How can I recover my photos from iPhoto?

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How can I recover my photos from iPhoto?

How can I recover my photos from iPhoto Library? I am unable to access iPhoto after installing the Yosemite update. I bought my MacBook Pro 2012 used well over a year ago. I thought I had made all the necessary changes to switch the system from the old user to me but after installing the Yosemite update it appears that iPhoto is still under the original owners account and I no longer have the password as I thought I had made all the changes needed and got rid of them months ago. So now I'm unable to access or update iPhoto without deleting it and reinstalling it but I don't want to loose all my photos. Is there any way to access the saved photos from the iPhoto library to move them to another location? or any other work around?

I have reached out to the original owner but haven't received a response :-/. Please help!

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Nov 11, 2014 11:07 AM

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Answer 1

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léonie

Level 10

195,071 points

Nov 11, 2014 11:13 AM in response to bets813

Try to buy iPhoto again instead of updating. You should be able to buy it for free.

Delete your iPhoto application from the Applications folder, but do not empty the Trash.
Then launch the AppStore, sign in with your AppleID (in the "Store" menu).
Open the first tab of the App Store (Featured), type iPhoto into the search field.
iPhoto should be listed as "Free". Click the "Free" button to buy it.

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Answer 2

bets813 Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 11, 2014 11:47 AM in response to léonie

Doing this won't delete my existing photos from iPhoto? I figured thats i would have to repurchase iPhoto in order to use it in the future but I'm scared to do it without having my pics backed up but I don't know how to back them up without access to iPhoto. Does that make sense? I don't want to do something that will erase all my old pics from iPhoto.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

195,071 points

Nov 11, 2014 11:55 AM in response to bets813

Your photos are in your iPhoto Library, not in the iPhoto application. So deleting the application will not impact your photos.

Doing this won't delete my existing photos from iPhoto? I figured thats i would have to repurchase iPhoto in order to use it in the future but I'm scared to do it without having my pics backed up but I don't know how to back them up without access to iPhoto.

By default, your iPhoto library will be in your Pictures folder and be called "iPhoto Library.photolibrary", recognisable by the "fan of pictures" icon. To back up your photos copy the iPhoto Library to a different folder or an external drive.

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Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Nov 11, 2014 12:02 PM in response to bets813

1 - it will not delete your photos - they are in the iphoto library 9by default) and deleting the Application has no effect on them

2 - with no backup you will lose your photos due to some failure sooner or later - bad things do happen

3 - you can not backup your library while iPhoto is open - best solution is to run TimeMachine with its default settings so you always have hourly backups - for this purpose simply making a copy of the iphoto library even on the same disk is adequate since this is just a short term protection requirement

LN

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