mhknee

Q: Where are all my photos after upgrade?

Hi,

I just upgraded to 'El Capitan' from a much older version, I had skipped Yosemite. I had 12,000+ photos.

 

When I open iPhoto there is nothing in it. When I check my 'About this Mac' I still see 28GB in my memory filled with photos. They must be still there somewhere. How can I get them in my new iPhoto application?

 

Thanks for all the help I can get.

Marc

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jun 26, 2016 12:24 PM

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Q: Where are all my photos after upgrade?

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  • by léonie,Apple recommended

    léonie léonie Jun 28, 2016 4:34 AM in response to mhknee
    Level 10 (105,726 points)
    iLife
    Jun 28, 2016 4:34 AM in response to mhknee
    When I open iPhoto there is nothing in it. When I check my 'About this Mac' I still see 28GB in my memory filled with photos. They must be still there somewhere. How can I get them in my new iPhoto application?

    Did you open iPhoto or the new Photos for Mac?

     

    If Photos for Mac comes up empty, look for your iPhoto Library. By default it should be in your Pictures folder. Screen Shot 2016-06-26 at 21.46.38GMT.png

     

    Select the iPhoto Library and drag it onto the Photos icon in the Dock to open it in Photos for Mac.

  • by mhknee,

    mhknee mhknee Jun 27, 2016 2:42 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iLife
    Jun 27, 2016 2:42 PM in response to léonie

    Hi Leonie,

     

    I appreciate your response, but there is no Pictures folder, and there are no pictures in Photos. Not sure what to do.

     

    Thanks,

    Marc

  • by mhknee,

    mhknee mhknee Jun 27, 2016 2:44 PM in response to mhknee
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iLife
    Jun 27, 2016 2:44 PM in response to mhknee

    And there is no more iPhoto application.

  • by The LEGOers,

    The LEGOers The LEGOers Jun 27, 2016 3:05 PM in response to mhknee
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 27, 2016 3:05 PM in response to mhknee

    You might want to use some disk scanning app like Disk Inventory X 1.0 to find out what amount of storage is used on where. You right click the images amount of memory to "Reveal In Finder". Hopefully you can track down where your photos has gone.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 27, 2016 10:04 PM in response to mhknee
    Level 10 (105,726 points)
    iLife
    Jun 27, 2016 10:04 PM in response to mhknee

    I appreciate your response, but there is no Pictures folder, and there are no pictures in Photos. Not sure what to do.

    The Pictures folder may have a different name, or be hidden from the Finder sidebar.

     

    Marc, what is the system Language your Mac is set to as the primary language in System Preferences > Language &Region?  The folders "Pictures", "Desktop", etc. May be called differently, if the primary system language is not English. If the system languish is not English look for a folder named as "pictures" would translate to in the system language.  The  folder icon should be showing a camera badge:

    Screen Shot 2016-06-28 at 06.54.09GMT.png

     

    The Pictures folder will always be visible if you open your Home folder (with the cute  House icon), but you may need to enable the folder to be showing in the sidebar.  Click somewhere onto the empty Desktop to bring the Finder forward, then open the Finder preferences from the main Finder menu bar:  Finder > Preferences.  Click the Sidebar tab and enable all folders, disks, etc you want to be showing in the sidebar:

    Screen Shot 2016-06-28 at 06.57.30GMT.png

     

    Are there any photo libraries in the Pictures folder?

  • by mhknee,

    mhknee mhknee Jun 28, 2016 5:32 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iLife
    Jun 28, 2016 5:32 AM in response to léonie

    Hi Leonie,

     

    System language is English, country is USA.

     

    OK, that worked to find the Pictures folder and the iPhoto Library.

     

    I dragged the icon onto the Photos icon and it started building a photo library. However, it stopped at 50% and has been stuck there all night. I started it again this morning and now it stops at 28%.

     

    I have tried to update my iPhoto program, I have it in 'purchased', but it doesn't allow it, never gets to 'install', only 'open'.

     

    I copied iPhoto on my desktop iMac which is not upgraded yet to Yosemite or El Capitan, to a  flash drive and tried to get that on my laptop (upgraded to El Capitan). Didn't help.

     

    Any other ideas?

     

    Thanks,

    Marc

  • by léonie,Solvedanswer

    léonie léonie Jun 28, 2016 7:59 AM in response to mhknee
    Level 10 (105,726 points)
    iLife
    Jun 28, 2016 7:59 AM in response to mhknee
    I have it in 'purchased', but it doesn't allow it, never gets to 'install', only 'open'.

    If you are seeing "Open" you have a version of iPhoto installed. Then it is not possible to get to "Install".

     

    Drag your incompatible iPhoto.app from the Applications folder to the Trash (but don't empty the Trash).

    Eject all backup drives, if there may be another copy of iPhoto backed up.  Then restart the App Store. The button should now be showing "Install".

     

    If you manage to get iPhoto installed, you can try to use its "Repair" function to repair your iPhoto Library before migrating the library to photos.

     

    Do you have enough free storage on your Drive?  The migration might get stuck, because there is not enough storage for the migrated library.