I upgraded to big sur from mavericks and I now can't access iPhoto and I can't locate the photos that were in the mavericks iphoto

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Level 1

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I upgraded to big sur from mavericks and I now can't access iPhoto and I can't locate the photos that were in the mavericks iphoto

Hi

I upgraded to Big Sur from mavericks and in my applications folder iPhoto has been disabled - it now shows a disabled status. It does say 1.7GB application. I'm hoping my photos can be found within a folder in iPhoto.

Can someone please help tell me where I can locate them?

When I right click and go into show package contents I don't see a 'originals' or 'masters' folder - I had read somewhere that they can be found there. Attached a screen grab of what I see. I hope I haven't lost the photos.

MacBook Pro Retina

Posted on Mar 9, 2022 8:56 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,984 points

Mar 9, 2022 10:42 AM in response to pilar971

iPhoto was discontinued almost 7 years ago. It is no longer developed or sold. It was replaced by the more powerful (and free) Photos.app that comes with the OS. You can migrate to that app very simply:

Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch Photos. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and point at your iPhoto Library. It will do the rest.

The iPhoto Library is where your images reside, not the application. By default, the iPhoto Library, like the Photos one, resides in your Pictures Folder.

If you prefer not to use Photos there are several 3rd party apps that you can use. Which to choose depends on the kind of photographer you are and your budget.

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Answer 2

Mar 9, 2022 6:05 PM in response to pilar971

Launch Photos with the option key held down and choose the Photos library.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

200,669 points

Mar 9, 2022 10:58 PM in response to pilar971

If the library is greyed out, look at the filename extension. Photos will refuse to open an iPhoto library again, if it has already been migrated to Photos previously. Photos recognises this by the filename extension that has been changed from ".photolibrary" to ".migratedphotolibrary".

Select the library in the Finder and change the filename extension back to ".photolibrary". Then Photos will be able to open the iPhoto Library again, if you no longer have the Photos Library that has been created from it earlier.

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Answer 4

Mar 9, 2022 1:04 PM in response to pilar971

You should not have created a new *iPhoto* library, but a Photos one. You need to look in your pictures folder to find the iPhoto Library.

Is this a new computer?

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Answer 5

Mar 10, 2022 5:24 PM in response to pilar971

It should create a new Photos Library which should contain your images.

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Answer 6

pilar971 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 9, 2022 4:51 PM in response to Keith Barkley

I have 2 iPhoto Libraries in the pictures folder. One which was created once I upgraded. The other has a dark pink flower photo icon. When I click on get info it says 'Kind: Migrated Photo library. 26.2 MB. Version: iPhoto Library 9.5.1. When I try opening it via open it says 'The content of the iPhoto library “iPhoto Library” has already been migrated to Photos. Open Photos to view your library or use a compatible version of iPhoto to open this iPhoto library.' Photos is empty.

There is a masters folder when I go to 'show package content' but it is empty. I've been through all the folders looking for a photo.

The computer is not new.

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Answer 7

pilar971 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 9, 2022 7:32 PM in response to Keith Barkley

When I launch Photos with option key held down the Photos library doesn't appear in the list and when I select 'other library' to choose the file it is greyed out and is unselectable (in a disabled state).

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Answer 8

pilar971 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 10, 2022 3:55 PM in response to léonie

Hi Leonie,

By changing the file extension to .photolibrary I was able to open the file in Photos. Once opened it was empty and the file extension reverts back to .migratedphotolibrary. The file size says 26MB which can't be right right because I had lots of photos and videos. I don't know what could have possibly happened. It must be the original because it's dated several years back.

Did they get deleted in the upgrade? Is that possible?