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User profile for user: agirlnamedfia
agirlnamedfia Author
User level: Level 1
12 points

iPhoto & Photos library

I recently moved my entire iPhoto library to Photos and now I have two photolibary files: one for iPhoto and one for Photos. Both are 70+ GB. My MacBook only has a 250GB hard drive and is 9 years old, I'd like to free up some disk space.


I know that for some files Photos links back to the iPhoto library so I can't just delete it, but I've checked and that doesn't always seem to be the case. Some files have been copied and those doubles are taking up a lot of space.


What's the best way to resolve things? What will happen to the file in Photos if I delete it in iPhoto? Should I go through my entire Photos library manually and transfer the files that are linked, so I can delete the iPhoto library? I'm not sure how to proceed...

MacBook Pro

Posted on May 15, 2019 11:49 PM

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User profile for user: Yer_Man
Yer_Man
User level: Level 10
164,040 points

Posted on May 16, 2019 12:07 AM

What's shared between the two libraries are the master or original files. If you delete the iPhoto Library the Masters are not deleted.


Want to be certain: back up the iPhoto Library to an external disk. Then delete it from your internal. Now thoroughly test drive Photos.app.

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User profile for user: Old Toad
Old Toad
User level: Level 10
210,895 points

May 21, 2019 11:10 AM in response to agirlnamedfia

The two libraries initially share the same data on the HD via hard links so they don't take up twice the amount of space on the hard drive. They can be copied/backed up independently.


New photos added to either library are independent of the other library.


Here's more info on hard links:

Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support
The (hard) link between Photos and iPhoto


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iPhoto & Photos library

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