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,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 2:20 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 2:20 PM in response to davidpotterdp

    Looks as though you have the original iPhoto library and 2 for Photos application - I'm not sure if you've managed to restart work in iPhoto or if it was  Photos application but as you have libraries there things should be good for you to get your work done for now.

  • by davidpotterdp,

    davidpotterdp davidpotterdp Apr 17, 2015 2:22 PM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2015 2:22 PM in response to Alley_Cat

    Absolutely.  Have a great weekend

  • by Adele2015,

    Adele2015 Adele2015 Apr 17, 2015 2:27 PM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 2:27 PM in response to Alley_Cat

    bonjour ALLEY _CAT

     

    est-ce que vous connaissez l'iphone 5s j'ai un souci et j'aimerais être guidée

    merci

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 2:27 PM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 2:27 PM in response to Alley_Cat

    Those libraries are things you should avoid deleting.  The separate individual images with an 'x' may well have been copied into those libraries if you use Pictures to store images temporarily prior to importing to iPhoto for example, though images can sometimes be added to libraries with the files staying where they are and not copied.

     

    As many of those files show 'x's I'm not sure if you're looking in a Tiem Machine version of that folder.

     

    For the time being I'd suggest not deleting anything until you are comfortable you can get things done, and secondly have backups.

     

    Time Machine/Time Capsule is a good solution, but you can also back up those libraries if you need to to external drives via drag and drop.

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 2:33 PM in response to Adele2015
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 2:33 PM in response to Adele2015

    Bonjour Adele

     

    Je ne ai pas un iPhone 5s mais je ai les précédentes et iPhone 6 .

     

    Un bon endroit pour votre question serait ici:

     

    Using iPhone

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Apr 17, 2015 2:35 PM in response to Alley_Cat
    Level 6 (19,593 points)
    Apr 17, 2015 2:35 PM in response to Alley_Cat

    Si vous postez une question là, je suis sûr que quelqu'un va essayer de vous aider .

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Apr 17, 2015 4:07 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 10 (108,955 points)
    iCloud
    Apr 17, 2015 4:07 PM in response to davidpotterdp
    Pictures folder.

    The icons of the JPEG files do not look right. They should be showing a preview of the photo.

    Is that the state, after you restored from your Time Machine drive? How did you do it?

     

    To restore from your Time Machine, select your Pictures folder, and with the Pictures folder open  enter Time Machine and go in the Time Tunnel back to before the Time when you deleted items in your Pictures folder.

    Then select your iPhoto Library and click "Restore".

    Screen Shot 2015-04-17 at 23.35.21CEST.png

     

    This describes how to restore the iPhoto Library, but if you rather want to restore the Photo Library, the procedure is the same.

     

     

    iPhoto '11: Restoring from Time Machine with iPhoto '11 (9.2 or later) and OS X Lion 10.7.2 (or later) - Apple Support

  • by davidpotterdp,

    davidpotterdp davidpotterdp Apr 18, 2015 5:28 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 18, 2015 5:28 AM in response to léonie

    Hi Leonie.  really appreciate the link.  All seems to be working now.

     

    Thank you

  • by merrickb,

    merrickb merrickb Jun 17, 2015 6:26 AM in response to davidpotterdp
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iLife
    Jun 17, 2015 6:26 AM in response to davidpotterdp

    I intentionally deleted the Photos library after I upgraded back to iPhoto from the hot mess that is Photos, and I get this same message all the time. Is there a way to tell Yosemite that Photos is not my default for anything, or should I just make a new album of a single image for Photos to use until they fix it?

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