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Deleted photos library

I was deleting files off my mac for space, and I accidentally deleted my photos library. All of my photos are still in the cloud and on my phone, but I deleted the library and I don't know what to do.


Then I tried to 'open' another and create another library. And I am the main administrator on my laptop so I'm not exactly sure why I couldn't create another library.


Any advice is appreciated.

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 30, 2020 8:43 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 30, 2020 9:17 AM

Do you have enough room to house the library and all full sized originals? If so do the following:


1 - create a new library.

2 - make it the System Photos Library.

3 - enable iCloud Library in Photos iCloud preference pane.

4 - if you want all full sized originals do not enable "Optimize Mac Storage". Otherwise you'll get optimized versions of the original files when overall free space gets down to the 10% level.


It will take a while for the download to finish depending on how big your library is. Leave the MBP on, plugged in, overnight until the download is completed.


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 30, 2020 9:17 AM in response to LastKing19

Do you have enough room to house the library and all full sized originals? If so do the following:


1 - create a new library.

2 - make it the System Photos Library.

3 - enable iCloud Library in Photos iCloud preference pane.

4 - if you want all full sized originals do not enable "Optimize Mac Storage". Otherwise you'll get optimized versions of the original files when overall free space gets down to the 10% level.


It will take a while for the download to finish depending on how big your library is. Leave the MBP on, plugged in, overnight until the download is completed.


Deleted photos library

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