HT204655: Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X

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snowflake76

Q: New Photos app says insufficient disk space.

Photos will not allow me to import anymore photos than i already have in there. It claims there is insufficient disk space. This is not the case as I can download to my mac. What can I do to allow the app to allow me to download more photos?  

 

Photos

Version 1.0 (209.52.0)

 

OSX Yosemite

Versions 10.10.3

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009)

Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

 

Storage 500GB - 2.12GB free of 499.25 GB

 

I've tried drag and drop, Import feature, Clearing more space on hard drive.

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 17, 2015 4:23 AM

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Q: New Photos app says insufficient disk space.

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  • by Terence Devlin,Solvedanswer

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin May 17, 2015 8:26 AM in response to snowflake76
    Level 10 (139,480 points)
    iLife
    May 17, 2015 8:26 AM in response to snowflake76
    2.12GB free of 499.25 GB

     

    Really?

     

    You have a Major Issue here and you need to fix it immediately. I cannot stress this enough.

     

    OS X needs about 10 gigs of hard drive space for normal OS operations - things like virtual memory, temporary files and so on.

     

    Without this space your Mac will slow down as the OS hunts for space on the disk, files will be fragmented, also slowing things down, apps will crash and the risk of data corruption - that is damage to your files, photos, music - increases exponentially.

     

    Your first priority is to make more space on that HD. Nothing else can be done until you do.

     

    Purchase an external HD and move your Photos and Music to it. Both iPhoto and iTunes can run perfectly well with the Library on an external disk.

  • by RhonnieK,

    RhonnieK RhonnieK Jan 24, 2016 2:04 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 24, 2016 2:04 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Hi Terrence,

    Forgive me if I am asking this query regarding insufficient disk space in the "wrong place" but I have a similar problem as described above... but I am in a vicious cycle! I realise I need to "free up space" but my biggest space user is my photos/movies but I am unable to access them to export them to an external hard drive because when I downloaded El Capitan and tried to open "Photos" my Mac was unable to import (?) the iPhoto library (it was only able to load to 8% before giving me a message that I required another 41GB of disk space). I have already moved everything else I can find to an external stick but it is still not enough to allow Photos to import the iPhoto library...  my iPhoto app has a "delete" symbol through the middle of it so I can't seem to go back and use that as an access option either?

    Could you please advise what you think my options might be? If I could access my iPhoto library in some way (ie I can't seem to access it through iPhoto or Photos) I could move all of my movies to an external hard drive which may allow for me to move forward?

    I would appreciate any advice you could provide!

    Thank you!

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Jan 24, 2016 2:44 AM in response to RhonnieK
    Level 10 (139,480 points)
    iLife
    Jan 24, 2016 2:44 AM in response to RhonnieK

    Move the whole Library. Not just the bits.

     

    Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

     

    1. Quit iPhoto

     

    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.

     

    3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.

     

    4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.

     

    Regards

     

     

    TD

  • by RhonnieK,

    RhonnieK RhonnieK Jan 24, 2016 7:06 PM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 24, 2016 7:06 PM in response to Terence Devlin

    Thank you for your advice Terence. However, my iPhoto app has the "do not enter" symbol over the top/through it and when I hold down the "option" key and try to open it, it says that the version I have is not supported by El Capitan and it needs to be updated in the Apple store but when I try to update it the Apple Store I get the message "The item you have requested is not currently available in the U.S. Store"??!! Any tips?

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jan 24, 2016 7:09 PM in response to RhonnieK
    Level 10 (84,210 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 24, 2016 7:09 PM in response to RhonnieK
  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Jan 24, 2016 10:56 PM in response to RhonnieK
    Level 10 (139,480 points)
    iLife
    Jan 24, 2016 10:56 PM in response to RhonnieK

    Move the Library

     

    Then open it with Photos to migrate it. i.e at step 3 use Photos, not iPhoto.

  • by CCAllen2609,

    CCAllen2609 CCAllen2609 May 16, 2016 9:51 AM in response to snowflake76
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    May 16, 2016 9:51 AM in response to snowflake76

    Terrance,

     

    I am having the same issue as OP but with 2.85 GB of free space. However, I'm wary to move my library exclusively to an EHD because last time I did this I almost lost everything when the drive's cord got knocked out of the computer and the drive crashed. Thankfully I was also backing up to another EHD for time machine, so I was able to restore from that but still lost some files. I also have icloud and pay for 1TB of storage, but some people have had trouble restoring from icloud... I'm wondering, what do you do that ensures that your files will be safe if you don't keep them on your computer? The hard drive that crashed was a WD passport. So far my Touro EHD has been great even when it sometimes gets disconnected improperly.  Thanks!

  • by CCAllen2609,

    CCAllen2609 CCAllen2609 May 16, 2016 9:53 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    May 16, 2016 9:53 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Hi Terence, please see my below post...I meant to reply to you not OP. Thanks!

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN May 16, 2016 10:07 AM in response to CCAllen2609
    Level 10 (84,210 points)
    Photos for Mac
    May 16, 2016 10:07 AM in response to CCAllen2609

    seriously it is the same answer - you have a MAJOR problem

     

    You must either delete things from your hard drive, use an external hard drive properly with good backups or us optimized photos on your Mac with ICPL (which may not be possible until you make space on your hard drive)

     

    And not sure why you state that

    some people have had trouble restoring from icloud..

    I've never seen that here - but also iCLoud is not a backup - you need a good local backup

     

     

    And since you have a Photos for Mac problem it is better to post in the Photos for Mac forum rather than the iPhoto for Mac forum - the two programs are completely different and it is confusing to have questons posted in the wrong forum

     

    LN

  • by CCAllen2609,

    CCAllen2609 CCAllen2609 May 16, 2016 10:22 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    May 16, 2016 10:22 AM in response to LarryHN

    Sorry to post in the wrong area. You say icloud is not a backup...what does that mean? Not sure why I'm paying for it then...Definitely have been using it thinking it's a reliable backup. What EHDs would you recommend?

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin May 16, 2016 10:26 AM in response to CCAllen2609
    Level 10 (139,480 points)
    iLife
    May 16, 2016 10:26 AM in response to CCAllen2609
    I am having the same issue as OP but with 2.85 GB of free space

     

    Larry is right: Your Mac is at Crisisi Point. Your data will be corrupted.

     

    How you make space on disk is your decision but you need to make it now.

     

    This:

     

    I almost lost everything when the drive's cord got knocked out of the computer and the drive crashed

     

    is an excellent argument for taking care of the power cord. It's also an excellent argument for backing up. It is not a reason to be reluctant to use an external. I have six externals attached to one of my Macs and three to the other. You ensure their safety by taking care and backing up. Right now the files on your Mac are in much greater danger of being lost.

     

    There really is nothing to say here except to reiterate:

     

    Larry is right: Your Mac is at Crisisi Point. Your data will be corrupted.

     

    How you make space on disk is your decision but you need to make it now.


  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin May 16, 2016 10:27 AM in response to CCAllen2609
    Level 10 (139,480 points)
    iLife
    May 16, 2016 10:27 AM in response to CCAllen2609
    You say icloud is not a backup...what does that mean? Not sure why I'm paying for it then...Definitely have been using it thinking it's a reliable backup.

     

    It means it's not a back up. Material deleted from your Mac will be deleted from iCloud.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN May 16, 2016 11:31 AM in response to CCAllen2609
    Level 10 (84,210 points)
    Photos for Mac
    May 16, 2016 11:31 AM in response to CCAllen2609

    Why do I say it is not a backup? Because Apple says it is not a backup

    It is a syncing service to keep Photos libraries on multiple devices identical so all changes made to one are made to all

     

    iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

    Do I need a Backup?

    iCloud Photo Library stores all of your original photos and videos in iCloud, but we always recommend you keep back up copies of your Library. You can download your photos and videos from iCloud to your computer and store them as a separate library, transfer them to another computer with Image Capture or Photos, or store them on a separate drive.

     

    LN