You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iPhoto

I have a new iMac 27 inch running Big Sur 11.2.3 I had a Mid 2011 iMac 27 running Sierra I think but not sure. the hard drive is trash not recoverable but I had backups. I want to try to get my photos back from iPhoto library from the most recent backup I have of the old iPhotos library. I there a way to get iPhotos to work on Big Sur I am afraid I lost all my old photos of my late son and everything. I someone can help me I would appreciate it.

iMac 27″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Mar 9, 2021 7:40 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 9, 2021 8:26 AM

iPhoto cannot run on Big Sur, but if you can recover your iPhoto Library from your backup, you can access the iPhoto Library with Photos for Mac, the successor to iPhoto. The Photos.app is coming preinstalled with Big Sur.


  • Look in your backups for the iPhoto Library.photolibrary package. By default it will be in the Pictures folder. Restore it to the Pictures folder on your new Mac.
  • Launch the Photos.app. It. should be in your Applications folder. Hold down the options key ⌥ while launching Photos.
  • Release ⌥ when the library chooser dialog appears and select your iPhoto Library from the dialog panel.


Photos will create a new library from your iPhoto Library. You should be finding all photos and albums there.


This user guide may help you to get started with Photos: Photos User Guide for Mac - Apple Support


3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 9, 2021 8:26 AM in response to commentator

iPhoto cannot run on Big Sur, but if you can recover your iPhoto Library from your backup, you can access the iPhoto Library with Photos for Mac, the successor to iPhoto. The Photos.app is coming preinstalled with Big Sur.


  • Look in your backups for the iPhoto Library.photolibrary package. By default it will be in the Pictures folder. Restore it to the Pictures folder on your new Mac.
  • Launch the Photos.app. It. should be in your Applications folder. Hold down the options key ⌥ while launching Photos.
  • Release ⌥ when the library chooser dialog appears and select your iPhoto Library from the dialog panel.


Photos will create a new library from your iPhoto Library. You should be finding all photos and albums there.


This user guide may help you to get started with Photos: Photos User Guide for Mac - Apple Support


iPhoto

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.