nina3127
Level 1 (4 points)
iLife

Q: Where is my iPhoto Library?

Where is my iPhoto Library? It is not in my Pictures folder and I cannot find the application through Finder. I found the Masters, but they are organized into what appears to be thousands of subfolders and it's confusing to look through. All I'd like to do is copy iPhoto Library onto an external hard drive so as to create space on my laptop.

MacBook Air

Posted on Jul 24, 2016 12:21 PM

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nina3127

Q: Where is my iPhoto Library?

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  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jul 24, 2016 12:25 PM in response to nina3127
    Level 10 (120,969 points)
    Apple Music
    Jul 24, 2016 12:25 PM in response to nina3127

    The iPhoto app should be in your Applications folder unless your Mac is running v10.10.3 or later. The v10.10.3 update replaced the iPhoto app with the Photos app.

     

    Or use Spotlight > Mac Basics: Spotlight helps you find what you're looking for - Apple Support

  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Jul 24, 2016 12:38 PM in response to nina3127
    Level 10 (312,035 points)
    Jul 24, 2016 12:38 PM in response to nina3127

    Navigate up from the Masters to it, or choose Utilities from the Finder's Go menu, open the Script Editor, and run:

     

    set the_string to POSIX file (do shell script "defaults read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPhoto.plist RootDirectory") as string

    if the_string starts with ":~:" then set the_string to (path to home folder as string) & items 4 thru -1 of the_string

    tell application "Finder" to reveal item the_string

     

    This will select the library in the Finder. It needs to be stored on a volume formatted as Mac OS Extended, and you should have a copy of it on at least two drives in case one of them fails.

     

    (143630)

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jul 24, 2016 1:50 PM in response to nina3127
    Level 10 (84,251 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jul 24, 2016 1:50 PM in response to nina3127

    what version of the OS and of iPhoto do you have? By default the iPhoto library is in your Pictures folder - if it is not then you have moved it and only you know where you moved it to - since you found the Masters folder look at the path to it which will include the location of the iPhoto library as the Masters f libraryolder is within the iPhoto

     

    And prior to copying it to an external drive verify that the drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)

     

    LN