Where Are Photos Stored on Mac? A Quick Guide

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It’s critical to be prepared for the worst in case your important photos on your Mac get accidentally deleted. Many people have lost all their photos due to hard drive failure. Therefore, it is necessary to know where photos are stored on your Mac so that you can recover them after the system failure.

Also read: See! I Can Free Recover Mac Photos with Ease

Basic Principles on How to Store Photos on Mac

If you are someone thinking about where are imported photos stored on Mac, then, all your photos are stored by default in the photos library, which can be found in the pictures folder on your Mac computer. In a word, Mac OS photo files are saved here: ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/Masters/. You should keep in mind that the symbol “~” represents your home directory.

So, if you want to navigate through this directory using the “Go To Folder” option, you should always prefix it with “~”. This is for local image files, but when you first use the Photos, you can choose an existing library or create a new one.

Where Are Photos Stored on Mac?

Where is the iPhoto on my Mac? Or where are my photos stored on my Mac? As you can see, Macs have a Photos app that is used for managing all the photos on your Mac. This program manages all the processes inside the Mac, whether it’s about imported pictures or transferring them from your memory card and iPhone.

When you don’t use the Photos on your Mac, then you might be wondering where are photos stored on a Mac. Your photos will not be saved in the device’s library.

If you want to find your photos in this situation, use the Finder, which is located in the generic Pictures folder. The following points will help you better understand where my pictures folder is on Mac:

• Photo library to save your photos. However, do not alter its contents as this could delete or damage your photos.
• The Master’s folder keeps directories of your photos, arranged by year, month, and a specific date. Each of these folders will contain image files that have a specific date.
• The Masters’ directory is not intended for your use. That’s why it’s always hidden, but you can still access your photo files if needed. Keep in mind that if you delete a photo from the directory, you will no longer be able to access it in the Photos app.

You may also like: 5 Best Free Photo Recovery Software to Recover Deleted Photos

How to Access All Photos on Mac?

Fortunately, since photos imported from iOS devices like iPad or iPhone are stored in the Photos app, you can easily find and manage them. However, you cannot access image files in this app. Instead, image files are stored in a file, which is sometimes called a library, with a different format.

Certain applications and platforms, such as the iCloud Library and the Photos app, can read this format. Here’s how to access these image files:

• Launch the Finder on your Mac and locate the Home Directory.
• Click the Pictures folder to open it.
• Right-click the Photos Library.photoslibrary and select Show Package Contents.
• Open the folder named Masters and view the image files stored in the Photos program.

You can see that Mac does not want you to directly access this folder. This is the reason why you can’t see your Mac’s pictures folder. However, with this method, you can view photos arranged in subfolders by creation date.

You can do whatever you want with your photos once you have access to them. Just keep in mind that if you delete the files, you won’t be able to see them on the Photos app anymore.

How to Access iCloud Photos on iPhone, Android, Mac, PC, Website

How to access iCloud photos on Apple devices? How do I see my iCloud photos on a Windows PC? How to download photos from iCloud? Check this post now.

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How to Find a Specific Image on Mac?

The need to find specific images as soon as possible comes from the urgency of the situation. So, if you want to find specific images on your Mac, your best bet is to quickly filter the images in the album to find a specific image. This method works well when you are looking for recently edited images and assigned a specific keyword.

Airdrop files are often stored in the app that matches them. And, you can find your Airdrop photos in the Photos app as it’s the only feature matching them. To look for specific images, you need to filter images in the photo albums, like Recents, Favorites, Shared, Imports, and many more albums. Here are the steps you can take to find a specific image:

• Launch the Photos app on your Mac and choose an album in the sidebar.
• Click the Showing pop-up and select the Photos option or a keyword associated with your specific image.
• Once you’ve put all your keywords into the Quick Group of the Keyword Manager, you’ll see them all in the Showing pop-up menu. Choose a keyword to display specific images with that keyword.

Conclusion

That’s all about where are photos stored on Mac, how to access all your photos on Mac, and how to find specific images on Mac.