Lost the iphoto library

Yesterday we went into Iphoto and it would not open because it stated it could not find the library. I had been into it several days ago and all was well. I had downloaded some new pictures from the camera and all the old pictures were there like they should be. So I tried searching for the library but I could not find the pictures that were previously there. All the albums that were there previously could not be found. There was a library that I finally found but it did not have the recent pictures that had been downloaded from the camera. To be honest the pictures in this library were ones I thought I had burned to a CD and then deleted from Iphoto.
Can anyone tell me where the old library went with the recent picture. Like a fool I deleted them from the camera thinking I was okay. Now I am in trouble. Help please!!!

Larry,
Every iPhoto Library folder will have the file iPhoto.db in it. Even if the data file is damaged Spotlight will still find it by it's name.
On the library/libraries you do find this way, I want you to navigate through them and see if your images might still be there in the finder.
This is a view of how the iPhoto Library looks in the Finder.
It is organized by Year folders. Inside the Year folders are Month folders. Inside the Month folders are the days of the Month. Inside the day folders are the photos you took on that day. If you imported video clips and RAW files on that day they will be in an Originals folder. If you have edited any photo imported on that day, the original will be in that folder also.

Similar Messages

  • Lost the iphoto library and all the photos

    I have recently installed some updates and upgraded to Yosemite 10.10.1.  When I opened up Iphoto today there was no library and therefore no photos. I've searched the whole computer and can't find any jpegs so the library hasn't been moved.
    I have been using the Time Machine with an external hard drive but today when I plugged in the drive to try to restore iphoto from my back up, the drive won't show, it's not recognised.
    Has anybody got any ideas on what I can do to find my photos?

    Restart your system and try again
    This is not an iphoto issue - it is either  a TM issue or an issue with you computer - maybe something here will help - https://www.apple.com/support/timemachine/ - or here - http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    LN

  • I lost all my photos, while repairing the Iphoto library lost most photos.. help!!!

    Hi all!
    It seemed I made several stupid choices while I was trying to repair iphoto.
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    2. All photos were gone
    When I reopened Iphoto, all photos were gone(it seemed like.)
    3. The photos were there
    So I googled like a maniac, found apple discussion. Checked iphoto library, and package contents. The photos were still in Old masters folder. The library was nearly 354gb or something.
    4. Backing up
    So I found a way, "repairing database". I tried follow people's suggestion, back up before you repair. So I was trying to back up with my timemachine, but again it was saying it's backing up for 459 something GB, and I didn't have enough space in my hard drive, so I didn't back up.(stupid choice).
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    5. Repair database
    Then I was trying to repair or rebuild database, and......when it was loading my enormous amount of photos 130,000photos, it was saying there might not be enough space in my startup disk, DO YOU WANT TO CONTINUE? and I said....yes.
    6. Importing photos
    So when it was doing its job, importing from the library, several hours passed. Then it said there's not enough space, and it stopped.
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    But I don't want to loose them. I came to Kenya to build a children's library transforming an old bus, and the lost photos are when we are painting outside of the bus. The most fun part.
    9. HELP
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    10. additional information
    I deleted many files to have some space. When I check about this Mac, the storage shows back ups are 400 something GB.. why???
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    Bobae.

    The fact that the original files are in the "Old Masters" folder is an indication that you got bit by a bug in iPhoto that occurs when an import is interrupted. 
    I recommended a possible fix to another user but haven't heard back from them as to whether or not it worked. It consisted of:
    1 - move the "masters" folder to the Desktop.
    2 - rename "Old Masters" to "Masters"
    3 - rebuild the library with iPLM with the option to scavenge any orphaned photos.
    It is a long shot but worth a try.
    If that doesn't work you'll need to start over with a new library and import the contents of the "Old Masters" folder, several sub folders at a time.

  • I had original iPhoto app from 2007, but in the last year it stopped working seemingly out of nowhere.  Now I just installed iPhoto 9.5.1 but it won't open even after downloading the iPhoto Library Updater.  My pictures are lost in the abyss.

    I had original iPhoto app from 2007 or 2008, but in the last year it stopped working seemingly out of nowhere.  Now I just installed iPhoto 9.5.1 but it won't open even after downloading the iPhoto Library Updater.  My pictures are lost in the abyss.
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    I just installed iPhoto 9.5.1 but it won't open even after downloading the iPhoto Library Updater
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  • 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.
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    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.
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    Any further thoughts on this?
    Thanks

  • I have deleted the iphoto library and lost my photo's......

    i have deleted the iphoto library and cleared my trash and now all my photo's are gone. I have bought software to retrieve deleted data but not sure what file I am looking for. Can anybody help?

    best solution is to restore yoru backup form before you made this error - that is the reason you must always have a good backup
    If you don't you should start backing up immediately
    to use the photos you recovered you look for photos (typically they have a .jpg or .jpeg extention to the name - and select the largest version  of each photo and import it into iPhoto
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  • How can I back up the iPhoto library when iPhoto won't open and I can't simply copy the iPhoto library packet because "some of the data in the packet cannot be read from or written to"?

    How can I back up the iPhoto library when iPhoto won't open and I can't simply copy the iPhoto library packet because "some of the data canny be read from or written to"?

    Regarding not being able to open iPhoto.  As a test  launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and create a new, test library. Were you able to create a new library?
    If so then your current library is damaged and needs to be repaired.
    Apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
    Fix #1
    Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
    Since only one option can be run at a time start
    with Option #4 and then #1 as needed.
    Fix #2
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
    2 - click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
    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 menu option.
    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

  • Installed YOSEMITE. Lost entire iPhoto Library on my iMac. Tried Apple's UPGRADER 6 times. No LUCK. Please help.

    Installed YOSEMITE. Lost entire iPhoto Library on my iMac. Tried Apple's UPGRADER 6 times. No LUCK. Please help.

    Your iPhoto library is usually kept in your pictures folder.  Did you look there?  If it is still there then you did lose your photos.  Just need to get the iPhoto app at the latest level.

  • Is the iPhoto Library Safe?

    I currently have my iPhoto library and separate copies of the photos. As this is doubling up on everything, I was wondering how safe the iPhoto library actually is? Is total corruption possible and then if I didn't have separate files elsewhere all would be lost? What are your thoughts?

    You're welcome!
    yes, the iPhoto Library is a bundled package, disguised as a single file. And iPhoto is maintaining the databases inside, that describe how the edited versions, originals, thumbnails are related.  Be very careful, when you access the files inside. Just look, don't modify.
    Terence Devlin has written some very useful user tips, that describe the iPhoto Library:  See the links below:
    iPhoto and File Management
    How to Access Files in iPhoto
    Exporting From iPhoto

  • How do i get my Nikon photos from viewNX 2 into the iPhoto library?

    1. How do I get my Nikon photos from ViewNX 2 into the iPhoto Library?
    2.I tried by copying them and moving to the iphoto folder. Now the Iphoto applicationwon't open because it is locked. the help item says to open it with command option keys down to get the iphoto library First aid window. it does not come up.

    How did you add the photos to the iPhoto Library folder?  The way to import photos is to drag them onto the iPhoto icon in the Dock or into the open iPhoto window.  
    it does not come up.
    What does not come up?  What happens when you try to launch iPhoto with those two keys held down?
    Try the following again being sure to hold those keys down before launcing iPhoto and until the window opens:
    Apply the two fixes below in order as needed: 
    Fix #1
    Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
    Since only one option can be run at a time start with Option #3, followed by #4 and then #1 as needed.
    Fix #2
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
    2 - click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
    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 menu option.
    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

  • Loss of photos resulting from rebuilding the iPhoto library?

    On behalf of myself and Susan Pease: Can following the directions to rebulild the iPhoto library (by holding down the option and shift keys while opening iPhoto) result in a loss of the photos? Is there some precaution we should take to make sure that the photos are not lost?

    Hi, aag. I didn't make myself clear, at least not to you. Inside your personal Home folder on your hard drive is a Pictures folder, and inside the Pictures folder is an iPhoto Library folder. You can see this folder structure by visiting your Home folder in the Finder. What I was advising against in my prior post is opening that iPhoto Library folder in the Finder and adding, deleting or moving any of its contents. Don't do that.
    When iPhoto is open, what it displays is the contents of that folder. It expects to find them exactly as they were the last time you closed iPhoto, and it counts heavily on finding them structured exactly the way it structured them the last time you ran it. If you have changed anything in there while iPhoto wasn't running, you're going to have trouble: iPhoto won't load the library, it won't display all your pictures, some of your albums may be missing or incomplete, etc.
    "Nobody has any business in there except iPhoto itself" means that the only methods you should use to tweak, edit, delete, import, copy, export or organize the photos in your iPhoto Library folder are the methods offered by iPhoto itself when it's running†. When iPhoto isn't running, leave your iPhoto Library closed and stay out of it.
    † Note that, at least in iPhoto 4 (I'm not familiar with iPhoto 2), these allowable methods include the designation of a different application for use in iPhoto's Edit mode, allowing you to use Photoshop, GraphicConverter, etc. to tweak your photos without removing them from iPhoto's control. But under no circumstances should you import a photo from your camera into Photoshop or GC and then save it in your iPhoto Library folder without opening iPhoto and importing it properly. And similarly, you should never open one of the photos in your library with another application, make changes to it, and resave it in the same place (or worse, a different place in that folder) without going through iPhoto to do so.
    If you can train yourself to think of the iPhoto Library folder as a locked box to which only iPhoto has the key, you'll be doing yourself a big favor.

  • Unreadable Files, The file is in the Iphoto library

    This morning my wife imported three sets of photos (from her ipad, her phone, the digital camera). 
    She did this in her user profile.  At that moment all the photos were visible in iphotos. 
    This afternoon, when we went to see them again they were not visible.  The fotos in the last import were from several days ago.  I was able to find the imported files in the finder.  Once I had them located, I opened iphotos, and tried to import them.  But I get an error message.  It reads:
      Unreadable File.  The following file could not be imported.  The file is in the iPhoto Library.
    I am using iphoto '11, version 9.2.1
    The imported files are in iPhoto Library - Thumbnails - 2013 - 04 - 13 - 20130413
    My user is the administrator but my wife's user profile had no restrictions.
    Thanks,
    Dave

    You've determined that the files have already been imported into the library but iPhoto has messed up it's database and can't find them.  So do the following:  apply the two fixes below in order as needed: 
    Fix #1
    Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
    Since only one option can be run at a time start with Option #3, followed by #4 and then #1 as needed.
    Fix #2
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
    2 - click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
    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 menu option.
    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

  • HELP! Copied the iPhoto Library folder to backup, but files are smaller

    Help! To get more space on my laptop, I copied some photos to a backup hard drive, following the instructions in iPhoto help: "Copy the iPhoto Library folder on your hard disk to another disk." I then deleted many of the photos from my laptop.
    Now I'm looking at the photo files on the backup hard drive, and noticing that they are much smaller in size than the originals, for example 45 KB versus 1.1 MB. I tried a test photo by copying a photo from the hard drive back into iPhoto on my laptop, then opened the photo next to the original. Much smaller resolution!
    Then I go to the laptop's iPhoto Library Folder (where all the photos are supposed to reside) and find this particular photo, and sure enough, it shows that the file size is indeed much smaller (45 KB) than the photo information shows when I have the photo open in iPhoto (1.1 MB).
    So what's going on? Have I lost the detailed information on all of the backed-up photos, or does iPhoto get more information from somewhere? Am I really backing up everything when I follow the iPhoto Help instructions and just copy the iPhoto Library Folder?

    Welcome to the Apple Discussions. It sounds as if you copied the Data folder only which contains the thumbnail files. If you don't have a backup or the entire library or the original files I'm afraid you're out of luck. You could try recovering them from the HD (if you haven't used it much since deleting the image files) with SubrosaSoft FileSalvage. It will let your run it in demo mode to see what files, if any, can be recovered before you have to purchase it.
    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. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. 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.
    Note: There's now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

  • I photo and the iphoto library

    Guys -
    Being fairly new and inexperienced with the whole iphoto thing i think i have mad "a fatal error". Allow me to explain...
    I have put a several dozen pictures into iphoto and begun organising events. all going well..
    There were some pics i didnt want so deleted them - and found them in iphoto trash - so i deleted them too. Thought everything was fine so i was browsing in the finder and found the option "all photo" clicked there and the deleted ones were there too..this is where i did something stupid - inadvertantly - i selected them all and deleted them - sent them to trash - and then emptied trash - Ahh - i know what your all saying! When i realised what happened i couldnt open iphoto any more - i think i deleated that too! So had to reinstall iphoto from the install disc - that went well - now - when i use the finder and browse to iphoto library the library size is nearly 50mb - which COULD suggest my pics are still there - but when i open iphoto now my events are shown with the correct number of pictures in each event - but no pics - is there a way of importing the iphoto library containing this 50mb - back into iphoto - ive tried the iport function and i browse to the iphoto library but cant select it. Any ideas of have i just been a numpty and lost all my pictures??!!

    I wish that 'All Images' link in the SideBar did not exist at all. It's causing more grief than it is worth.
    That's a saved search. It's no way to access your images - especially if you use iPhoto. Please ignore it from now on.
    If your iPhoto Library is 50 mb then you have maybe 30 photos in there? Does that sound right?
    SOme background: iPhoto is a database. This is why your Events are reporting the correct number of images - they are entered in the db, but I'm afraid you trashed your images.
    iPhoto will not import from the active Library - to prevent duplication.
    I think the best you can do now is start over. You're posting in the v6 forum, but as you refer to Events (a v7 feature) I'll guess that you're using that.
    To create and populate a new 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 *and only 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

  • I know some of my photos have NOT been imported in to the iPhoto library. How can I find which ones?

    In error, for a period, I had iPhoto set up such that photos were not imported into the iPhoto library but left scattered around my iMac. How can I find which ones without selecting each individual photo - there are nearly 9,000?

    Are you able to view them in full size in the library, i.e. don't get this
    when you try to view the photo in full size?  If you can then you can do the following to consolidate all of the master image files inside the library.
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.>Click on the Add Library button,
    2 -  select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.
    3 - make sure that in the rebuild window the checkbox  "Scavange orphaned photos" is checked.
    4 - now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
    5 - in the next  window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed. Click on the Create button.
    Note 1: 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.
    Note 2:  Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

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