A quick check on our photos reveals that indeed that they’re synced and now show up in our Photos library on our Mac, just like they do on our iPad. It’s important to note that, you don’t have to use iCloud integration and it can be turned off if you want in the Preferences.
I’m finding that there are photos EVERYWHERE on these two machines—Photos library, iPhoto library, Photo Booth library, multiple file folders on dozens of different levels and in countless. FoneLab Data Retriever is the ultimate data recovery to retrieve photo library on Mac, hard drive, flash drive, memory card, digital camera and more. Moreover, you can restore deleted photos, documents, emails, videos and others with ease. Restore deleted or lost. Screenshot: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac. To create a new photo library, click on the Create New. Button, and then name your new library something useful to help you remember. The default is Photos.
Prepare your drive
You can store your library on an external storage device, such as a USB or Thunderbolt drive formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). However, you can't move your library to a disk that's used for Time Machine backups. Find out how to check the format of your external storage device.
To prevent data loss, Apple doesn't recommend storing photo libraries on external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives, or drives that are shared on a network.
Move your Photos library to an external storage device
- Quit Photos.
- In the Finder, go to the external drive where you want to store your library.
- In another Finder window, find your library. The default location is Users > [username] > Pictures, and it's named Photos Library.
- Drag your library to its new location on the external drive. If you see an error, select your external drive's icon in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info. If the information under Sharing & Permissions isn't visible, click the triangle button , then make sure the 'Ignore ownership on this volume' checkbox is selected. If it's not selected, click the lock button to unlock it, enter an administrator name and password, then select the checkbox.*
- After the move is finished, double-click Photos Library in its new location to open it.
- If you use iCloud Photo Library, designate this library as the System Photo Library.
Delete original library to save space
After you open your library from its new location and make sure that it works as expected, you can delete the library from its original location.
In a Finder window, go back to your Pictures folder (or whichever folder you copied your library from) and move Photos Library to the trash. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash to delete the library and reclaim disk space.
Open another Photos library

If you have multiple libraries, here's how to open a different one:
- Quit Photos.
- Press and hold the Option key while you open Photos.
- Select the library that you want to open, then click Choose Library.
Photos uses this library until you open a different one.
Learn more
If you have a permissions issue with your library, you might be able to resolve the issue by using the Photos library repair tool.
* If the volume isn't formatted APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled), or has been used for Time Machine backups but hasn't been erased, this checkbox will either not be present, or won't be selectable after unlocking. Erase and reformat the drive for this option to be available.
- Part 1: How to Repair Photo Library to Get Back Photos
- Part 2: How to Restore Photos Library from Time Machine
- Part 3: Ultimate Solutions to Retrieve Photo Library on Mac
Recover the lost/deleted data from computer, hard drive, flash drive, memory card, digital camera and more.
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When you transfer photos from iPhone and camcorders on a Mac, you can manage and organize photos with ease. If you just delete or lost a library in Photos on Mac, what can you do to repair the photos or recover Photo Library on Mac?
The article just shares the methods to restore a library in Photos on Mac with different scenarios. Whether you have already backed up the photos, or lost them by accidently, you can find 4 best methods to retrieve Photo Library on Mac with ease.
Guide List
1. How to Repair Photo Library to Get Back Photos
As for auto updating for Photo Library, crash or corrupts of the program, you might lose some important photos. In order to get these files back, you do not need to recover Photo Library on Mac with Time Machine or other data recovery.
Just follow the steps to the repair Photo Library and get the photos back.
Step 1Close Photo Library on Mac. You can also remove the program from Dock on your Mac. After that re-launch Photos Library by holding Command and Option keys.
Step 2There is a popup window for Repair Library, click the Repair option to repair the photos library in order to recover Photo Library on Mac for the lost photos.
Step 3Enter the account and password to authorize the library repair. It will analyze and repair the database of Photo Library. After that iCloud will update all the photos after repair process.
2. How to Restore Photos Library from Time Machine
If you back up your Mac with Time Machine, you can restore Photo Library on Mac from the last backup. Once you restore the Photo Library from a Time Machine backup, it will save the photos to your Mac and upload to iCloud again.
Just learn more about the detailed process as below.
Step 1Just follow the similar process to close the Photos app on your Mac. Click the Photos on the top left and click the Quit Photos to turn off Photos from your Mac.
Step 2Launch Time Machine in the menu bar and choose the Enter Time Machine. You can also go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Time Machine to enter the program.
Step 3Choose the last backup file from Time Machine, or you can navigate the backup of your photo library. After that you can click the Restore button to restore Photo Library on Mac.

You can also learn more about how to recover photos on Windows.
3. How to Restore Deleted Chrome Bookmarks on Mac
What should you do if the Time Machine does not work or you do not locate the files? FoneLab Data Retriever is the ultimate data recovery to retrieve photo library on Mac, hard drive, flash drive, memory card, digital camera and more.
Moreover, you can restore deleted photos, documents, emails, videos and others with ease.
- Restore deleted or lost images from photo libraries on Mac with ease.
- Retrieve photos, documents, emails, videos and more other files.
- Provide both Quick Scan and Deep Scan modes to restore Photo Library.
- Keep the original data without storing and modifying your data on Mac.

Step 1Download and install FoneLab Data Retriever on Mac. Launch the program and choose the Mac Data Recovery option. It will scan Mac or other connect device to recover Photos Library on Mac.
Step 2Choose the Image option and the desired Hard Drive. Click the Scan button to have a quick scan for the deleted photo library on Mac. If you cannot retrieve Photos Library on Mac, you can choose Deep Scan instead.
Note: It can a hard drive data recovery if you lost data on it.
Step 3Select the photos or set filter information. You can choose the JPEG or HEIC folder of the photos from the iPhone photo library, or click the Filter to enter the Created Date and Modified Date instead.
Step 4After that you can preview the restored Photo Library on Mac within the program. Choose the desired photos and click the Recover button to get back the deleted or lost photos.
Note: In order to retrieve Photo Library on Mac from iPhone, you can also choose the iOS Data Recovery, which enables you to retrieve photo library of iPhone on Mac from iPhone, iTunes backup and iCloud backup. Just in one word, it is the ultimate data recovery to restore Photo Library on Mac you should never miss.
Iphoto Library Mac
Conclusion
Find Mac Photos Library Download
Just delete or lose a library of the Photos on Mac, you can take it easy and get the desired solution from the article. If the lost Photo Library is corrupted or disappeared, you can use the repair feature first.
Of course, recover photo library on Mac from Time Machine backup is another nice option. You cannot get the photos from above solutions, FoneLab Data Retriever is the ultimate solution to retrieve photo library from a quick scan, deep scan and even iPhone with ease.
- How to Recover Files from Damaged Memory Card without Formatting
- Recover Photo Library on Mac – Best Methods to Get Back the Deleted or Lost Photos
- Restore Chrome Bookmarks on Mac – Simple Methods to Retrieve Deleted Files
