photos library file size not reducing after photo deletes

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Level 1

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photos library file size not reducing after photo deletes

Currently using Photos on Catalina OS. PhotosLibrary was ~12Gb. Came back from a trip and imported ~500 TIFF photos for review and editing (total ~50Gb). File grew to ~62Gb. After sorting & editing and exporting the photos, I deleted ALL TIFF photos. I also emptied the "Recently Deleted" folder in Photos. This was about 2 weeks ago. Photos Library file is still ~62gb taking up valuable disk space.

BTW. I use both iCloud or TimeMachine if they have any impact on this issue.

What can I do to shrink this file back to what it should be and regain 50gb of disk space?

Thank You in advance for ANY suggestions or solutions

Lucio

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Sep 28, 2021 1:55 PM

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Answer 1

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LucioCic Author

Level 1

18 points

Sep 28, 2021 3:20 PM in response to TonyCollinet

I had done a disk utility "First Aid" scan. I would have thought that would have caught the size issue.

I copied the "62gb ?" Photos Library file to an external drive where it registered as 6.8gb only. I deleted the file on the MacBook and restored the file from the external drive and all is now good.

Now I question how many other files have this issue. Unfortunately Catalina is as far as I can go on my mid-2012 MacBook Pro Retina.

Thank You Tony for pointing me in to the "unsettling" solution.

Cheers

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Answer 2

Sep 28, 2021 2:31 PM in response to LucioCic

hi

Catalina is not good at correctly reporting the size of the library, which is actually a package (a bundle of hidden subfolders).

If you open the package (Right click and view package contents), then check the size of the subfolders - originals and resources, those two added together will tell you (close to) the true size of your library.

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Answer 3

Sep 29, 2021 6:46 AM in response to LucioCic

The library is not a file - it is a package. Files that *are* files won't have this problem.

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photos library file size not reducing after photo deletes

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