I was forced to upgrade iPhoto and I lost the last 5 years of pics. Photos from 08-10 are still in there! I have Time Machine so I restored last night's back-up of the iPhoto library but the same thing happened all over again when I opened iPhoto.
MacBook, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)
There are 9 different versions of iPhoto and they run on 10 different versions of the Operating System. The tricks and tips for dealing with issues vary depending on the version of iPhoto and the version of the OS. So to get help you need to give as much information as you can. Include things like:
- What version of iPhoto.
- What version of the Operating System.
- Details. As full a description of the problem as you can. For example, if you have a problem with exporting, then explain by describing how you are trying to export, and so on.
- History: Is this going on long? Has anything been installed or deleted? - Are there error messages?
- What steps have you tried already to solve the issue.
- Anything unusual about your set up? Or how you use iPhoto?
Anything else you can think of that might help someone understand the problem you have.
I/m on OS 10.9.5 and iPhoto 9.5.1, or at least that's what it is now. I don't know what it was this morning. When I restore from Time Machine I can't open iPhoto unless I upgrade, which gives me the problem of losing my last 5 years. I used iPhoto this morning to import a new photo from email and I had no problems. Then later I got the upgrade message.
Are you sure you're opening the restored library?
Uh, no I guess not. How do I find the restored library?
When you restore the Library from Time Machine, you restore it to *somewhere*... where is that?
I do not have a choice. It replaces to the Photo Library file. I looked up Time Machine and it says it restores to the same file. I'm pretty sure it's the restored file that I'm trying to open because it tells me it has to upgrade, and then when I do it's the same thing all over again. Maybe I should take it to the Genius Bar?
The likely issue here is that the Library is corrupted. If you restore the most recent back up, the what's likely happening is that you're restoring a corrupted back up. Roll back 2 or 24 hours and see if you get a good library that way.
I went back to November and same thing. Still wants to upgrade library when I open iPhoto and then I get only my first 3 years of pics. Thanks for all your help. I probably need to call Apple or got to Genius Bar with it!?
Try repair it:
Download iPhoto Library Managerand 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.)
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.
iPhoto forced me to upgrade and I lost the last 5 years of albums. I burn CD's at the end of every year and I have Time Machine. I restored last nights back-up of photos but the same thing happened all over again.
