Why is this file taking up too much space on my MacBook?

sqlite files are full cross-index files for a particular purpose.

in this case, it appears to be an index of your photos. Use of this sqlite index file allows you to randomly access individual photos instantly, rather than having to read your entire photo library to do any manipulations including uploads, downloads, or sorting by any criteria.

The alternative is when you attempt to select a photo for any reason, the entire photo library file would need to be searched. Come back in an hour and it MIGHT have made enough progress to show results -- or maybe not.

A size of 6GB is not so large in the greater scheme of things, especially if your photo collection is large. For example, Xcode app takes up about 12.5 GB all by itself. iMovie takes 3.26 just for the Application. Your Mac requires over 9 GB to go from cold start to fully operational.

ming_jen wrote:

Library/Application Support/iOS Data Manager/ShowAlbum_Photos.sqlite

is taking up too much space! Hi, can anybody tell me what this file does and why it takes up so much space on my Macbook? Can I delete this file? It is currently over 6gb in file size.

[Edited by Moderator]

"taking up too much space" how much is too much...? Where exactly?

iOS is your iDevice ...are you sync Photos?

sqlite is the database on your device, you'll need to access the Photos within your Photos Library.

I would not delete this database.

Not seeing it on my Intel machine tried the following in Finder(?)

Library/Application Support/iOS Data Manager/ShowAlbum_Photos.sqlite

/Library/Application Support/iOS Data Manager/ShowAlbum_Photos.sqlite

~/Library/Application Support/iOS Data Manager/ShowAlbum_Photos.sqlite

What is the complete path...?

Looking for the path I can copy & paste into Finder>Go>Go to Folder...

ref: Photos.sqlite taking up too much space - Apple Community

ming_jen wrote:

Hi sorry, it's on my Macbook. Am running OSX10.12 btw. Full path is Users/Name/Library/Application Support/iOS Data Manager/ShowAlbum_Photos.sqlite

Size is over 6gb.

re: < ~/Library/Application Support/iOS Data Manager/ShowAlbum_Photos.sqlite >

Thanks.

I do not have access to the old OS X 10.12 Sierra —

no surprise there I could not find it running the current macOS 15.4.1

I hope it has become clear this is tied to your Photo Library. If you delete your photo library then I suspect the .sqlite database would follow.