Should/can I delete iPhoto application without effecting Photo app collection?

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Level 1

60 points

Should/can I delete iPhoto application without effecting Photo app collection?

Background: I am using a 2013 MacBook Air 10.10.5 laptop. It came with iPhoto app and since i didn't really get to know it intensely, when Photos app arrived i decided to use that one primarily (especially since reading said that updates would eventually be phased out on iPhoto.) Notice lately, that the secondary click on a picture that i'd like to put in the Photos app, produces a panel that used to say 'send to iPhotos' and/or 'send to Photos' both and now only says 'send to Photos' -- do you think that this is the beginning of the phasing out of the iPhotos app?

Would deleting the iPhotos app with its collection, effect the photos being stored on iCloud or the photos which appear right now,

duplicated in both the iPhotos and Photo applications?

I am afraid that if i delete the iPhotos app which I am no longer using directly, that all my photos will disappear from everywhere

(including iCloud and the new Photos app) 😕

and on the other hand

I think that I am in favour of deleting the previous iPhotos app so that the photos now stored in iPhotos will not just be

taken up 'double' the space (if in fact this is correct that having both apps is uses extra space on the computer with a set

of the same pictures in each app.)

'what to do guru?' 😕

OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Apr 17, 2016 1:16 PM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

202,245 points

Apr 17, 2016 1:28 PM in response to allan299

Apple stopped the development of iPhoto. It is no longer sold, and you can no longer order print products from iPhoto because the Print Products Store does no longer accept orders from iPhoto. So it that is the end of the line.

I am afraid that if i delete the iPhotos app which I am no longer using directly, that all my photos will disappear from everywhere

(including iCloud and the new Photos app)

Deleting the iPhoto application will not delete any photos. Any photos managed by iPhoto are in the iPhoto Library and not in the iPhoto application. deleting the iPhoto application will free 1.7 GB used by the application, not more.

If you imported any photos to iPhoto, look for the iPhoto Library. It will probably be in your Pictures folder. Did you already transfer the photos you imported to iPhoto to the new Photos application, or do you have separate sets of photos imported to both applications?

If you migrated your iPhoto Library to Photos, the pictures are not using twice the storage. Photos and iPhoto are storing them efficiently so not to use twice the storage. See: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

If you are having the same photos in both the iPhoto Library and the Photos library, you can backup your iPhoto Library on an external drive and then delete it. If there are different photos in both libraries, open your iPhoto Library in Photos by dragging it on the Photos icon, and then you can delete the iPhoto library ids all is well.

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Answer 2

allan299 Author

Level 1

60 points

Apr 17, 2016 5:50 PM in response to allan299

Thank you very much for your reply.

Everything that is in iPhotos is also in Photo -- for a while the pictures went to both at the same time, now that is not happening anymore.

You say:

If you are having the same photos in both the iPhoto Library and the Photos library, you can backup your iPhoto Library on an external drive and then delete it. If there are different photos in both libraries, open your iPhoto Library in Photos by dragging it on the Photos icon, and then you can delete the iPhoto library ids all is well.

I'm a real novice and don't have an external drive. Are you saying to back it up as there is a change that the iPhoto collection that is on Photos will be deleted if I trash iPhoto app?

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Answer 3

LarryHN

Level 10

106,232 points

Apr 17, 2016 6:00 PM in response to allan299

deleting the iPhoto library will not have any effect on Photos at all

BUT

If you are not doing constant backups using TimeMachine or equivalent it is only a matter of time until you lose everything - bad things happen and if you have no backup you lose things when they do

LN

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

202,245 points

Apr 17, 2016 11:17 PM in response to allan299

I'm a real novice and don't have an external drive. Are you saying to back it up as there is a change that the iPhoto collection that is on Photos will be deleted if I trash iPhoto app?

It is important to have a backup copy before you start to deleted several GB of dta. Just in case you make a mistake and delete the wrong items. And as to your iPhoto Library. Sometimes the migration to Photos was not perfect - missing photos or similar, and then you may need to be able to look into your original iPhoto library, if you come across missing photos.

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Answer 5

allan299 Author

Level 1

60 points

Jan 14, 2017 8:44 PM in response to allan299

Well folks I just took the risk and went to Finder and searched iPhoto library

then I secondary clicked and chose "Move to trash". Then went to applications and did the same with the iPhoto application.

The Photos application is untouched and unharmed and working well. Maybe I was just lucky.

I had never learned about it as Photos came along soon after I got into using this app on my computer when I bought it. I migrated over to the Photos at that time according to the Apple instructions so the iPhotos has felt like it was just hanging around.

That is the end of that question, for me at least.

It just 'feels' better to have the one photo application for my level person.

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