Accidentally deleted iPhoto library

Question

Accidentally deleted iPhoto library

Hi.

I logged onto my old 2006 Macbook which is using OS X version 10.4.11 today and was trying to "clean things up" being that there were tons of files everywhere, most of which were old and no longer needed. I got rid of all files that I did not want and basically only kept pictures, music, documents, and movies. I had ~ 7,000 pictures in my iphoto library which I was browsing through initially when I powered up the Macbook. After deleting all of my random files (keeping the iphoto library and all pictures) I logged back onto iPhoto and every single picture was gone. There was not a single one. However they are all still on the harddrive under "iphoto library".

I'm not sure how I accidentally wiped the entire library from the iphoto program yet all the pictures are still on the harddrive. I tried looking in the trash for anything that I deleted that could have been a culprit but could not find anything and just incase removed everything from the trash back into a folder I created on the desktop that I labeled "trash".

Is there a way to restore my old iphoto library onto the iphoto program with all 7,000 photos that were neatly divided up into marked folders? I suppose I could upload each camera roll again... literally hundreds... which would take forever. Then I would have to go through allll of those pictures and create folders again.

Is there a way to simply get my library back?

I have no idea what I did wrong. :-(

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11), null

Posted on Nov 23, 2015 10:24 PM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Nov 24, 2015 3:40 AM in response to surfingisfun001

What version of iPhoto?

Do you have a back up?

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Answer 2

Nov 24, 2015 7:39 AM in response to Yer_Man

iPhoto 6 version 6.0.6 (322)

Yes I have all of the photos backed up on an external hard drive. They are also still on the Macbook's hard drive just no longer in the iphoto application like they were.

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Nov 24, 2015 8:44 AM in response to surfingisfun001

Sound like the library db has been corrupted.

Try these in order - from best option on down...

1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.

2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.) You'll need an old version - there's a link on the website to those.

This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.

Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.

To create and populate a new *iPhoto 6* library:

Note this will give you a working library with the same Rolls and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.

Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop

Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.

Go into the iPhoto Library on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Roll Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.

When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.

In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.

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Answer 4

Nov 24, 2015 10:13 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thank you so much for the great information. I will surely do these things. I just came across something in the trash that I believe may be the culprit as to why the library was deleted. It is a page icon with an @ symbol in the center and titled AlbumData.xml. When I open the file it opens in Safari and is a looong list of coding that appears to be all of the old iphotos library information that was deleted. I removed it from the trash onto the desktop and tried to drag it onto the iphoto icon but it says that the file could not be imported due to it being an unrecognizable file. Is there anyway to put that file back into iphoto, and would that reinstall the library back?

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Nov 24, 2015 10:57 AM in response to surfingisfun001

That's not the Library file, it's the file the apps uses for sharing. Drag it to the iPhoto Library folder.

Then use Library Manager.

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