How can I share Photos across multiple users on Apple Photos, without paying for iCloud? Ask Question Asked 4 years, 9 months ago. Active 1 year, 3 months ago. Viewed 41k times 2. Me and my wife have separate Itunes accounts and have separate users on our Mac computer. If they share the same Photos library on the Mac drive. Sep 16, 2015 Although it appears that you have both an iPhoto library and a photos library, each taking 20 GB, in actuality each photo file is only physically stored once. This is done by Apple through hard links. You can delete the iPhoto library if you want, but it will not save any space. Jan 31, 2017 Feature Request: iCloud Photo Library support for multiple Apple IDs. It’s a lot less time than managing two iCloud Photo Libraries. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news. Oct 25, 2019 Launch Photos on your Mac. Click on Photos in the sidebar, under the Library section. Pick out the photos you want to add to an album, either new or existing. Hold down the command key on your Mac and click to select multiple photos. Right-click on your. Jan 12, 2020 You can access the hidden Library folder without using Terminal, which has the side effect of revealing every hidden file on your Mac. This method will only make the Library folder visible, and only for as long as you keep the Finder window for the Library folder open.
- Can I Have 2 Photos Libraries On My Mac Download
- Why Are There Two Photo Libraries On My Mac
- Can I Have 2 Photos Libraries On My Mac Pc
- Can I Have 2 Photos Libraries On My Mac Computer
- Why Do I Have Two Photo Libraries On My Mac
- Why Do I Have Two Photos Libraries On My Mac
Back up your library
Before following any of these steps, it's a good idea to create a backup of your photo library, even if you use iCloud Photos. You can use Time Machine, use a third-party backup solution, or copy the library to an external drive. By default, your photo library is stored in the Pictures folder within your home folder.
Make sure that your software is up to date
Photos is part of the Mac operating system. You can avoid or fix many issues by running the most up-to-date version of macOS. Learn more about updating the software on your Mac.
If you use RAW images in Photos, learn more about the digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
If you have trouble migrating an existing iPhoto or Aperture library to Photos
You might see an alert message when you first open Photos or migrate an existing iPhoto or Aperture library. Learn what to do if Photos can’t copy or create a library.
If the Media Browser isn't showing your photos and videos
Use the Media Browser to make images from your photo library available in other apps, like Pages and iMovie. The Media Browser shows only the contents of the Photos library designated as the System Photo Library. If you have more than one Photos library—and the one you're using isn't set as the System Photo Library—the Media Browser won't show its contents.
Follow these steps to designate the current library as the System Photo Library:
- Choose Photos > Preferences.
- Click the General button at the top of the Preferences window.
- Click Use as System Photo Library.
If you're having other issues with Photos
If you're experiencing other issues—like missing or blank photo thumbnails, unexpected behavior, or if Photos won’t open—try to see if it's an issue with your library by following these steps.
Create a new Photos library and see if your issues persist:
- Quit Photos.
- Press and hold the Option key while you open Photos.
- In the dialog that appears, click Create New.
- Give your new library a name, then click OK. Note whether Photos opens successfully with this new library.
To return to your main Photos library, quit Photos. Then open it again while holding the Option key, select your main library, and click Choose Library.
Alternatively, you can open Photos in another user account on your Mac and note whether Photos opens successfully.
If Photos opens with the new library, or in a different user account, it might mean that there's an issue with your library. Follow the steps to use the Photos library repair tool on your main Photos library.
Learn more
- Learn how to create and order print products like books or calendars in Photos with Project Extensions.
- Get help with iCloud Photos.
To combine Photos libraries, open the source library and export the photos and videos that you want to keep. Then open the destination library (the one that you want to use as your main library) and import the photos and videos.
Choose a photo library
Can I Have 2 Photos Libraries On My Mac Download
Here's how to open one of the multiple photo libraries that you might have on your Mac or on a connected external drive:
- Press and hold the Option key as you open the Photos app.
- Select the library that you want to open, then click Choose Library.
Photos uses this library until you open a different one using the same steps.
Export photos and videos from the source library
Why Are There Two Photo Libraries On My Mac
Open the source library, then decide whether you want to export your files as unmodified originals or edited versions:
Edited versions retain their edits when you import them. The advantage is that you don't have to recreate any edits; however, these files become the destination library's originals. This means that you can't revert to their earliest pre-import version.
Unmodified originals don't show any edits that you made when they were in the source library. This gives you flexibility for later editing, but recreating your edits might take substantial work.
How to export edited versions
- In the Photos app, select the photos and videos that you want to export. To select multiple items, press and hold the Command key while you click. To select a group of items in order, click the first one, then press and hold the Shift key while you click the last one. This selects all of the items between the two that you clicked.
- Choose File > Export > Export [number].
- An export dialog appears.
- In the Photos section, set Photo Kind to JPEG, TIFF, or PNG. JPEG recompresses your photos, which may result in smaller file sizes. TIFF and PNG files are higher fidelity and may result in larger file sizes.
- In the Videos section, choose a Movie Quality setting. This section appears only if your selected items include videos.
- In the Info section, select the checkboxes if you want to preserve metadata and location data in the exported files.
- In the File Naming section, set File Name to Use File Name and set Subfolder Format to either Moment Name or None. Moment Name creates a subfolder for each Moment that's represented in your selected items. This is useful if you'd like to create an Album in the destination library for each Moment. The None option exports all of the files directly into the destination folder.
- Click Export. A Finder dialog appears.
- Navigate to the location where you want to save the files, such as the Desktop or an external drive. Click New Folder if you create a new folder for your exported items.
- Click Export.
How to export unmodified originals
- In the Photos app, then select the photos and videos that you want to export. To select multiple items, press and hold the Command key while you click. To select a group of items in order, click the first one, then press and hold the Shift key while you click the last one. This selects all of the items between the two that you clicked.
- Choose File > Export > Export Unmodified Original.
- An export dialog appears.
- If your photos include IPTC metadata (such as titles or keywords) that you want to keep, select the Export IPTC as XMP checkbox.
- Leave the File Name setting on Use File Name.
- Next to Subfolder Format, choose Moment Name or None. Moment Name creates a subfolder for each Moment that's represented in your selected items. This is useful if you'd like to create an Album in the destination library for each Moment. The None option exports all of the files directly into the destination folder.
- Click Export. A Finder dialog appears.
- Navigate to the location where you want to save the files, such as the Desktop or an external drive. Click New Folder if you create a new folder for your exported items.
- Click Export Originals.
How to import photos and videos into the destination library
Open the destination library, then drag the folder that contains your exported items into the main area that shows your other photos and videos. When a green plus sign appears on your pointer, you can release the folder.
The photos in the folder are sorted into Moments based on their creation dates and locations. The videos are sorted based on the date you exported them from the source library.
Can I Have 2 Photos Libraries On My Mac Pc
If you created subfolders when you exported the items and you want to create an Album for each subfolder, follow these steps:
- In the Finder, open a subfolder.
- Select all of the photos and videos within the subfolder.
- Drag the items onto My Albums in the Photos sidebar.
- Name the Album in the highlighted text box that appears in the sidebar.
- Repeat for each subfolder.
Can I Have 2 Photos Libraries On My Mac Computer
Save space by deleting the source library
If you're sure that you've exported all of the photos and videos that you want to keep from the source library, you can delete it to save disk space on your Mac.
First, open the Finder and find the source library that you want to delete. By default, photo libraries are stored in your Pictures folder. If you can't find the library, follow the steps to choose a library; the path to the selected library's location appears in the Choose Library window.
Why Do I Have Two Photo Libraries On My Mac
Next, move the source library to the Trash. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash to permanently delete the files.