Duplicate, confusing Photos libraries and....

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Level 1

6 points

Duplicate, confusing Photos libraries and....

I have recently installed Catalina on iMac 27 inch, late 2012. In Finder (Pictures) I see two sets of folder/files for my photographs. One is for photographs I migrated from iPhoto and subsequently added to and the other is for eBay photographs. I have two questions.

First, why are there two finder items for each library? That is two libraries each with a different icon and each with a slightly different name (one says “photoslibrary” with an S and the other says “photolibrary” without the S). And each has a different number of photographs.

Second, why is there a Merged Library and a Merged Library2? And why do they have different number of pictures in each. In other Mac usage, a 2 usually means an identical or duplicate file.

As always, thanks to the community for help and advice. BTW, I have searched the internet and have found no answers to these questions. Regards, Lyman

iMac 27″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 7, 2021 1:20 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

23,909 points

Oct 7, 2021 2:56 PM in response to lymanfrommo

So eBay Photos.migrated..... is an old iPhoto library that has been converted for the Photos app - into eBay Photos.photos library.

Check that the photos version holds what you need, and the one with migrated in the name can be safely deleted.

I can't say why you have two Merged....photoslibraries. Perhaps you have unsuccessfully tried to convert the iphoto (photolibrary) version twice.

Which library are you opening as your "normal" library?

You will need to open each of the 2 Merged......photoslibrary to see which has the pictures you need.

(To open a particular library, hold down the option key while starting photos. The resulting pane will list all of your libraries and select one to open. It will also tell you which is currently set as your system library...

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

197,071 points

Oct 8, 2021 10:36 AM in response to lymanfrommo

lymanfrommo wrote:

... I have parked the others in a folder on iCloud rather than delete them just to be safe. ...

iCloud Drive is not a save place to park Photos Libraries, The syncing may corrupt the libraries, because the internal links will not sync properly. You need to keep copies in local drives. Apple says so in "Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support":

"You can't store your library on a storage device used for Time Machine backups. And to avoid possible data loss, don't store your library on a removable storage device like an SD card or USB flash drive, or on a device shared over your network or the internet, including over a cloud-based storage service."

This is like a chameleon, as we can watch on the wayback machine. Initially, in 2014, it pointed to a document named "iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users":

https://web.archive.org/web/20150205073232/http://support.apple.com/en-us/ht201517

Then, in 2017, it pointed to "Sharing photo libraries among multiple users" https://web.archive.org/web/20180103042536/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201517

Now it is linking to "Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac" and no more mention at all about "Sharing" libraries, but the text warning about unsafe storage keeps changing. on January 28, 2019 it read "To prevent data loss, Apple doesn't recommend storing photo libraries on external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives, or drives that are shared on a network." https://web.archive.org/web/20200313204940/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201517

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Answer 3

Oct 7, 2021 1:32 PM in response to lymanfrommo

When you migrate from iPhoto to Photos the library format is updated for the new app. The old library is left in place. That is the difference between the photolibrary extension, and the photoslibrary extension.

Normally the old iPhoto library will have the name chagned to add the word "migrated" so that you know it has been updated/copied to a photos library.

It might help if you can post a screenshot of your pictures folder so we get a better idea of exactly what you are seeing.

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Answer 4

lymanfrommo Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 7, 2021 6:10 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Curiously, the "old" migrated eBay library has more photos than the photoslibrary. I will need to think about that and maybe find a way to reconcile the two of them. Not terribly important.

The Merged label initially came from merging two libraries in iPhoto years ago. Maybe there are two of them in Photos because I tried to convert iPhoto to Photos twice. Not an unreasonable speculation. The first one (i.e., the one that is not 2) is the system library and it has the larger inventory, 23,000 vs 17,000 photographs which makes sense as the system library is the default for any new photos from our phones or imports. I guess I will have to manually do a random comparison of both to make sure all of the small library is in the larger one (the system library).

I would like to particularly thank you for reassuring me about deleting the old libraries. I was hesitant to do so but will compare the contents of each to make sure and then get rid of the old libraries. You have greatly helped me solve and move forward with some confidence. Regards, Lyman

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Answer 5

Oct 7, 2021 11:34 PM in response to lymanfrommo

As a tip - if you decide you need to move/copy photos from one library to another, there is an app called powerphotos (by fat cat software) that will do that for you.

It is paid (Around $£30, but much better than the alternative, which consists of exporting from one library, and importing to the other.

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Answer 6

léonie

Level 10

197,071 points

Oct 8, 2021 12:39 AM in response to lymanfrommo

If you wait for the next system version macOS 12 Monterey, you will be able to merge the two libraries fro free. You will be able to import albums and folders directly from one library into the other. It will be the first version of Photos supporting this feature. As you wrote it is not urgent, just keep the duplicate library save, until the release of Monterey.

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Answer 7

lymanfrommo Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 8, 2021 8:41 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Yes, the late 2012 iMac tops out at Catalina. And, yes, it was Fat Cat that I used a while back to merge the libraries. I think I have confirmed that the larger library is the "best and most recent" and am using that as the real, system library. I have parked the others in a folder on iCloud rather than delete them just to be safe. When I get a new iMac I will use the new functionality in Photos to merge all of the libraries and delete duplicate images. All will be good then. Again, Tony, thank you for your generous and thoughtful help. I appreciate your taking time to guide me through the confusion. Regards, Lyman

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Answer 8

lymanfrommo Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 8, 2021 12:16 PM in response to léonie

Oh my, that could be a problem even though they are in iCloud only for safety in case of a catastrophic event. The system library is on the iMac and a backup is on a external drive (two actually). Given your good advice, it seems best to take the extra libraries (which appear to be incomplete or duplicate or partial bits of the systems library) off of iCloud and put them on an old external drive and let them ferment. Thank you for your careful look at the issues and for your very helpful Apple support references. Regards, Lyman

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