Is it safe to delete iPhoto library?

I've just discovered, though, that I'm now running out of storage space on my HD, and I think this is because I have a fairly large iPhoto library AND and even larger Photos library. Between them they take up about 100GB.

Are these merely duplicates of each other?

if you migrated the iPhoto Library to Photos, the photos are only stored once. The original image files and previews are shared by both libraries via hard links. See: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

Both libraries will show as large file size in the Finder, but are actually using less space than shown.

You will not gain much free space by deleting the iPhoto Library.

It is safe to delete the library, but don't burn all bridges in a hurry. At least make a backup copy of the library. If you find any problems with the migrated library, it may be necessary to revert to the iPhoto Library to fix this. And don't uninstall iPhoto. Apple stopped selling it, and it might be difficult to get it back, if you need it.

But I now have only 10GB space left on my MBP's HD, which is a bit of a bummer.

I suppose the acquisition of an external drive or two is in order.

Yes, don't let the storage drop below 10GB. An external drive is a good idea. You can move the iPhoto Library there.

Just make sure, any new drive is formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled9 if you want to put photo libraries there: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture (or iPhoto or Photos)

I suppose the acquisition of an external drive or two is in order.

Get two external drives, if your current backup drive does not suffice to backup both the Mac and your external drive. Then you need a backup drive for the new external drive as well.

So it was marvellous as regards storage, but I couldn't have the drive and my camera plugged in at once. (And the same would apply whenever I wanted to sync my iPod of course.)

Does your external drive have a second USB port? You could daisy chain the drive and the card reader this way. Or use a USB hub to have more USB ports (http://lifehacker.com/five-best-usb-hubs-1414094277)

Hi guys,

I have a similar question on this topic, so thought I would post it here.

I understand that Photos migrates the previous iPhoto library and that even through they both show as having their own size in Finder, these are essentially the same files in the same place.

However, having migrated the library on my MBP, I just went through a heavy culling of thousands of images using the Photo app. (For context, I have these images on another Mac, so no need for them to be here as well. I duplicated them onto the MBP as a third backup, but no need now the iCloud Photo Library is available...which by the way, I haven't yet switched on on the MBP; I wanted to do the cull first).

Now, having culled the photos, the iPhoto library is showing at 220GB. The Photos library is showing at 36GB. It would seem that the cull hasn't taken effect on the old library. Is this what I should expect? I would like to free up space on the MBP so am tempted to delete the iPhoto library given that the 220GB presumably includes the thousands of images I've culled because I don't want them.

I would be grateful for your advice.

As documented the libraries are totally separate - changes mad to one have no effect not the other - you either need to delete the same photos from iphoto too to delete the iPhoto library to regain that space

and iCloud Photo Library is not a backup - it is your main library and you need local backups

LN

Thanks Larry,

Just to reassure you that I already have double backups of my library - this was just an additional safeguard.

Reference your answer, I understand that, but I don't get the underlying technical cause and effect. I would like to. Here is my attempt to demonstrate my understanding using three simple scenarios:

Scenario 1 - an image that I had originally imported to iPhoto before Photos existed resides in the iPhoto library. When I migrated to Photos, this file stays in the same place using a hard link between the Photos and iPhoto library. Some sort of registry entry (sorry - probably the wrong term) is created in the Photos library for this image, but the original image itself is in the iPhoto library. I want to keep this photo for good, so this is how it will always exist.

Scenario 2 - a new image is imported to Photos. It sits solely in the Photos library and never has anything to do with the iPhoto library. If I opened iPhoto, it would not appear.

Scenario 3 - exactly as per scenario 1, but this is an image that I don't want to keep. I have deleted it from Photos (and therefore presumably the Photos library). To get rid of this entirely, do I also need to find the file in the iPhoto library and delete it from there too?

It's Scenario 3 I don't fully understand. All the advice appears to say that there is no need to delete the old iPhoto library. But for the tidy user who wants to maximise storage space, you presumably either need to painstakingly delete images from both libraries, or get rid of the iPhoto library. However, if I do the latter, what happens to the image in Scenario 1?

Thanks...

1 - no - deleting in either the iPhoto or the Photos library has no effect on the other - you can totally delete either and there is no effect on the other one - as long as either is hard linked to the original or preview those are not removed form disk

2 - correct

3 - yes - but not by finding it in the iphoto library but by deleting it using the iPhoto application - you never ever make any changes to the content of th iPhoto or Photos libraries using the finder

the reason it is advised not to delete iPhoto library is because if you want or need it in the future it can be difficult to rest- you can safely restore - up can delete it if you want and it will free us a small bit of space and it will release all of the space for the photos that you have deleted using Photos

LN

Thanks Larry...your help is much appreciated.

you are welcome

LN