Q: lost my iphoto library

I was working on a newsletter and inserting photos from my I Photo library. Next thing I knew my entire I Photo library was gone. Apple Care says it is gone. Isn't there any way to retrieve it?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), iOS 6.1.3

Posted on Mar 23, 2013 5:15 AM

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Q: lost my iphoto library

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by clintonfrombirmingham,

clintonfrombirmingham Mar 23, 2013 5:18 AM in response to myronfromfl
Level 7 (30,009 points)

Mac OS X

Mar 23, 2013 5:18 AM in response to myronfromfl

Do you still have a file in your "Pictures" folder named "iPhoto Library"?

Clinton
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by myronfromfl,

myronfromfl Mar 23, 2013 5:41 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham
Level 1 (0 points)

Mar 23, 2013 5:41 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Yes, there is a file called "iPhoto Library" but it only contains the 3 photos I was working on when I lost the whole library (and I did not have my back up).
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by Eustace Mendis,

Eustace Mendis Mar 23, 2013 5:55 AM in response to myronfromfl
Level 7 (25,402 points)

Mar 23, 2013 5:55 AM in response to myronfromfl

When you open the iPhoto Library there is a list of items on the left. Have you checked all of their contents? Just click on each in turn. The left side on my computer:
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by Linc Davis,

Linc Davis Mar 23, 2013 1:39 PM in response to myronfromfl
Level 10 (208,037 points)

Applications

Mar 23, 2013 1:39 PM in response to myronfromfl

iPhoto 6 and later: Rebuilding the iPhoto library
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by myronfromfl,

myronfromfl Mar 24, 2013 5:03 AM in response to Linc Davis
Level 1 (0 points)

Mar 24, 2013 5:03 AM in response to Linc Davis

thanks, Linc Davis for that detailed help but it did not work. The only photos the library can find are those three new ones we were using for our newsletter. Any chance a system restore to a date prior to the work we did on the newsletter might work?
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by Linc Davis,

Linc Davis Mar 24, 2013 8:33 AM in response to myronfromfl
Level 10 (208,037 points)

Applications

Mar 24, 2013 8:33 AM in response to myronfromfl

Any chance a system restore to a date prior to the work we did on the newsletter might work?

I thought you didn't have a backup. If you do, just restore the iPhoto library.
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by myronfromfl,

myronfromfl Mar 24, 2013 10:24 AM in response to Linc Davis
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Mar 24, 2013 10:24 AM in response to Linc Davis

You are right--we do not have a backup now (left our external hard drive in other home). I was thinking a system restore was an option but it is probably leftover from our PC days. That was one good feature.

Thanks for responding.
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by Linc Davis,

Linc Davis Mar 24, 2013 10:39 AM in response to myronfromfl
Level 10 (208,037 points)

Applications

Mar 24, 2013 10:39 AM in response to myronfromfl

Reinstalling the OS will have no effect.
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by myronfromfl,

myronfromfl Mar 24, 2013 12:31 PM in response to Linc Davis
Level 1 (0 points)

Mar 24, 2013 12:31 PM in response to Linc Davis

Are you saying even if we use our external drive, which we used to back up the computer, will not contain those old photos? Oh, boy, if that is so. Sad for us. And we still can't figure out why our mac did not ask us if we are "sure we want to delete" or any other message saying you will lose all your photos....very weird and un-apple like. We are long time mac people but are wondering what the heck happened here and why we are so lost. (And, yes, we know we should have backed up)
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by Linc Davis,

Linc Davis Mar 24, 2013 12:59 PM in response to myronfromfl
Level 10 (208,037 points)

Applications

Mar 24, 2013 12:59 PM in response to myronfromfl

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that merely restoring system files without restoring the photos won't do any good. If you do restore the photos, you may (or may not) be OK.
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by mr_bones,

mr_bones Sep 1, 2013 10:07 AM in response to myronfromfl
Level 1 (0 points)

Sep 1, 2013 10:07 AM in response to myronfromfl

I might be late to respond this one but have you tried one of these file recovery softwares? I have used Data Resuce and it finds any file deleted. The draw back here is that it won't find the library it self. You will find all the images individually and you will need to reorganize them back into iPhoto.

I hope that helps

Cheers
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by DagoStudios,

DagoStudios Feb 25, 2014 3:20 PM in response to myronfromfl
Level 1 (0 points)

Feb 25, 2014 3:20 PM in response to myronfromfl

The same issue has happened to me. I lost an entire library and there is no way to retrieve it. I work as a professional artist and cannot afford this nonsense. Egregious defect.
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by LarryHN,

LarryHN Feb 25, 2014 3:27 PM in response to DagoStudios
Level 10 (85,648 points)

Photos for Mac

Feb 25, 2014 3:27 PM in response to DagoStudios

restore from your backup from before this problem occured

LN
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by smorris5900,

smorris5900 Apr 9, 2014 6:34 PM in response to DagoStudios
Level 1 (0 points)

Apr 9, 2014 6:34 PM in response to DagoStudios

This JUST happened to me! I am an artist as well and I lost over 40,000 images from the last few years
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