Hello,
Are the photos in the photo library on my MacBook Pro M3 2023 being backed up to my Time Machine drive? I do not have icloud photos turned on, on my MacBook. If they are there can someone tell me how to find them. I do not even see the photos app in the backup list. Appreciate any help you can provide as this is getting very frustrating trying to find them. thanks.
MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, 2023)
Yes, Time Machine is backing up your photos.
Look in the backup for your Photos Library.
The Photos.app does not contain your photos. Photos is storing them in a photos library. By default you will find this library in your Pictures folder, called Photos Library.photoslibrary. To recover photos you have to restore this library with Time Machine to some folder, where you do not overwrite your current library.
See this page in the user guide: Restore a library from Time Machine in Photos on Mac – Apple Support (UK)
It is not possible to recover individual photos from the Time Machine backup of your photos library. You have to recover the complete library, then open it in Photos and retrieve the photos you want to recover.
Yes, Time Machine is backing up your photos.
Look in the backup for your Photos Library.
The Photos.app does not contain your photos. Photos is storing them in a photos library. By default you will find this library in your Pictures folder, called Photos Library.photoslibrary. To recover photos you have to restore this library with Time Machine to some folder, where you do not overwrite your current library.
See this page in the user guide: Restore a library from Time Machine in Photos on Mac – Apple Support (UK)
It is not possible to recover individual photos from the Time Machine backup of your photos library. You have to recover the complete library, then open it in Photos and retrieve the photos you want to recover.
Unfortunately, Apple has eliminated the ability of restoring a backup to a different location. So, be sure to select "Both" when you restore the library otherwise it will overwrite the newer library and you'll be left if the older one without the newer photos.
Also make sure you have enough room on your drive to temporarily handle the additional library.
Thank you, that helps very much. I appreciate you both for the help.
Finding photos on Time Machine backup
