Want to highlight a helpful answer? Upvote!

Did someone help you, or did an answer or User Tip resolve your issue? Upvote by selecting the upvote arrow. Your feedback helps others! Learn more about when to upvote >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: oregonjoe
oregonjoe Author
User level: Level 1
112 points

why is my migrated Photos library size smaller?

Hi,


I just migrated my iPhoto library to Photos. It created a new Photos Library, but it's quite a bit smaller than the migrated iPhotos library. This has me concerned. According to Finder, the old iPhotos library is 105gb and the new Photos library is 90gb, for a difference of 15gb. I read in a few places online that said the two libraries should be pretty much the same size. However, I opened both libraries in their respective applications and did a "get info" check, and they both say they have the same number of photos, videos, storage size, and date range (3870 photos, 658 videos, 84gb, from date X to date Y). What is the cause of that 15gb difference in Finder between the two libraries?


Thanks!

Joe

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Jan 30, 2016 4:51 PM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply
User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
195,113 points

Posted on Jan 30, 2016 5:20 PM

There may have been a large iPod photo cache in your iPhoto library, if you synced the library with iTunes. See this link:


iTunes: Understanding the iPod Photo Cache folder

View in context
8 replies
User profile for user: LarryHN
LarryHN
User level: Level 10
106,110 points

Jan 30, 2016 6:30 PM in response to oregonjoe

That is an example - there might be a number of other caches or other files that do not need to migrate - if you are hung up on this then go through both libraries line by line and compare to see where the differences are


millions of people have migrated and the key is

they both say they have the same number of photos, videos, storage size, and date range (3870 photos, 658 videos, 84gb, from date X to date Y).

Spot check the new library to be sure everything works and looks good - and keep the old migrated library just in case it is needed and move forward


LN

Reply
User profile for user: oregonjoe
oregonjoe Author
User level: Level 1
112 points

Jan 30, 2016 7:30 PM in response to LarryHN

Thanks, Larry. I did an initial comparison between the two libraries in Finder. Of the 15gb difference, it looks like 5gb is from the Previews folders and 10gb is from the Masters folders. Comparing the two Masters folders, some subfolders are missing from the new library. I don't know what any of this means though, since I don't know how iPhoto and Photos organizes their libraries, and perhaps they do it differently. Does this still seem normal to you?

I realize that Photos.app says all the photo and videos are accounted for, but I don't think it would be prudent of me to overlook a 15gb difference when dealing with something as important as my personal photos and videos. I wonder if the images themselves aren't missing, perhaps it's other types of data such as edits or metadata (although I didn't do much editing).

I'll do some more spot checking when I have more time.

Reply
User profile for user: macdaddysolutions
macdaddysolutions
User level: Level 1
52 points

Feb 17, 2016 1:40 PM in response to oregonjoe

If there were duplicates then the new Photos app will not migrate those duplicate photos. This is only done on the first import and unfortunately can't be done inside the Photos app once imported. (dumb) Maybe you had duplicates. I had the same issue. I was seeing about a 10GB difference. Here is a reference of where I got the information.


http://www.imore.com/photos-os-x-faq

Reply

why is my migrated Photos library size smaller?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.
Learn more Sign up