JCLallier
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Q: How do I shrink the Photos Library

How do I shrink the the Photos Library (not the old iPhotos Library)?  I have copied the original Photos Library to an external hard drive as a backup, and deleted about half of the photos.  I then used "Show Recently Deleted" and "Delete All" to be certain all the photos are permanently deleted.  Then I closed Photos, but the size of the Photos Library on the main drive remains the same size.  I have opened and closed Photos repeatedly, but it never seems to shrink the Photos Library.

 

The whole point was to free up space on the main hard drive.  So what step am I missing?

OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 27, 2015 10:30 PM

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JCLallier

Q: How do I shrink the Photos Library

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 27, 2015 11:09 PM in response to JCLallier
    Level 10 (108,955 points)
    iCloud
    May 27, 2015 11:09 PM in response to JCLallier

     

    Then I closed Photos, but the size of the Photos Library on the main drive remains the same size.  I have opened and closed Photos repeatedly, but it never seems to shrink the Photos Library.

    Are you sure you are using the Photos library on the System  drive and not on the external drive?  With Photos running, open the Photos > Preferences > General. It will show you the location of your current Photos Library.  Is that the location on your System Drive? Click the "Show in Finder button" to reveal the current library.

    Screen Shot 2015-05-28 at 07.53.58CEST.png

    Also check if the Photos are actually copied into the library. Is the "Importing: Copy items to the Photos Library" active?  If not, deleting photos will not reduce the library size much, since the original photos are stored outside the library and will not be deleted, when you delete photos. To check for referenced files, create a smart album with the rule "Photo is Referenced". Are there photos on this album? If you are having referenced files, consolidate them with "File > Consolidate".  That will make it easier to delete files completely.

    Screen Shot 2015-05-28 at 08.06.04CEST.png

     

     

    And are you actually looking at the size of the library, or at the free storage on the drive?  if your current library is a migrated iPhoto Library, and the original iPhoto Library is still in your Pictures folder, the iphoto Library and the Photos library are using the same original image files. The originals are shared by hard links.  As long as the image is still in the iPhoto Library, the hard linked file will not be deleted.  If your iPhoto Library is still on your main drive, move it to the external drive as well.  See these documents, how your iPhoto Library and Photos library are linked:

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

    Six Colors: The (hard) link between Photos and iPhoto