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I just changed to Mac and I am confused on how the photos application works.

What exactly is a library? Is it a directory created in the file system on Mac? It says the default system library for Photos is in the Pictures directory. Why don't images stored in the Pictures directory via Finder, appear in the Photos app? Also, when I import pictures from my Downloads directory into my Photos app using Finder, is a second copy of that photo created in the Photos app instead of actually moving the pictures from my Downloads directory into the Photos app? Where exactly are the images stored when they are stored in the Photos library? Why do they not appear in the Pictures directory in Finder when it is the System directory for Photos?

Posted on Jun 12, 2022 12:27 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 12, 2022 12:54 PM

Start here:


macOS - Photos - Apple


RaviC01 wrote:

What exactly is a library?


The analog is to a room or building filled with books and other resources, of course. Different libraries have different contents, and are very seldom even using the same design plan. Here, the analog is to file system storage filled with photos and videos.


Is it a directory created in the file system on Mac?


Technically, yes, it’s a file system path. A subdirectory of your home directory, and further subdirectories of that. There are other parts of the file system used for some aspects of Photos storage and access, when enabled.


Pragmatically, you don’t need to know much more than its existence; that you have a library.


If you really want to know more about the Apple file system:


File System Basics


And note: macOS goes to some effort to protect itself against malware, corruptions, and the inquisitive users trying to write or modify or delete data where they probably shouldn’t; what’s called System Integrity Protection. Put differently, whole sections of the file system are protected against modification. There are fewer protections in your own home directory, and corruptions and deletions can occur.


It says the default system library for Photos is in the Pictures directory. Why don't images stored in the Pictures directory via Finder, appear in the Photos app?


Because viewing files through a generic file-viewing tool gets awkward for users, mostly. It clutters up Finder with tools and controls used for several file types. Or it makes Photos do piles of stuff that it’s just not going to be good at.


Also, when I import pictures from my Downloads directory into my Photos app using Finder, is a second copy of that photo created in the Photos app instead of actually moving the pictures from my Downloads directory into the Photos app?


Use the provided tools within Photos to import and to consolidate the photos and videos, and let Photos manage its own storage, and let it index and search its library as needed.


If you want the level of control you’re exercising here (moving files around, copying stuff into areas used by apps from Apple and third-party vendors, you’re probably best served using Linux. (I don’t mean this to be flippant, either. Apple has strong opinions on how a computer should work, and it gets… difficult… to work across those opinions while working with Apple products.)


Where exactly are the images stored when they are stored in the Photos library? Why do they not appear in the Pictures directory in Finder when it is the System directory for Photos?


Photos manages its own storage, both locally, in local caches elsewhere within the file system, and in iCloud when iCloud Photos is enabled.


Since you want to to understand app-internal organizations, I’d recommend creating and using a completely different macOS login for your experimentation, and so long as you perform your tests and modifications within your login directory and its subdirectories (and a login-specific Apple ID if you want to use iCloud services during your testing), you won’t corrupt much outside of that. Use the Apple tools and controls within your main login.



3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 12, 2022 12:54 PM in response to RaviC01

Start here:


macOS - Photos - Apple


RaviC01 wrote:

What exactly is a library?


The analog is to a room or building filled with books and other resources, of course. Different libraries have different contents, and are very seldom even using the same design plan. Here, the analog is to file system storage filled with photos and videos.


Is it a directory created in the file system on Mac?


Technically, yes, it’s a file system path. A subdirectory of your home directory, and further subdirectories of that. There are other parts of the file system used for some aspects of Photos storage and access, when enabled.


Pragmatically, you don’t need to know much more than its existence; that you have a library.


If you really want to know more about the Apple file system:


File System Basics


And note: macOS goes to some effort to protect itself against malware, corruptions, and the inquisitive users trying to write or modify or delete data where they probably shouldn’t; what’s called System Integrity Protection. Put differently, whole sections of the file system are protected against modification. There are fewer protections in your own home directory, and corruptions and deletions can occur.


It says the default system library for Photos is in the Pictures directory. Why don't images stored in the Pictures directory via Finder, appear in the Photos app?


Because viewing files through a generic file-viewing tool gets awkward for users, mostly. It clutters up Finder with tools and controls used for several file types. Or it makes Photos do piles of stuff that it’s just not going to be good at.


Also, when I import pictures from my Downloads directory into my Photos app using Finder, is a second copy of that photo created in the Photos app instead of actually moving the pictures from my Downloads directory into the Photos app?


Use the provided tools within Photos to import and to consolidate the photos and videos, and let Photos manage its own storage, and let it index and search its library as needed.


If you want the level of control you’re exercising here (moving files around, copying stuff into areas used by apps from Apple and third-party vendors, you’re probably best served using Linux. (I don’t mean this to be flippant, either. Apple has strong opinions on how a computer should work, and it gets… difficult… to work across those opinions while working with Apple products.)


Where exactly are the images stored when they are stored in the Photos library? Why do they not appear in the Pictures directory in Finder when it is the System directory for Photos?


Photos manages its own storage, both locally, in local caches elsewhere within the file system, and in iCloud when iCloud Photos is enabled.


Since you want to to understand app-internal organizations, I’d recommend creating and using a completely different macOS login for your experimentation, and so long as you perform your tests and modifications within your login directory and its subdirectories (and a login-specific Apple ID if you want to use iCloud services during your testing), you won’t corrupt much outside of that. Use the Apple tools and controls within your main login.



Jun 12, 2022 3:24 PM in response to RaviC01

What makes the idea of Photos Libraries so confusing is that these libraries are much more than a storage place for pictures. Photos is a remarkable database program that keeps track of the information associated with the photos and their relationships, and that lets you search among tens of thousands of pictures to find the ones that you want. You can store photos in multiple albums simultaneously, associate keywords, locations, and people, and even make a list of persons in the photos through facial recognition. So it's not just storing pictures, or even pictures and their metadata, but also setting up a database containing the connections among all of that.


Photos has very powerful and even simple editing tools. But when you edit a picture in Photos, it doesn't change the original picture! It remembers the changes you made to the picture so that, if you decide your changes didn't work like you thought, you can always go back to the original. I really count on this!


You can look inside the Library package but, if you do, you should be very careful what you touch. All those folders have information that is tied together, and messing with one may screw everything up. It's this complexity of information that requires the guts to be hidden away from prying fingers. I use Time Machine to continuously make backups, and I also make additional backups to other drives. I also keep backups of all the pictures I've loaded into Photos, just in case.


The powerful functions of Photos also means that, once you start depending on this program, you may find some things very hard to do, because you can't easily get around the restrictions of Photos. It makes some really difficult things easy, but it comes at the expense of your giving up some control.

I just changed to Mac and I am confused on how the photos application works.

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