How to find photos outside library on MacBook Air?

I am trying to locate some photos which are saved in files outside the Photo Gallery. I have seen these photos appear in multi layered system folders. i don't know how to access these files. I remember seeing these folders with very old photos when I'm airdropping a file or downloading. These folders usually have numbers and or letters as file names. They seem to be folders that automatically archive all photos, even ones that are not in my library. Can anyone help, please?

MacBook Air 13″, 12.7

Posted on Jul 29, 2024 3:17 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 29, 2024 8:06 AM

The Photos Library has pictures with filenames like this:

88B20509-DEF0-479E-939A-B68B32A84E7B.jpeg


These are unique file names that Photos uses internally for your pictures, because names like IMG_0123 probably occur many times. You're never meant to see these file names-- they're just for internal use. These pictures all appear in the Library view of Photos, but with their normal filenames. There shouldn't be any pictures with names like this that you don't see in Photos.


If this isn't what you think you've been seeing, then you can do a Finder search for the images on your computer. Here I've put a "." in the search field,

because all files have a dot in them. Then I hit the "+" box to add more filters, and I chose "Kind_is_image_jpeg" You could pick all instead of jpeg if you want less common types.


If you select a picture you can press command-space to see a "Quick Look" at the picture. At the bottom of the window you can see the path to that picture.


There are a lot of pictures on a Mac-- it could take awhile to go through them all. You can add further filters to reduce the quantity by clicking on "+" again.


Let us know if we helped or if you need (or you think that we need) some clarification...


Similar questions

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 29, 2024 8:06 AM in response to tamer444

The Photos Library has pictures with filenames like this:

88B20509-DEF0-479E-939A-B68B32A84E7B.jpeg


These are unique file names that Photos uses internally for your pictures, because names like IMG_0123 probably occur many times. You're never meant to see these file names-- they're just for internal use. These pictures all appear in the Library view of Photos, but with their normal filenames. There shouldn't be any pictures with names like this that you don't see in Photos.


If this isn't what you think you've been seeing, then you can do a Finder search for the images on your computer. Here I've put a "." in the search field,

because all files have a dot in them. Then I hit the "+" box to add more filters, and I chose "Kind_is_image_jpeg" You could pick all instead of jpeg if you want less common types.


If you select a picture you can press command-space to see a "Quick Look" at the picture. At the bottom of the window you can see the path to that picture.


There are a lot of pictures on a Mac-- it could take awhile to go through them all. You can add further filters to reduce the quantity by clicking on "+" again.


Let us know if we helped or if you need (or you think that we need) some clarification...


This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

How to find photos outside library on MacBook Air?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.