iPhoto Library won't open in Photos

Question

iPhoto Library won't open in Photos

I am trying to transfer my iPhoto Library (7.1.5)from my old iMac (Snow Leopard) to Photos on my new M1 Mac (Monterey). I have transferred the iPhoto Library to the Pictures folder in the new iMac. After starting Photos while holding the Option key I select the iPhoto Library. It doesn't open, but displays a message:

The library could not be opened

The library "iPhoto Library" could not be recognised

I believe I have followed the all the advised steps. Any solutions gratefully received.

I wonder if the old iPhoto library is too old for the new Mac?

iMac 24″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Sep 11, 2022 4:22 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

léonie

Level 10

195,113 points

Sep 11, 2022 5:30 AM in response to Yer_Man

And the iPhoto Library upgrader cannot run on macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer. It needs to be done on a Mac with Mojave or older. Try to run it on your Snow Leopard Mac with OS X 10.6.8 : iPhoto Library Upgrader 1.1 (DE)

Best make a copy of the library and run the upgrader on the copy, or you will no longer be able to open the library in iPhoto7.1.2.

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Answer 2

Sep 12, 2022 8:42 PM in response to léonie

Thank you both for your helpful advice. It worked, though the conversion processes took a long time, it was a big library.

Well, I think it worked OK. I have only done spot checks, and they seem to be OK.

I will avoid getting into this situation in the future by upgrading in time.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

195,113 points

Sep 13, 2022 3:39 AM in response to Robin Helmond

Great, that you could convert the old library.

Upgrading to a newer major system version is always a bit risky and tends to break some work flows. Just be sure to convert all remaining iPhoto Libraries before you upgrade to the next system version macOS Ventura. There is no guarantee if this system will allow us to migrate iPhoto Libraries any longer at all.

Also, if your old iPhoto Libraries contain videos, check, if they need converting to a different video format, before you upgrade to a newer system version. About incompatible media in iMovie for macOS - Apple Support Official Apple Support › en-us

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Answer 4

Sep 15, 2022 11:51 PM in response to léonie

Thank you for the extra advice. I checked all my important videos, and they are all OK.

There are some in the iPhoto Library, so they need will checking. However, I would have transferred them out of iPhoto and into a proper file if they were really important, so I am not that bothered.

The link about incompatible media is really useful. I have bookmarked that one.

Thanks for your help.

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,402 points

Sep 11, 2022 4:35 AM in response to Robin Helmond

As it's that old a version you'll need to run this

iPhoto Library Upgrader 1.1 (UK)

across it first.

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iPhoto Library won't open in Photos

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