I have photos in a folder. I recently wanted to search for an old photo. The folder would not open and it turns out it was an ALIAS. How it got that way I have no idea !! How can I get back the photos that are now in that blocked alias folder ??
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), using iPhoto
What baffles me is that the alias folder is 7.2 megs which indicates that all the photos are there !!
7.2 MB is just the size of one JPEG image in good quality. That folder cannot be holding your photos.
You can search for all photos on your mac by opening a Finder window and pressing the key combination ⌘F.
In the search window that will open, set "Kind" to "image", press '+' to add another rule, and then add a file extension rule. Set "file extension" to "jpg".
Now you will see all jpeg images somewhere on your mac. Do you see your missing photos somewhere in the list? Be careful not to move or delete any of the images. Many of them are required by the system.
The alias is a reference to the original folder with your photos. An alias can get broken, if the original folder has been deleted or moved to a different disk. Search with Spotlight for a folder with the same name as your alias. If an alias is correctly connected to the original, you can simply click it and it will open like the original folder, or press ⌘R to reveal the original folder.
Thanks leonie. I don't know what happened to the original folder. Even my backup of the photos shows it as an alias. What baffles me is that the alias folder is 7.2 megs which indicates that all the photos are there !! Even the Get Info of the ALIAS shows the original location as iPhoto but this too is the ALIAS folder.!! Going round in circles !! But still that alias folder is 7.2 meg ??!! Cmd-R just takes me to iPhoto ! Wonder where it has been buried ??!! Any more ideas ?
Hi Leonie, thank you so much for your input ! I have gone thru all your suggestions. There is no sign of the picture images I'm looking for anywhere on my Mac.
I guess somewhere along the line they have been deleted without my knowing ! I guess I'm going to have to give up trying to find them !!
Thanks !
You're welcome. I'm sorry, we could not find your photos.
Even my backup of the photos shows it as an alias.
Is it a Time Machine backup? Have you gone back in time far enough to see all versions of this folder?
How to retrieve Photos in an ALIAS folder
