Photos Library.photoslibrary vs iPhotos Library.photoslibrary

You can delete the iPhoto Library, but I would hang on to it for a while. Also, see Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support.

If you find that your iPhoto application no longer works:

Terence Devlin

Apr 14, 2015 2:21 PM

Re: Is Iphoto gone ? i want it back!

Go to the App Store and check out the Purchases List. If iPhoto is there then it will be v9.6.1

If it is there, then drag your existing iPhoto app (not the library, just the app) to the trash

Install the App from the App Store.

Sometimes iPhoto is not visible on the Purchases List. it may be hidden. See this article for details on how to unhide it.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4928

One question often asked: Will I lose my Photos if I reinstall?

iPhoto the application and the iPhoto Library are two different parts of the iPhoto programme. So, reinstalling the app should not affect the Library. BUT you should always have a back up before doing this kind of work. Always.

They're meant for usage in different applications but contain hard links to the same media files, so the amount of space they use up is much less than adding their individual sizes would suggest. If you're certain that you won't use iPhoto again(it can do some things Photos doesn't), you can delete the iPhoto library.

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Installing Photos doesn't remove iPhoto from the drive; it's in the Applications folder, and you can go on using it if you'd like.

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It'll free up a small amount of space used by the iPhoto database files, but you won't be able to access the library from iPhoto afterwards.

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As I wrote above, the iPhoto and Photos libraries contain hard links to the same media files, so the amount of space they use up is much less than adding their individual sizes would suggest.

If you delete the iPhoto library, the shared media files formerly contained inside it will still count towards the used space on the drive because they're in the Photos library. The iPhoto-specific database files aren't in the Photos library, and the space they take up will become free; that won't be nearly 38GB.

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