Photos.sqlite taking up too much space

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Level 1

15 points

Photos.sqlite taking up too much space

Hi,

My MacBook Pro ran out of space. I have the 256 GB model, but usually have around 150 GB is free space. I had a look at my storage and saw that "Other" was somewhere around 120 GB?! Turns out it's my Photos Library taking up most of that space. When I checked yesterday, the Photos Library was about 80 GB and today it's almost 100 GB.

I had around 7000 photos and video's in my library (using iCloud with 2 TB) and after heavy cleaning, removed about 2000 photos and video's. That didn't seem to help however, because, as I mentioned, the Photos Library keeps increasing in size somehow. My MacBook also runs into a lot of problems since this started happening (Finder restarts itself, other apps crash constantly).

Checking the files within the Photos Library, I found a file that is huge (89 GB) and it's the Photos.sqlite file. I don't know what this file does, but I don't think it's supposed to be taking up all that space. Is there a way to solve this?

Sorry for the long explanation. I hope someone can help me.

Thank you!

MacBook Pro

Posted on Oct 4, 2019 4:09 PM

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Answer 1

LACAllen

Level 8

43,754 points

Oct 5, 2019 7:08 AM in response to GlennVP

Checking the files within the Photos Library, I found a file that is huge (89 GB) and it's the Photos.sqlite file. I don't know what this file does, but I don't think it's supposed to be taking up all that space. Is there a way to solve this?

That is your Photos library database. Remove it and you have no Photos library database.

Have you restarted your Mac?

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Answer 2

GlennVP Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 5, 2019 7:43 AM in response to LACAllen

I have restarted my Mac a few times because it keeps running into problems, but it doesn't help. That file is still huge. I'm thinking the only solution will be to reset my Mac and start fresh. However, I don't intend on doing that every time Photos.sqlite decides to take up all my free space, so I'm really hoping there's another solution.

Right now, I'm unable to properly work with Adobe Photoshop or After Effects, because I don't have enough free space available.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

687,685 points

Oct 5, 2019 9:52 AM in response to GlennVP

Make a backup copy of the file and then try repairing the library.

To repair the Photos Library:

Make a backup copy of the iPhoto Library.
Hold down the key combination alt/options key and command key ⌥⌘ while double clicking the Photos icon.
Click the "Repair" button and repair the library.

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