I deleted photos not knowing it would delete iPhoto, what can I do?

Hi John,

Welcome to the Support Communities!

Deleting photos from your iPhoto Library will not delete the iPhoto application, which is in another folder.

Was iPhoto installed from disc or from the Mac App Store? (Profile information above would indicate discs).

There are a couple of things you can try:

1) Check the Applications folder - that is where iPhoto should be

2) Run a spotlight search to see if the Application has been moved to another location

3) If the application is in the recycle bin, you can restore it

4) If you have a Time Machine backup, you can go back to an earlier date when the application was on your system.

I'll include a few articles with more detailed information:

Mac Basics: Spotlight

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2531?viewlocale=en_US

Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427

I hope this information helps ....

Happy Holidays!

- Judy

I would be interested in hearing of others who have experienced the same dilemma.

Best asked in the iPhoto forums. It's where the iPhoto users hang out at. 😉

Hi John,

I'm glad you had a backup of your files with Time Machine. Most computers (Mac or PC) have a Pictures folder, a Music folder, a Movies folder and a Documents folder for your personal data. These are not system files, so the decision to keep or delete is entirely up to you. That is why having a backup system like Time Machine is so important.

Cheers,

- Judy

By default iPhoto creates and saves its libraries in the Pictures folder. If you deleted the Pictures folder then you deleted the iPhoto Library that was in that folder. The Pictures folder is part of the System and shouldn't have been able to be deleted.

Unless you have a backup of your HD and can restore the Pictures folder and its contents you've lost your photos.

OT