I recently had a data retrieval completed from my damaged MacBook Air to an external hard drive. I am trying to restore my iPhoto library from that backup. When I open Time Machine and look at the contents of the external hard drive, I do not see the iPhoto library; however, I see it when I use Finder. What do I need to do to restore the library?
Mac Pro
If you have a Time Machine backup, you should be able to restore your iPhoto Library as described here:
I recently had a data retrieval completed from my damaged MacBook Air to an external hard drive. I am trying to restore my iPhoto library from that backup. When I open Time Machine and look at the contents of the external hard drive, I do not see the iPhoto library; however, I see it when I use Finder
That looks like you're restored backup is not a Time Machine backup, but a copy of your original drive. In that case simply drag the iPhoto Library you are seeing on the disk with the restored files to your Pictures folder, using the Finder.
You may need to repair the permissions on the library and to repair the library using the First Aid Tools.
To launch the Library First Aid Tools, hold down the key combination option-command while double-clicking the iPhoto icon. In the panel select "repair permissions".
If that does not help, back up your library and use the next option "Repair database". This may take a while for a large library.
1 - this is the iPhoto fro Mac forum ad is not the best place for TimeMachine help or data recovery help - TM is supported in the forum for your OS - some helpful resources included - Apple - Support - Search - http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html -
2 - Data retrieval will not give you a TM backup - it would recover many files but not a TM backup or an iphoto library - with data recovery you would have (if you are lucky) the original photos files and would start over with a new library importing those into it - data retrieval and backing up are two totally different things
3 - If you have a valid iPhoto library on an external drive that is directly connected using FireWire, Thunderbolt or USB 2 or 3 and is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) then you can simply switch to is by launching iPhoto while holding the option key down until the select library window appears - or you can drag it to the pictures folder on your boot drive and select it using the option-launch
LN
Try the method shown in this screenshot:
Restoring iPhoto library from TM backup on hard drive
