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How do I avoid photobooth when attaching photos to messages/emails?

When trying to upload a photo as an attachment to an email, or to WhatsApp, or Message, I choose 'photos' under the Media option. But half the time, it defaults to Photobooth and doesn't allow me to select the Photo library from the Photo app. Sometimes it offers me the choice of Photobooth and Photos. It's frustrating and makes no sense as it changes from day to day (without any other changes to my MacBook). I know I can select a photo and 'share' and pick the messaging/email app, but that's not always convenient (ie, in the midst of an email thread or similar). Any help much appreciated.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on May 15, 2021 5:49 AM

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Posted on May 15, 2021 7:16 AM

Photo Booth is installed as a part of the system. You can only uninstall it by modifying the system - you would need to disable the System Integrity Protection. It would not be worth it, as it is not Photo Booth that is causing the problem. The Media Browser is showing you all items, that are compatible with the application that is using the Media Browser to access photos. As the Photo Booth library is usually smaller than the Photos Library, it will be faster to be ready and appear. But it does not stop the Photos Library from appearing. Photos is just incredibly slow now to appear at all, probably because the Photos.app is no longer creating and saving Previews of the photos for the Media Browser, to save storage. So the previews need to be created over and over again.


To access my Photos Library from Apple Mail I find it quicker to use Mail's own Photo Browser instead of using "Attach". Have you tried it? After clicking the Photo Browser icon in the Toolbar in Photo, I can instantly select the Photos Library.

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May 15, 2021 7:16 AM in response to CTaylor2

Photo Booth is installed as a part of the system. You can only uninstall it by modifying the system - you would need to disable the System Integrity Protection. It would not be worth it, as it is not Photo Booth that is causing the problem. The Media Browser is showing you all items, that are compatible with the application that is using the Media Browser to access photos. As the Photo Booth library is usually smaller than the Photos Library, it will be faster to be ready and appear. But it does not stop the Photos Library from appearing. Photos is just incredibly slow now to appear at all, probably because the Photos.app is no longer creating and saving Previews of the photos for the Media Browser, to save storage. So the previews need to be created over and over again.


To access my Photos Library from Apple Mail I find it quicker to use Mail's own Photo Browser instead of using "Attach". Have you tried it? After clicking the Photo Browser icon in the Toolbar in Photo, I can instantly select the Photos Library.

May 15, 2021 6:10 AM in response to CTaylor2

Sometimes it takes just a long time for the Photos Library to become available under "Media > Photos".

How long are you waiting after going to "Media > Photos"? Occasionally it took several minutes before the Photos Library finally appeared. It seems to help to keep Photos open and running, while trying to use photos in other applications. Are you using Apple Mail or a third party app?


You can only use Photos from the Media Browser, if the application is compatible with Photos. It should work with Apple's own applications, like Mail, Pages, Keynote however. Other applications may need to be upgraded to a more compatible version.


May 15, 2021 6:33 AM in response to léonie

I guess I lose patience after about 60 seconds - it used to load almost instantly. I typically do have Photos open. I use Apple Mail, iMessage, WhatsApp. Same issue adding photos to a facebook, insta, twitter, LinkedIn post. Wondering if it's a MacOS problem? Is there a way to disable Photobooth (which I don't use anyway)? Thanks.

How do I avoid photobooth when attaching photos to messages/emails?

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