located I am obviously not able to access the package content of the iPhoto library anymore since I deleted it on my MacBook's drive. As of now I only have one Photos library on my external drive (I deleted the iPhoto library on my Macbook's drive as well as on the external drive).

     

    Besides, I indeed did download Grand Perspective and that shows me a miscellaneous used space of 87 GB (grey portion), roughly the size of my former iPhoto library.

     

    I would really appreciate some further advice! Thanks a lot in advance!

    Screenshot at Dez. 10 18-14-12.png

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Dec 10, 2015 3:50 PM in response to chridago
    Level 10 (85,256 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Dec 10, 2015 3:50 PM in response to chridago

    Do not delete the original and previews - you will destroy your Photos library and you will not have any photos

     

    to move the Photos library simply drag it to the desired location - it will copy completely including the linked files

     

    LN

  • by chridago,

    chridago chridago Dec 10, 2015 11:01 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2015 11:01 PM in response to LarryHN

    Well since I copied the entire library to my external drive I should still have all the previews and originals on that external drive if I were to delete them on my macbook's drive. The problem however is that I don't have enough space as of now to copy the library from my external drive back to my macbooks drive. So my question is, how can I either reinstate the library on my macbook based on the previews and originals which must be still located somewhere on the macintoshHD - I somehow just can't find them, but the miscellaneous used space of 87GB seems to be the remains of my former library - or how can I delete the previews etc. which I am not able to find at the moment so that I have enough space on the macintosh HD again in order to copy the functioning Photos library from my external drive back to my macbooks drive?

     

    When I try to copy it back to my macbook's drive I constantly get the error message that I don't have enough disk space to copy the library. Besides, Disk Utility says that I have 120 free GB of space on the MacintoshHD, whereas Grand Perspective tells me that I roughly have 40 GB left (the delta is again of roughly the size of my former library).

     

    Thanks in advance!

  • by chridago,

    chridago chridago Dec 10, 2015 11:36 PM in response to chridago
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2015 11:36 PM in response to chridago

    Those two did the trick:

    - sudo tmutil disablelocal

    - sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper

     

    I now have enough space to copy my library back to my macbook for whatever reason...

     

    Thanks for the help!