davidpotterdp
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: photos cannot find the system photo library

I’m in trouble.  I was deleting photos in ‘pictures’ as I wanted to clean up some space on my iMac.  My assumption was that ‘pictures' is completely separate to iPhoto (or photos as it is now called).  I then go back into photos (the old iPhoto) and get the message 'photos cannot find the system photo library’.

 

I cannot access any photos at all.  I’m working on a large project this weekend and I have purchased hundreds of photos over the last 6 months which I require for the project.  Blood pressure boiling at the moment!

 

Any help please

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), null

Posted on Apr 17, 2015 12:07 PM

by Alley_Cat,Solvedanswer
Alley_Cat Alley_Cat
Level 6 (19,593 points)
A:

You haven't accidentally deleted the Photos library have you?

 

Assuming you used the default library and didn;t create a new one on an external drive or alternate startup drive location it should be in the Pictures folder for your user.

 

If you restart Photos by holding down the alt key does it give you any options to select a library?

 

Check your trash just in case!

Posted on Apr 17, 2015 1:11 PM

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davidpotterdp

Q: photos cannot find the system photo library

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  • by Alley_Cat,Solvedanswer

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 1:11 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 1:11 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    You haven't accidentally deleted the Photos library have you?

     

    Assuming you used the default library and didn;t create a new one on an external drive or alternate startup drive location it should be in the Pictures folder for your user.

     

    If you restart Photos by holding down the alt key does it give you any options to select a library?

     

    Check your trash just in case!

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 1:14 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 1:14 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    If Photos migrated an iPhoto library, it should share the images between iPhoto and Photos.

     

    If you've gone into your User's Pictures folder in Finder and started deleting things and also emptied trash you might be in trouble unless you have a time Machine or other backup.

     

    Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

  • by davidpotterdp,

    davidpotterdp davidpotterdp Apr 17, 2015 1:21 PM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2015 1:21 PM in response to Alley_Cat

    You absolute genius.  When I pressed alt and photos it gave me the option to open the ‘old version’ of iPhoto!!

    Just so I don’t mess up again.  How do I now get the old iPhotos back into photo?

    I did try to look on my time capsule but when I viewed the last back up from this morning, there was no photo in the sidebar to even open?

    I’m new to the forum.  I did call Apple but probably not wise for me to articulate on this forum what they said!

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 1:35 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 1:35 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    davidpotterdp wrote:

     

    You absolute genius.  When I pressed alt and photos it gave me the option to open the ‘old version’ of iPhoto!!

    Just so I don’t mess up again.  How do I now get the old iPhotos back into photo?

    I did try to look on my time capsule but when I viewed the last back up from this morning, there was no photo in the sidebar to even open?

    I’m new to the forum.  I did call Apple but probably not wise for me to articulate on this forum what they said!

    The iPhoto migration to Photos would have been automatic when you upgraded - there is presumably a way to kickstart that again though I'm not certain how as I've not done so.

     

    If you have a Time Capsule that's great.

     

    I'll see if I can get some others to chip in.

     

    Also, if you can still open iPhoto you can of course continue to use that for the time being.

  • by davidpotterdp,

    davidpotterdp davidpotterdp Apr 17, 2015 1:42 PM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2015 1:42 PM in response to Alley_Cat

    I can’t begin to tell you what a hole you’ve managed to get me out of.  Whoever you are, you should feel great that you’ve changed someones mental state just by helping out a fellow human being!.  I was literally climbing the walls. 


    It’s ironic that the users of Apple offer better levels of customer support than the brand they use!!

     

    Go figure!

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 1:43 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 1:43 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    davidpotterdp wrote:

     

    I’m in trouble.  I was deleting photos in ‘pictures’ as I wanted to clean up some space on my iMac. 

    Can you clarify what you mean by that - both iPhoto and Photos store their libraries in the Pictures folder in Finder.

     

    Screen Shot 2015-04-17 at 21.42.31.png

    (Ignore ScanSnap which is a folder for images from my scanner)

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 1:49 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 1:49 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    Thanks for the kind comments - have you solved the problem, or is there still work to do?

     

    We are for the most part fellow Apple product users here, and try to help out where we can.

     

    There are Apple community specialists more recently who will chip in too though help tends to be a little more official and scripted.

  • by davidpotterdp,

    davidpotterdp davidpotterdp Apr 17, 2015 1:49 PM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2015 1:49 PM in response to Alley_Cat

    Screen Shot 2015-04-17 at 21.46.31.png

    Usually there is an icon on the left hand side banner that says ‘Photos’.  I was in ‘pictures’ and was deleting old files.  I thought that iPhoto images were all stored in ‘photos’ and that pictures was for temporary downloads so I deleted them.

  • by davidpotterdp,

    davidpotterdp davidpotterdp Apr 17, 2015 1:55 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2015 1:55 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    I could chat all night.  There is much that I don’t fully understand on my mac! I also never did quite understand how time machine worked and I’m sure that with persistence I may have managed to get the photos back but for the minute, after opening iPhoto, I pressed alt and photo and it gave me the option to import iphotos back into photo.

    Thanks again for all your help.  I’m off to work on my project... thanks to you!!

     

    .

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 1:56 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 1:56 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    Pictures is just a folder, it just happens to be where the iPhoto and the Photos libraries get placed by default - nothing temporary about it really.

     

    If you select 'David Potter's Mac', and then open the startup drive (you may just have one drive), then under Users folder open the folder with an icon which looks like a house.

     

    Do you then see the libraries I've shown above?

     

    The photo files are normally stored in the iPhoto Library or Photos Library as a special folder called a package - it is wise not to alter things inside a package manually and let the relevant application do it.

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 2:01 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 2:01 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    I confess I do not understand the ins and outs of Time Machine either - primarily as I've never had to use it!

     

    That said, so long as you have a backup strategy, even if you'd deleted something on the Mac, hopefully the Time Machine expert users here would have been able to help recover things.

     

    If you have time, this site may provide some help with Time Machine - sadly Pondini, a fellow user here has now passed away, but the site is recognised as a great resource:

     

    http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

  • by davidpotterdp,

    davidpotterdp davidpotterdp Apr 17, 2015 2:03 PM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2015 2:03 PM in response to Alley_Cat

    Screen Shot 2015-04-17 at 22.02.04.png

    This what I now see.  Are you saying that this is correct?

    Thanks for the time machine link. 

    Best

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 17, 2015 2:14 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 10 (108,955 points)
    iCloud
    Apr 17, 2015 2:14 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    This what I now see.  Are you saying that this is correct?

    Thanks for the time machine link.

    Where are you seeing this screenshot, David? Is that your your Pictures folder, or are you looking at the Time Machine drive?

  • by davidpotterdp,

    davidpotterdp davidpotterdp Apr 17, 2015 2:16 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2015 2:16 PM in response to léonie

    Hi. 

    Pictures folder.

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