HELP I've lost ALL my photos!

Please can somebody help me. I don't know what's happened but I opened iPhoto today while I had some other photo files on the desktop and when iPhoto opened it didn't have a single photo in it. The file names are still there but there is no memory being used. I've since found that they're there in the pictures file under iPhoto Library but I can't get them to go back into iPhoto and can only open them as tiny photos with preview. I have also found another file called Library.iPhoto which is only 1.1mb but I don't think it's where the pictures are. The other weird thing is that the iPhoto Library is 7.09GB - I don't have that muh memory on my computer let alone in the photos I've stored. I'm also not technical so I might need talking through this. Thanks Siouxie
imacG5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)
imacG5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I don't know how to help but I have also lost all of my photos today. I am using IPHOTO 5.0.4
When I clicked on I photo a window came up asking if I wanted to make IPHOTO my prefernece for digital cameras. I clicked yes. When into Iphoto and everything is gone. Photos. Books. Everything. It is acting like I just installed it and I have had it since November.
Does anyone else have this problem???

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Just to add to my enquiry above...
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Hello There,
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Is there an item named "iPhoto Library.photo library" or similar in your "Pictures" folder, showing with an icon like a fan of pictures?
Or did you store your iPhoto Library in a different folder, perhaps on an external drive?
if you cannot find your iPhoto Library search for it with Find Any File, as described by Old Toad in this post:
Re: My iphoto library has disappeared. How do I find it?
Old ToadFeb 4, 2014 9:05 PM
Re: My iphoto library has disappeared. How do I find it?in response to onpurpose
Download and use Find Any File to search for a file named "iPhoto6.Library". It's a file unique to all iPhoto libraries.
FAF an search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, packages and system files. If there's another iPhoto library hiding somewhere on your hard drive FAF will find it.
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Hello,
I lost all my Photo's in IPHOTO today
I will try to outline what I have done. Some months ago I took old photograph-files of my windows computer by means of an external hard disk. Afterwards I had the following experience: each time that I started Iphoto I received a note "13 photos have been found in the iPhoto Library that were not imported." Then it tells me "The photos have been placed in a folder. The folder is stored in my file/images/library/no..... it counts up every day. Today it reached no. 56. I tried to throw away all that garbage. By means of finder I have gone to the images/library and saw those 56 items listed there. I wanted them all thrown away at the same time. I have slid them then all 56 in each other, then you hear a sound of 'plik' every time and when done I dragged to the dustbin. As I returned to Iphoto, everything was empty 244 folders with over 28,000 photo' s. The files are all grey. If I select a photo then I get a light grey screen with !-sign. What remaine are the file-names and the numbering of the 28,000 photo's. So I have 28,000 grey screens but without the photo's that correspond with them.
I tried to import Photo's with the Iphoto- archive-import button from the library in finder. But there were only the 56 files with the 13 photo's that could'nt be opened every time I started Iphoto.
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FileSalvage will only find image files. You won't be able to recover your library as it was previously.
The Originals folder will be inside the iPhoto Library package. You can open the package like this. Look inside the Originals folder and it's subfolders for your image files. If they are not there then continue with FileSalvage. If you find that your image files are still inside their subfolders you can partially recreate your library as follows:
Creating a new library while preserving the Events from the original library.
Move the existing library folder to the desktop.
Open the library package like this.
Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
Drag the Originals folder from the iPhoto Library on the desktop into the open iPhoto window.
This will create a new library with the same Events as the original library if you have the Finder checkbox unchecked in the Events preference pane.
In the future NEVER go inside the iPhoto LIbrary package from the finder and consider using the tip at the end of my signature below.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.≤br>
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

I just came back from a family vacation and tried to sync my phone to my laptop. It didnt recognize my phone, and did i want to add device or restore to old device. i chose to restore and in doing so, i lost all the photos taken on our vacation.

i just came back from a family vacation and tried to sync my phone to my laptop. It didnt recognize my phone, and did i want to add device or restore to old device. i chose to restore and in doing so, i lost all the photos taken on our vacation. is there a way to retrieve photos? the completely disappeared from my iphone altogether. I am using iphone 5. I did not have any backup since I was about to download the photo. Please help me. Thank you

See:
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities

Lost All My Photos! "Error occurred while trying to save .."

Hi. I'm in total panic mode right now as it appears I have lost all my photos.
I did a quick search here and came across a couple of threads, but I'm not sure if the info contained in them is going to help me.
I was using iPhoto and double clicked on a photo to enlarge it to show it to a friend and then I got the following message: "An error has occurred while trying to save your photo library. Some recent changes may be lost. Make sure your hard disk has enough space & that iPhoto is able to access the iPhoto Library". After this, all my photos in all the events & albums disappeared ... no status bar indicating anything was being processed ... nothing.
I have my iPhoto Library on my 1TB Western Digital Hard Drive and the drive kept whirring as if processing something (this sound is common but it just kept going). I quit iPhoto, put the iMac to sleep & a minute later woke it up. The HD started whirring again & I opened up iPhoto ... still no photos. I dragged the external HD to the trash to eject it & unplugged it. I then re-connected it & still nothing. I have two "my book" icons in the left panel when I open up my Mac HD and one of them I can't get rid of as it says the volume can't be found. I'm guessing this is from when I tried to eject the HD. I am going to try re-starting my Mac. I also right clicked on the iPhoto icon to check the properties & even though I have no photos, it spent a couple of minutes (like it usually does) trying to calculate the size of the library ... so I'm hoping that the photos are somewhere.
I have 16gb left on my iMac HD & 476gb on the external HD. I have no clue what happened and I had over 160gb in my iPhoto Library.
Where should I look to try and find the photos if they have just been hidden (I hope) or am I totally out of luck? I have backups of some of the photos but not everything ...
If anyone can offer some suggestions I'd be very grateful.
Thanks for your time.
Take care,
Brent

Brent
You’re having two problems there, I think. One is with the disk. You’re not going anywhere with the other until you can get that to mount.
Assuming you can, it sounds like the database has been damaged:
Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords 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.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new *iPhoto 08* library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Regards
TD

When I updated to iOS 8.3 I lost all shared photo albums on my iPad Air. Other devises which I shared to still have access to photo albums but my iPad does not, therefore I can no longer add or delete to shared albums. I can create new shared albums.

When I updated to iOS 8.3 I lost all shared photo albums on my iPad Air. Other devises which I shared to still have access to photo albums but my iPad does not, therefore I can no longer add or delete to shared albums. I can create new shared albums.

Hello JimS19,
I'm sorry to hear you are having these issues with your iPad. If you are having issues accessing your Shared Albums from your iPad (but not from your other devices), you may want to double-check your iCloud Photo Sharing configuration as outlined in the following articles, just to make sure it hasn't changed:
iCloud Photo Sharing FAQ - Apple Support
Get help using iCloud Photo Sharing and shared albums - Apple Support
Sincerely,
- Brenden

HELP I've lost ALL my photos!

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