How To Migrate Photo Library Mac

  • 1. Mac Files Tips
  • 2. Mac Software
  • 3. Mac Storage Tips
  • 4. Mac Troubleshooting
  • 5. Mac OS

2017-4-30  I just got a new Mac. I want to transfer or import my photos library from my old Macbook Pro to my new iMac. I copied a small library to my new Mac from my old Mac to see what happens but the Photos app isn't able to see the photos for some reason like. 2016-11-23  Moving a Mac’s Photos Library. Apple’s Photos app lets you create multiple photo libraries. To point the program to the library’s new location, hold down the Mac’s Option key.

People love taking pictures. That's one of the reasons camera phones becomes standard feature. That is also why photo management feature is crucial for any personal computer. And if you are a Mac user, one of the most popular photo management apps is iPhoto.

But sometimes you need to move your iPhoto library. One of the reasons is because photos and videos can quickly fill out your hard drive. So it might be a good idea to store them on the dedicated external drive. Another possible reason is when you want to switch to a more recent Mac version.

How do you move your iPhoto library to another location?

Back Up Your iPhoto Library

Before doing anything to your library, it's better to back it up. If anything happens, you won't lose any of your precious memory. Routine backups also protect you from image files become corrupted or are unintentionally erased from your hard disk.

You can set up an external hard drive and use it with the Time Machine application to back up your photos. The app will automatically make regular backups of your computer, including your entire photo library. Just make sure that you quit iPhoto periodically before backing up or the Time Machine can't do a full backup of your library.

Create a New iPhoto Library Or Switch Between Libraries

One way that you can use to move your iPhoto library is to create multiple libraries. The advantages of taking this path are you can better organize your photos, albums, slideshows, projects (such as books, cards, and calendars), and then switch between the libraries.

For example, you could keep separate libraries for your personal photos and your work photos. Or, if you have a child who takes photos, you can keep his or her photos in a separate library.

The caveat is that you can only modify items (such as albums) or edit photos in one library at a time.

Mac migration

Here are the steps to create a new iPhoto library:

  • Quit iPhoto. Hold down the Option key as you open iPhoto.

  • In the window that appears, click Create New. Type a name and choose a location to store the new photo library. Click Save.

To switch between photo libraries:

  • Quit iPhoto. Hold down the Option key as you open iPhoto.

  • Select the library you want to switch to. Click Choose.

If you want to move photos from one library to another, use this steps:

  • Export the photos from the active library. This action doesn't delete the photos from the library.
  • Switch to the library you want to add them to.
  • Import the photos into the new library.

Move Your iPhoto Library to a New Location/Mac

Even though you can use the multiple libraries tricks to move your photos to a different location, you can also move it by using a simple drag and drop.

  • First, quit iPhoto. In the Finder, choose your home folder (it's usually named after you).
  • Open the Pictures folder (in the home folder) to locate the iPhoto Library file.

For moving iPhoto library to a new location:

  • Drag the iPhoto Library file to a new location on your computer.

  • But the process doesn't stop here. You have to tell iPhoto the new location of the library. Open iPhoto. When it can't find the library, it will ask you the location.
  • In the window that appears, select the library you want, and then click Choose.

For copying iPhoto library to a new Mac:

  • Connect your external hard drive. When it displays on Finder, drag the iPhoto Library folder or package to external hard drive.
  • Eject the hard drive from your old Mac and connect it to this new one.
  • Now open iPhoto on the new computer. Hold down the Option key on the keyboard, and keep the Option key held down until you are prompted to create or choose an iPhoto library.

That's for how to move iPhoto library to a new location or a new Mac. If you unfortunately lost some important photos during the transfer, you can use Any Data Recovery for Mac. This app is a complete Mac data recovery solutions to recover all types of files from Mac's hard drive, including recovering photo on Mac, and also from other portable devices like USB flash drive, external hard drive, SD card, iPhone.

Recover Unlimited Mac Data for You
  • Recover data deleted, formatted or lost on Mac;
  • Restore files from hard drive and external storage devices;
  • Recover data from failed/crashed/dead MacBook;
  • Fully supported latest macOS 10.15 Catalina;
17 10 likes 31,405 views Last modified Jul 14, 2019 4:24 AM

Mac Migration

Your migration from iPhoto to Photos will be smoother, if you take a few precautions.Get started with Photos for OS X - Apple Supportalso see: Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X - Apple Support


How To Migrate Photo Library Mac Download

Before the migration:


  1. Backup: First of all, as always, when upgrading the system, make a full backup, so you can revert to the previous state. Make a Time Machine backup or a bootable clone.
  2. Prepare the library: Ensure that your iPhoto Library has no issues before the migration. Repair the permissions, and repair the database. http://ilifehelp.com/tutorials/iPhoto/rebuild/How.to.rebuild.repair.iPhoto.html
  3. Prepare the volume: If your iPhoto Library is not in your Pictures folder, but on an external drive, check the drive for compatibility. Photos may have problems accessing the drive, if it is on a network volume and not locally mounted. If you are planning to use the library with iCloud Photo Library, the drive must be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled). Move your iPhoto Library to a correctly formatted locally mounted volume, if necessary. Even if you do not want to use iCloud Photo Library, the migration will only work on a correctly formatted drive. (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201517)
  4. Use only locally mounted volumes for the Photos Library: Just like iPhoto or Aperture, the Photos Library cannot be stored in a Cloud storage like Drop Box, iCloud Drive, Google Drive (Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X - Apple Support). Syncing will corrupt the Photos Library.
  5. Metadata - Places: The new Photos.app does not support geotagging as well as iPhoto. The maps are not detailed enough to position the pins correctly, you cannot name places, and you cannot copy locations from one photo and paste the locations onto other photos. If you have photos in your iPhoto Library, that do not yet have GPS locations assigned, add the locations while your library is still in iPhoto. In Photos you will have to fall back on an AppleScript (Script: Copy GPS tags from one Photo to Other Photos).
  6. Metadata - Titles: The batch changing support is still not as good as in iPhoto. If you need to batch change titles or captions, do it in iPhoto, while you can. Batch changing in Photos is very limited. Most importantly, Photos 1 to Photos 3 does not use the filenames as default titles, only titles in the title field. If you want to see the filenames below the thumbnails in Photos like in iPhoto, batch change the titles to the filenames, while you are still running iPhoto. (or use later an AppleScript: Script: Changing the Title to the Filename without Extension) Photos 4.0 can show the filenames below the thumbnails, but you cannot copy and paste them there, only titles.
  7. Events vs. Moments: Photos does not have events, but structures the library by Moments and Collections, which are created automatically, based on the locations and capture dates. It is important to check the dates and locations for consistency, before you migrate. Later it might be difficult to correct them.
  8. Descriptions of Albums: Albums and events will be transferred as albums, but Photos has no description field for the albums. If you need to save descriptions of your albums or events, copy them to the description field of the photos in the albums. Since Photos does not have events, smart albums based on events will not be transferred to Photos.
  9. Smart albums: See: How Photos displays Smart Albums from iPhoto or Aperture - Apple Support Smart albums using keyword rules 'keyword start with ...', keyword ends with ...', 'keyword contains ...', will also not be migrated to Photos correctly as pointed out by the user daiya49, see this discussion: Re: Smart Albums lost keyword criteria when imported from iPhoto to Photos . See here, what will migrate and what not: How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support
  10. Referenced Originals: Photos does support referenced files, and a bit better than iPhoto, but photos with referenced originals cannot be used with iCloud Photo Library. But Photos has no tools to relocate originals to another volume. You cannot turn managed photos into referenced photos. I would stick with a managed library.
  11. Merge your libraries before the migration: Photos does not support the merging of libraries. If you want to merge several libraries into one, do that before you migrate your libraries, for example with Aperture 3 (Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries), if you have it, or the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/Help/merging%20libraries.html


During the Migration


  1. Storage for the new Photos Library: Your new Photos library will be created in the same folder as your original iPhoto Library. Make sure, you have free storage in that location. Photos will not duplicate your original image files from the iPhoto Library, but link to these files to save space: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support
  2. Pick the correct iPhoto Library for the Migration: Photos will migrate the last iPhoto Library you opened before the migration automatically. So switch to the iPhoto library you want to migrate, before you open Photos for the first time.

How To Migrate Photo Library To A New Mac


After the Migration:


  1. Don't delete your old iPhoto Library in a hurry. It does not need much space, and you may need to revert to it, if the migration will not succeed.
  2. If you are missing photos after the migration: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204887
  3. User tips for Photos for Mac: Thematic Index to Photos for Mac related … - Apple Community


Migrated Photo Library Mac

Windows migration

BTW: There is no need to do the migration in a hurry. Both Aperture3.6 and iPhoto 9,6.1 are supported on OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra (some minor issues, and you can no longer order print Products from Aperture) and Mojave. You can continue to use Aperture 3.6 or iPhoto 9.6.1, while you are exploring Photos, so you will know, how to best prepare for the migration. But the writing is on the wall. Do the migration before you upgrade to macOS 10.15 in the fall. Neither iPhoto nor Aperture will probably run on macOS 15, Catalina, to be released next fall. Migrate your Aperture libraries to Photos or Adobe Lightroom Classic - Apple Support


This User Tip by Old Toad lists the differences between iPhoto and Photos as a check list. It can help you decide, if you should migrate to Photos or not: Photos 3.0 vs iPhoto 9.6.1: Features and Capabilities

How To Migrate Photo Library Mac Pro


Good Luck!


One Lap Mac