IPhoto Lost Photos

This started out with this problem.
When I did a search in Spotlight or the Finder, the current iPhoto Library does not show up here. It finds a Library that is saved in 2010 in a different location not my current one in iPhoto. This last photo and album in that group was from 2005.
If I go directly to iPhoto and open it I can look through photos and find what however I cannot search and I cannot upload from someplace like Facebook or my own Web site or into an e-mail.
Similar to the problem I have with the Finder.
The Finder that comes up is not correctly identifying my computer either.
This has been happening since I got this new Mac Pro with Lion installed.
THEN, I got some help online and my computer showed I needed to upgrade my iPhoto to '11.
I did so and now all my photos since 2005 are GONE!
Help!

Please reply to your original thread. There is NO reason to start a second thread on this problem.
Thanks.

Similar Messages

Importing Photos From iPhone to iPhoto - Lost Photos

Just wanted to mention that I lost about 10 pictures during an import to iPhoto. When I plugged in the iPhone, iPhoto popped up, as normal. I chose "Select all" and when it was done, I chose "Delete files" from phone. Then the progress bar got stuck on "Finishing import". For several minutes I let it go.. nothing. I opened the Force Quit window and it showed iPhoto was unresponsive so I force quit.
None of the files ever made it onto my iPhoto. Half of those files are gone on my iPhone, half remained. I reset the iPhone and plugged it back in. iPhoto says there are 0 photos on the phone even though there are obviously some.

I had the same problem this morning. iPhoto hung up while "Finishing" an import of photos from the iPhone, and after force quitting iPhoto, more than half my photos failed to show up either on the iPhone or in iPhoto. After reading this topic, I figured the pictures had to be somewhere, so I opened a finder window, clicked "All Images" under "Search For" in the left-hand bar and there they were, apparently filed in "Home/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2009/Oct 31, 2009". I copied the pictures I had "lost" to the desktop and re-imported them with no problems. There's probably an easier way to do it, but that's what worked for me, and I'm happy to have my photos back.

Iphoto lost photo's

I uploaded 4 new events to iphoto accidently using my time machine drive now i have no record of these events on the main drive and as time machine backs up every 2 hours i have lost my photo's. is it possible to find and restore from the time machine backup.

You need to explain exactly what you did
What do you mean by "accidently using my time machine drive"? iPhoto can not access the TM backup of the iPhoto library so this is confusing
I assume that when you say uploaded you are talking about importing??
LN

Iphoto lost photos when it unexpectedly stopped??

Hello,
I recently got a MacBook Pro and it was all going good, until now. So I have a camera and whenever I import my photos, I import them into iphoto. Lately it has been quitting unexpectedly, but it never lost any of my images. This time, I just imported about 400 photos and when it was done importing it asked if i wanted to delete them from my memory card and I said yes. After it deleted them from the memory card, it "quit unexpectedly" and when I re-opened iphoto there was just two folders in my events from what I just imported and nothing in them.
I've looked in last import, trash and folders from the iphoto library in finder. This is really frustrating and I'm wondering if there's a way to save my photos! If anyone knows please help!
Thanks,
Lewx2

Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places 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.
Regards
TD

How can I find a group of lost photos from iPhoto?

When a recent Mac OS X update was installed on my computer which included the new Photo App, my iPhoto upgraded to this new app and was replaced by it on my desktop. In beginning to use the new Photo App, I discovered that it did not have the same editing functions as my iPhoto did. I decided then to go back to iPhoto, but when I opened up my iPhoto I realized in my album list that I had lost about a year’s worth of photos all the way back to the middle of 2013. I then decided to restore my computer to an earlier time using Time Machine so that hopefully my iPhoto would be restored with all of its photos. I went ahead and did this and had to do a rebuild of my iPhoto library to recover the lost photos. When I did this, I was not aware, that I had still lost some other photos out of albums from early September 2014. Before I was aware of this, I also erased my external hard drive and then did a backup because I kept getting messages in my computer that the computer could not do additional back up’s because there was not room on the external hard drive.
Earlier today, I tried to retrieve some photos out of albums from that. In early September 2014 and found that the album listed the photo number but there was no thumbnail and when I clicked on the photo it just brought up a silver triangle on black with an exclamation point in the middle indicating that that photo could not be found. I did a command option press and opened up iPhoto and I completed all of the various rebuilding and restoring options all the way up to and including restored iPhoto database. When I had completed all of this I found that I was still missing those photos, several hundred. I am wondering if these photos are still on my hard drive someplace. I could not restore them from the external hard drive because I had erased earlier backup versions, as I indicated. Is it possible for me to find and restore these photos? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.-MP

You created a mess and there is no solution - with the actions you have taken those photos are gone unless you have access to them from some other source - they existed in two place - in your iPhoto library and on your backup drive - you have traded the backup drive and restore an earlier iPhoto library so all you have is what you have
LN

For reasons best left unsaid, in a recent rebuild of my iMac andTime Capsule, I lost all my photos. I do however currently have them on my iPad. Is it possible to retrieve all my photos from the iPad back to iPhotos (now Photos) on my iMac?

For reasons best left unsaid, in a recent rebuild of my iMac and Time Capsule, I lost all my photos. I do however have them all currently on my iPad. Is it possible to retrieve my photos from the iPad back to iPhotos (now Photos) on my iMac?

have the photos on the iPad been taken with the iPad camera or imported using the camera connection kit?
Or have they been synced to the iPad with iTunes?
You can download any photos to your mac by connecting the iPad by USB to to your Mac and import to Phots, but this way only photos from the Camera Roll will be imported. If your photos have been synced with iTunes, you can only mail them to your mac.
See: iOS: Syncing photos using iTunes
You can't reimport pictures synced from your computer to your device back to your computer. You can only import pictures taken by your device, or saved to it, from your device to your computer. If you need to retrieve synced photos from your device, email the photos from the device to yourself. Then download the photos from the emails to your computer.

Time Machine on my iMac won't open iPhoto. It goes to desktop screen automatically. When I select User/Picture/Iphoto library it only brings up the preview page with the size of the folder. I can't get into the library to look for lost photos.

Time Machine on my iMac won't open iPhoto. It goes to desktop screen automatically. When I select User/Picture/Iphoto library it only brings up the preview page with the size of the folder. I can't get into the library to look for lost photos.

Thank You. This helps me alot to get into the masters and to see events and photos in a utilitarian way, but it is not as easy as viewing the normal iphoto format to find photos. Can I do something else or did I not do something right to not see normal iphoto in Time Machine ?

Lost photos in iPhoto? Please help?

My mac: OS X 10.8.2
My iphoto: iphoto '11 version 9.4.2
I uploaded some photos from my Canon eos 50D to iphoto. They were there that day, I was able to send a few to my friends and even watched the slideshow. So, they were definitely there.
However, today I checked the album again and they are gone.And funny how only 1 photo is left.
I checked the Masters folder and it's true that only that 1 photo is left in that folder.
I saw some other discussion about iphoto lost Canon photos.
Here are a few things I think may cause the problem:
     - I copied the iphoto library to a portable hard-drive ( WD elements ). When I connect the Canon camera to my Mac, I import the photos in the library that is IN that USB. I even remembered import the photos in my Mac, then copy that album in the USB, then delete the original album on mac from the Trash folder. Does this permanently delete those?
     - I remembered reset the date on my camera. Does this make the previous photos change somehow, and iphoto couldn't recognize them by dates?
     - I do have back up on Time Machine, but I can't restore those lost photos using the back up.
Thank anyone if you can help me with this problem

There are 9 different versions of iPhoto and they run on 9 different versions of the Operating System. The tricks and tips for dealing with issues vary depending on the version of iPhoto and the version of the OS. So to get help you need to give as much information as you can. Include things like:
- What version of iPhoto.
- What version of the Operating System.
- Details. As full a description of the problem as you can. For example, if you have a problem with exporting, then explain by describing how you are trying to export, and so on.
- History: Is this going on long? Has anything been installed or deleted? - Are there error messages?
- What steps have you tried already to solve the issue.
- Anything unusual about your set up? Or how you use iPhoto?
Anything else you can think of that might help someone understand the problem you have.

When my photos were moved from iPhoto to Photos in the last system upgrade, they lost all their titles. How can I restore them?

In the latest Yosemite upgrade, my photos were migrated from iPhotos to Photos and lost all their titles. How can I restore them?

There is an Applescript, File Name to Title, provided by user léonie that will put the file name of any selected photos into the Title field for that photo. If there already is a title in that field under the thumbnail it will not replace it with the file name.
tell application "Photos"
activate
set imageSel to (get selection) -- get a list of selected images
set counter to 1
set currentfilename to ""
if imageSel is {} then
error "Please select an image."
else
repeat with im in imageSel
set title to the name of im
if not (exists (title)) then
set currentfilename to the filename of im as text -- retrieve the filename of image "Im"
set newname to currentfilename & "." & counter
set counter to counter + 1 -- increment the counter
set the name of im to newname -- write the newname to the title field
end if
end repeat
end if
return currentfilename -- return the filename of the last image
end tell
Copy the script above, open Applescript Editor and past it into the open window. Compile and save as an Applescript application. Put the app in the Applications folder and drag into the Dock. Now you can select images in Photos and launch the app from the Dock and it will do it's thing. It is a bit slow so can take some time for a large number of images depending on the speed of your Mac.
Just to be on the safe side create an album with a few titled and untitled photos and run it on them.

IPhoto Upgrade - Photos Lost

I've read threads regarding lost photos when upgrading to iPhoto '11, but do not see a fix that I understand.
My photos appear to be gone, although their titles are still there. I've tried to repair/import them, but the app hangs at the end.
What can be done? Thanks for simple instructions. :-)

Apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
1 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
iPhoto 8 (09) and earlier- run the options indicated
iPhoto 9 (11) and later- run Option #4 to rebuild the database
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download iPhoto Library Manager (iPhoto 8 or earlier or IPhoto 11 and later) and launch.
2 - click on the Add Library button and select the library you want to add in the selection window..
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the
File ➙ Rebuild Library (iPhoto 8 or earlier)
or
Library ➙ Rebuild Library (iPhoto 9 or later)
menu option to rebuild the library.
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT

Hi - we have 'lost' photos in the iphoto library

Hi - we have 'lost' photos in the iphoto library & relevant albums & slideshows frm 2009-2012; they are shown as empty. Older photos (pre 2009) were backed up & are all there in the library, album and slideshows although jumbled up in the library - this totals 1239 items, when there should be 10,000. We don't really know when this occurred - although photos from August 2011 were put on the computer around Xmas time - since that period this has occurred. Also when we try to open a 'empty' slideshow, the iphoto application often automatically closes.
OS is v10.4.11, iphoto v6.0.6.
Only 3.5GB of 149GB is free on HD.
Restarting didn't help.
We have a LaCie external HD which we were going to use to do a backup and to transfer the Iphoto library across to, to then delete older photos in the main Mac HD and free up space; this is when we noticed the lost photos. We have not plugged in the external HD at all yet.
Pls help. Thanks

Hi Barry
thanks for your response.
After digging around the pictures folder on the mac HD I found all the rolls located under pictures/iphotolibrary/originals - here it appears all recent photos are present in folders by year, and can be viewed in preview as jpegs.
Before trying a rebuild of the iphoto library - and viewing various related posts- I did a drag and drop of the entire pictures folder onto a external hard drive as a back up.
I have now tried to do a rebuild with the original mac HD iphoto folder but it is still the same - only early pre 2009 photos shown.
I have tried to create a new iphoto library using the external HD - When I try to create a new iphoto library from the external HD it only shows the same as the one currently on the mac HD however if go to next level down and I select the originals folder it appears that all 16000 photos are now being imported but none of the albums and slideshows are retained.
Any further thoughts on this?
Thanks

Lost photos after iPhoto library rebuild - what happened?

After noticing that there were albums entitled Recovered photos in my iPhoto library, I deleted those albums. As expected, i got a message that i was not really deleting the originals, just getting rid of such albums. There were about 5 of those "recovered albums": one contained about 30 photos; three had zero and another had over 1000 photos. Subsequent to that, thinking of making this library totally clean, I decided to do a "libraty rebuild" using the option-command rebuild procedure of iphoto. I checked all the options presented for that procedure. To my surprise, when the process was finished I had less events, and less photos. A careful visual check of the display pane of events and photos confirmed that i had lost actual photos. I tried to reclaim those lost photos with another rebuild -- this time using iphoto library manager, but without success. What happened? Is there any way to reclaim those lost photos?
I do have a backup, but would prefer to correct the problem in the original library to avoid having to assemble and clean up duplicates that i had before.
I'm using the newest version of iPhoto: 8.1 and OS X 10.5.8 on a MacBook 2.4 Ghz - 2Gb Ram - 250 GB HD, 42 GB available. My iPhoto library has over 12000 photos

Why these things happen is always difficult to answer. My experience with iPhoto is using it since v1 on with a single library that's upgraded each new versions and migrated from G4 iMac to G5 iMac to Intel iMac and then a second Intel iMac. I load photos in, my wife does and my 12 year old does too.
And never had a problem.
The database gets corrupted when the app is interrupted when writing to it. The usual causes of this include a crash, a force quit or a lost connection to the Library on an external disk. More rarely minor disk or directory damage might be a cause.
I wondered when I read your report
Subsequent to that, thinking of making this library totally clean, I decided to do a "libraty rebuild" using the option-command rebuild procedure of iphoto. I checked all the options presented for that procedure.
The options presented for that procedure include various items that require the app to read the database file plus this one
Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
+I Wonder+ - I stress, I wonder, no more - if reading to rebuild various thumbnails from a file that is being vacuumed +while at the same time+ is being replaced by a backup is what caused the issue.
If it is, then the Rebuild from Back Up option should be sandboxed and not possible while the other events are going on.
But that's just a guess.
Regards
TD

Lost photos from iphoto library

I backed up my iphoto library from my old macbook to an external hard drive and now imported it to my new imac. When I open iphoto all thumbnails show up, but when I click on a photo a black picture with an exclamation mark shows up. Some photos open fine, most won't.
I tried rebuilding iphoto with iphoto's own rebuild and with iphoto library manager, both with same results: only 2000 of my 9000 photos showed up!
I did have a problem when first time trying to move files from the external hard drive - Lacie 1tb usb- once it was unplugged without first being ejected, and also it made my computer crash few times and I had to reboot the imac. I suspect this had something to do with the lost photos.
Is there a way to get these photos back?

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
The photos should still be in the library package file.
You may need to start over with a new Library:
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.
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
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.
Regards
TD
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.

IPhoto keeps asking me to import 2 lost photos everytime I open it

iPhoto keeps asking me to import 2 lost photos everytime I open it,
allowing me to choose yes/no, yes - save to a new recovery, no - save in a flie directory
and in which the two photos are gone ages ago,
it's causing me so much troubles.
What can I do?

quit iPhoto and go to your iPhoto library and right click (control click) on it and select "show package contents" - look through it and find the folder named import (or importing) and drag it to the desktop - make NO other changes of any sort
Close that and launch iPhoto - you will be fine - you can then trash the import(ing) folder form the desktop (or open it to be sure it has no photos you want in it)
LN

IPhoto- force quit, lost photos

Yesterday I was uploading pictures from a recent trip off my Nikon D60 into my iPhoto library. The upload was almost finished and it asked me if I wanted to "keep originals" or "delete originals." I pressed "delete originals" as I always do to get the pictures off my camera and free up space. It's almost done deleting and finishing up the upload, but then my iPhoto freezes and stops responding, so I'm forced to force quit. I re-open my iPhoto and none of the pictures had uploaded. I check my camera and 4/5ths of my photos are gone. I uploaded the pictures I had left into my iPhoto and it worked.
But is there any way to get back the lost photos? Please help!

Anna
Welcome to the Apple user to user assistance forums
It is strongly recommended that you never have iPhoto (or any other computer program) delete your photos for exactly the reason you are posting about - software or hardware failures can lose photos
A much better practice is to upload the photos the camera to iphoto and unmount the camera - verify that the photos are safe and sound in iPhoto and then use your Camera's format command to reformat the card thereby renewing the care format and erasing the photos
An even better practice is to use a USB card reader to upload your photos instead of the camera - it is safer and usually faster
Media Recover - http://www.mediarecover.com/ - probably can recover your photos - download it and run the trial version to see what you can recover - to actually recover the photos you must purchase the software
LN
Message was edited by: LarryHN

IPhoto Lost Photos

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