Store Mac Photos Library

Wondering, “Where does iPhoto store photos?” Well, in this post, you will get to know about the location where it stores your photos, and how find photos on Mac.

Feb 23, 2017 Open the Finder in Mac OS and go to your home directory Go to the “Pictures” folder Locate the file named “Photos Library.photoslibrary” Right-click (or Control+Click) on “Photos Library.photoslibrary” and choose “Show Package Contents”. Mar 10, 2019 To back up your library, you can use Time Machine.And Apple advises against storing the Photos Library on a network share as well, just like previously for iPhoto Libraries and Aperture Libraries.This is documented in: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple SupportYou can store your library on an external storage device, such as a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt drive formatted as MacOS Extended (Journaled).

Nov 13, 2017  Hi 1badpj, So as I understand it, Apple doesn't offer a separate upgrade for Photos, so unless you can find an unofficial fix, you'd be best upgrading your OSX to the same as that from which your Photos library came, if it will be ok for your computer. Fill your library, not your device. ICloud Photos can help you make the most of the space on your Mac. When you choose “Optimize Mac Storage,” all your full‑resolution photos and videos are stored in iCloud in their original formats, with storage-saving versions kept on your Mac as space is needed. Apr 22, 2015  How to use multiple photo libraries with Photos for Mac. Photos for Mac lets you work with multiple libraries. Learn how to choose a default library, open another library, and merge multiple.

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Without any doubts, iPhoto is a useful picture management application by Apple. The app was present in a Mac computer, but it replaced with Photos application in 2015. However, whenever users import photos into iPhoto, the app makes copies of their photos and leaves original files somewhere else where users can’t access easily.

No matter for what reasons you want to know the location where iPhoto stores original pictures whether for backup purpose or to transfer them into another application, you can refer to this guide. Here, we are going to show you where iPhoto stores photos in detail. Also, you will get to learn on how to find photos on Mac computer.

Part 1: Where Does iPhoto Store Photos

So, let’s begin: iPhoto stores your pictures copies in a special folder known as “iPhoto Library”. You can locate in your Mac Home folder and then, Pictures folder. Here are the detailed steps to find the location where iPhoto stores photos:

Step 1 To begin the process, go to the “Finder” in your Mac computer and after that, navigate to your Home directory.

Step 2 Thereafter, if you log-in to your Mac computer with the name “Alex”, the full path to the folder “iPhoto Library” would be Mac HD > Users > Alex > Pictures > iPhoto Library. And right-click on the folder, and then, choose the “Show Package Contents” option.

Where Does iPhoto Store Photos

Step 3 When you reach your iPhoto Library folder, you will see a set of files and folders organised with numbers. All these numbers you see are the originals files creation dates. Look at the below figure to understand.

However, if you are now using an iPhoto newer version known as Photos, then you can locate the photos in a similar way as described above. But, you have to locate the “Photo Library” folder instead of “iPhoto Library” folder. And then, tap on “Masters” to view your pictures set in folders by date.

Part 2: How to Find Photos on Mac and Transfer Photos to Mac

No doubt, iPhoto or Photo application allows you to view pictures on Mac. But, what if you want to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac? Don’t worry as AnyTrans for iOS is here for you. It is mainly designed for iOS data management and transfer. With the help of it, you can manage your iPhone files including photos on Mac easily. Here are its main features and advantages on photos management:

  • Transfer any type of photos: With the help of it, you can move photos in Photo Stream, Camera Roll, Photo Library, Photo Share and Albums from your iPhone to Mac.
  • Support selective transfer: It allows you to move all photos in one go or only selected photos to your Mac.
  • Multi-directional transfer: It allows you to migrate files from computer to iPhone also, and there will be no data and quality loss during transfer.
  • Supports all data types: No matter whether you want to move photos, audios, videos, apps, contacts, or any other data type from your iPhone to Mac, it can do it with ease.

Now, Free Download AnyTrans for iOS on your computer, and then follow the step-by-step guide to view and transfer photos from iPhone to Mac effortlessly.

Free Download * 100% Clean & Safe

Step 1: Connect your iPhone and Mac.

To begin the process, launch the software on your Mac. Then, run it and connect your iPhone to a computer with the help of a digital cable. Next, move to the file category” page as shown in the figure.

How to Find Photo Files on Mac- Step 3

Step 2: Select photo category to transfer.

After that, select “Photos” and then, choose a photo type you want to move to your Mac computer from iPhone. Let’s take an example of Camera Roll.

How to Find Photos on Mac with AnyTrans for iOS – Step 2

Step 3: Transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.

Here, choose the desired pictures you want to move and finally, click on the “Send to Mac button as shown in the figure.

After the process completes, you can view the transferred photos on your Mac.

How to View Photos on Mac

The Bottom Line

That’s all on how to find photo files on Mac and how to transfer them to Mac. Hopefully, this guide helps you to find the location of your iPhoto/Photo original files. However, give a try to AnyTrans for iOS software by downloading and installing it on your PC, and manage your iPhone data in a better and efficient way.

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We take a lot of photos with our iPhones and even DSLRs and other cameras. Photos are great for capturing memories with others, or when you just want to get a snapshot of something beautiful. Photos on Mac can help you keep all of your photos in one place, and even help you organize them.

How to add pictures and videos to albums

If you have a lot of photos and videos, one of the simplest and easiest ways to start organizing everything is to make use of albums, especially when you give them good names. And if you use iCloud Photo Library, all of your albums in Photos for Mac get synced to your iOS devices too.

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.

  2. Click on Photos in the sidebar, under the Library section.

  3. Pick out the photos you want to add to an album, either new or existing.

    • Hold down the command key on your Mac and click to select multiple photos.
  4. Right-click on your chosen photos and videos.
  5. Move the cursor to Add to.

  6. You can choose an existing album, or create new album.

    • If making a new album, give it a good, easy-to-remember name.

Optionally, you can make a new album at any time by clicking the + button that appears in the sidebar next to My Albums. Drag-and-drop the albums in whatever order you want to rearrange them in the sidebar.

How to organize albums and folders

When you have a lot of albums, it may be better to clean it all up by organizing albums into folders, which are like collections of albums. It's easy to do.

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.

  2. Either right-click on My Albums in the sidebar, or hover above and then click on the + button that appears next to My Albums.

  3. Click New Folder.

  4. Give your folder a name.

  5. Drag the albums that you want into that folder.

How to use Smart Albums

Smart Albums are like regular albums, but smarter, obviously. They're great for helping you quickly organize images without the need of manually adding each one to an album because it's all automated.

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.

  2. Right-click on My Albums or click the + button that appears next to My Albums.

  3. Select New Smart Album.
  4. Give your Smart Album a name.

  5. Choose the parameters for your Smart Album.

  6. Click OK to confirm.

Smart Albums have a large number of different parameters, such as photos, faces, aperture, ISO, Live Photo, RAW, Portrait, and more. With all of these options, you can create many different Smart Albums to suit whatever it is you need.

If you're not satisfied with the Smart Album, you can always tweak the settings by clicking on the gear icon that's next to the Smart Album's title, then re-select the parameters you want to use.

Unfortunately, Smart Albums do not sync to your other devices through iCloud Photo Library, as they're only available on your Mac.

How to navigate Photos for Mac faster with the sidebar

The Sidebar in Photos is a great way to quickly jump between various areas in Photos quickly and easily. Plus, it helps you find albums that may otherwise be hidden, so this was a design choice made by Apple.

However, if you are running macOS Sierra and older, you can actually hide or unhide the sidebar as you wish.

Change Photo Library On Mac

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
  2. Click on View in the menu bar.
  3. Select Show Sidebar in the menu.
  4. The sidebar will appear on the left side of the screen.

  5. Follow the steps above to hide it (make sure Show Sidebar is unchecked).

How to navigate moments, collections, and year views in macOS Mojave and earlier

One of the coolest things about Photos is that it intelligently groups all of your photos and videos into moments, collections, and years.

This means that your photos appear in a timeline and are grouped by things like location, or even event. It's a great way to take a look back at your memories and relive those specific moments in time.

The Moments, Collections, and Year views are only available in macOS Mojave and older.

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
  2. Make sure that you're in the Photos view from the sidebar.

  3. Click on Photos, Moments, Collections, or Years buttons at the top of the window.

  4. Click on a section of a Year to move to that Collection, or a section of a Collection to drill down into that Moment, or an item in a Moment to view that image or video in closer detail.

  5. You can also use your keyboard's arrow keys to move between photos and videos in a Moment.

  6. A single click on an item selects it, while a double click takes you to view it.

    Lapack library mac download. Sep 04, 2012  Now, you created a library e.g. Called “lapackMACOS.a”. Copy that file to your library folder by executing sudo cp liblapack.a /usr/local/lib/ Congratulation, you’ve installed BLAS and LAPACK on Mac.

In the Year and Collections views, thumbnails can be small. You can click-and-hold and then drag the cursor in any direction over the thumbnails to get a larger preview. Letting go will take you directly to the image that the cursor was last on.

How to navigate through Years, Months, and Days in macOS Catalina

To replace the previous Moments/Collections/Years view, Catalina changed it to Years, Months, and Days for simplicity.

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.

  2. Make sure you're in the Photos section in the sidebar.

    Source: iMore

  3. Click the Years, Months, or Days buttons at the top of the window. The default view is All Photos.

  4. Clicking on Years lets you see each year as a block. Double-clicking the year takes you into Months.

  5. When you double-click on a Month, you'll drill down into the Days view.

How to create a new library with Photos for Mac

You can create a new library for your photos at any time with Photos for Mac. To do so, make sure that you quit Photos and reopen it with the following method to get the Library options.

Store Mac Photos Library Manager

  1. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard.
  2. Double-click on Photos on your Mac.
  3. Click on the Create New button in the Choose Library window.
  4. Name your Library.

  5. Click OK.

You've now created a brand new Photos Library. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to migrate over photos and video, so you will need to export the content you want, and then import it back into the new library.

How to switch between Libraries in Photos for Mac

When you create a new library, you may still want to go back to a previous library for something. Fortunately, it's easy to switch between multiple libraries.

  1. Make sure that Photos is not open (quit if it is).
  2. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard.
  3. Double-click on Photos.

  4. Click on the name of the library you want to open.

Voilá! Just make sure to repeat this process each time you want to switch to a different Photo library.

How to move your Photos library to an external hard drive

If you're low on storage space on your Mac, you can just move your Photos Library to an external hard drive. Keep in mind though, that you will need to have this external drive plugged in to access your Photos Library, even if you have iCloud Photo Library enabled. And you aren't able to create a second Photos Library that has iCloud Photo Library enabled on your Mac, so be wary.

  1. Launch a Finder window on your Mac.
  2. Click on the Mac hard drive (Macintosh HD) in the sidebar.
  3. Double-click on the Users folder.
  4. Double-click on your username.
  5. Double-click on your Pictures folder.

  6. Click on the Photos Library file and then drag it to your external hard drive in the sidebar.

This process may take a while, depending on how big your Photos library is.

A note on reference libraries

The Photos app technically supports the management of images that aren't locally stored within its library — that is, you can keep a set of images in a folder called 'October Trip' and manage them within Photos without having to make a separate copy of them. You can do this by navigating to Photos > Preferences from the menu bar, selecting the General tab, and unchecking the 'Copy items to the Photos library' box under Importing.

Store

That said, reference libraries won't play nicely with iCloud Photo Library users; you may run into problems when syncing, or not be able to sync at all. So if you plan on using a reference library, you'll have to opt out of iCloud Photo Library.

I also didn't have any luck getting referenced files to sync properly with Photos — I'd delete a photo, but the reference file would stay in its original location, even after deleting it from the 'Recently Deleted' folder. Not sure if that's a bug or just not how Photos wants us managing referenced photos, but worth noting.

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Questions?

Sound off in the comments below!

October 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina.

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