watchthebat!
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Q: After updating to Photos in the Pictures folder I still have the iPhoto Library and now the Photos Library each is approximately 100GB. Can I delete the iPhoto Library if the migration has been successful? Do I still need it?

After updating to Photos in the Pictures folder I still have the iPhoto Library and now the Photos Library each is approximately 100GB. Can I delete the iPhoto Library if the migration has been successful? Do I still need it?

iMAC G5 Power PC (3.1), Mac OS X (10.5.8), Processor Speed: 2.1 GHz

Posted on Apr 13, 2015 3:51 PM

by R C-R,Solvedanswer
R C-R R C-R
Level 6 (17,700 points)
A:

You can delete the iPhoto Library, but as the article Niel mentioned explains, it won't save as much space as you think it will because the iPhoto & Photos libraries use hard links to image files on the drive. Because of that, the Finder shows both libraries as if they each used 100 GB but in reality much of that is shared.

 

Also, several high level users are recommending that for now, it is a good idea to keep both libraries (& apps) because there are some oddities & quirks in this first version of Photos that can be worked around if you have both apps & the old iPhoto library to work with.

Posted on Apr 13, 2015 4:22 PM

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Q: After updating to Photos in the Pictures folder I still have the iPhoto Library and now the Photos Library each is approximately 1 ... more

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  • by Niel,Helpful

    Niel Niel Apr 13, 2015 4:23 PM in response to watchthebat!
    Level 10 (314,589 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2015 4:23 PM in response to watchthebat!

    Most of the content is still in the iPhoto library; it shouldn't be deleted. Click here for more information.

     

    (125893)

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Apr 13, 2015 3:56 PM in response to watchthebat!
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Apr 13, 2015 3:56 PM in response to watchthebat!

    Yes you can.

  • by R C-R,Solvedanswer

    R C-R R C-R Apr 13, 2015 4:22 PM in response to watchthebat!
    Level 6 (17,700 points)
    Apr 13, 2015 4:22 PM in response to watchthebat!

    You can delete the iPhoto Library, but as the article Niel mentioned explains, it won't save as much space as you think it will because the iPhoto & Photos libraries use hard links to image files on the drive. Because of that, the Finder shows both libraries as if they each used 100 GB but in reality much of that is shared.

     

    Also, several high level users are recommending that for now, it is a good idea to keep both libraries (& apps) because there are some oddities & quirks in this first version of Photos that can be worked around if you have both apps & the old iPhoto library to work with.

  • by watchthebat!,

    watchthebat! watchthebat! Apr 13, 2015 4:13 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 13, 2015 4:13 PM in response to Niel

    Thank you so much. I was just concerned that the two libraries were taking up double the space unnecessarily. After reading the link, I can see now that they are not so I shall leave them both in the Pictures folder.

  • by watchthebat!,

    watchthebat! watchthebat! Apr 13, 2015 4:22 PM in response to R C-R
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 13, 2015 4:22 PM in response to R C-R

    Thanks for your response and I will keep both files. I have noticed some of my older images appear to have reduced in size, some thumbnails have disappeared, duplicates have appeared and the rotation of other images require fixing. I have almost finished working through all 14, 000 images and checked them. It has been an opportunity to clean my photo library and I am getting used to Photos. After fixing some images it seems that all is well and good. I hate that Events has changed to albums, but I will just have to get used to it!

  • by jmatusiak,

    jmatusiak jmatusiak May 1, 2015 12:39 PM in response to watchthebat!
    Level 1 (10 points)
    May 1, 2015 12:39 PM in response to watchthebat!

    Thanks. Good advice