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Léonie's Notes on Migrating an iPhoto Library from iPhoto to Photos for Mac

Hi Léonie


Re your "Notes on Migrating an iPhoto Library from iPhoto to Photos for Mac: does it make any difference if I've been using Photos alongside iPhoto on Mac? I started using Photos by mistake and carried on.


Many thanks

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Mar 20, 2022 3:07 AM

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Posted on Mar 20, 2022 3:17 AM

You mean: Notes on Migrating an iPhoto Library from iPhoto to Photos for Mac ?


If you have been using iPhoto alongside Photos, the procedure for migrating your iPhoto Library to Photos will still be the same. It will create an additional Photos Library. You can switch between libraries by double-clicking the library you want to open.

Do the migration while you are still using macOS 10.14 Mojave. It is the last system supporting iPhoto. Only this way you will be able to compare your new Photos Library to the old iPhoto Library and to fix missing metadata.




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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 20, 2022 3:17 AM in response to PFJ30

You mean: Notes on Migrating an iPhoto Library from iPhoto to Photos for Mac ?


If you have been using iPhoto alongside Photos, the procedure for migrating your iPhoto Library to Photos will still be the same. It will create an additional Photos Library. You can switch between libraries by double-clicking the library you want to open.

Do the migration while you are still using macOS 10.14 Mojave. It is the last system supporting iPhoto. Only this way you will be able to compare your new Photos Library to the old iPhoto Library and to fix missing metadata.




Mar 20, 2022 8:56 AM in response to PFJ30

It will depend on the photos in your libraries, if you want to merge them before the migration.

If the libraries are having all different photos and you do not need to use the photos together in a project like a slideshow or a book etc, you do not need to merge the libraries.

One library in Photos will be special, your System Photos Library. You can only have one System Photos Library. That is the library you can access in the Media Browser from other applications, if you want to share photos, Mail them, etc. And only the System Photos Library can sync with iCloud Photos or Shared albums.

You should merge all your Favorites and the photos you want be able to access from other applications into your System Photos Library. See: System Photo Library overview for Photos on Mac – Apple Support (UK)


Otherwise it helps to keep the Photos Library small. Smaller Libraries are easier to repair and to upgrade.

Photos is needing a lot of processing time to prepare the Photos Libraries, so the size of the library matters more than in iPhoto.




Léonie's Notes on Migrating an iPhoto Library from iPhoto to Photos for Mac

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