Importing an old iPhoto library into Photos on Catalina

I just solved this problem a week ago when I tried to open an archived iPhoto library I hadn't used in a while.

macOS Catalina cannot open iPhoto libraries and it no longer runs iPhoto Library Upgrader (the free downloadable utility from  that converts the old iPhoto format to the Photos format).

iPhoto Library Upgrader: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202358

macOS Mojave (the version previous to Catalina) CAN run iPhoto Library Upgrader. But you would need to be running Mojave to use it. If you search for Mojave in the macOS App Store you won't find it. It's still there, however.

macOS Mojave: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-mojave/id1398502828?mt=12.

You could download it and install it on another machine or run it inside a window on Catalina in a virtual machine using software like Parallels or VMWare. You could then get the iPhoto Library Upgrader and run it in Mojave on that iPhoto file, provided you know how to copy a file over from Catalina to Mojave using file sharing.

But there's another problem. When you try to install macOS Mojave, it won't run. You will get an error message because macOS installations now use security certificates that expire. And Mojave's expired in November 2019. Fortunately, the solution is simple. Turn off WiFi (and/or unplug the ethernet cable connected to your computer). While on the installation screen, go to the menu bar and launch the Terminal app. This will open a command-line window. Change the date by typing "date 0901190000" to change the system clock to a time before the certificate expired. You should then be able to run macOS Mojave setup. Had you not disconnected from the Internet in the first step, this wouldn't work because the clock updates itself over the network automatically.

Alternately, you can try to upgrade your old machine to the newest version of macOS that will run on it, run iPhoto Library Upgrader on that library, and copy the file over to your Catalina machine over the network. Then open Photos while holding down the Alt key and choose the file you copied over. It should then convert it. But if your machine is too old to upgrade, this may not work as iPhoto Library Upgrader may not run on that old of a version.

If all of this seems too daunting and complicated, I have an even simpler solution. Transfer the old iPhotos library file to someone running a recent version of macOS that is NOT Catalina. Let them convert it on their machine and transfer it back to you. You can use Dropbox or iCloud to do this, or have them come over and get on your network using file sharing.

Try repair the Library.

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.) - Be sure to download the version correct for your version of iPhoto.

This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.

Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one. 

Then try migrate the new library to Photos/

I forgot to tell you that if you want to set up Mojave inside a virtual machine on your Catalina computer, you will need the ISO file for Mojave when setting up the virtual machine.

macOS Mojave setup: https://isoriver.com/macos-mojave-10-14-download/

This link also has the DMG setup file that you can use to run on another machine to set up Mojave on that.

What version of iPhoto does the old laptop run?