IPhone – Where does Photos.app store the iPhone videos I’ve imported

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I use my iPhone to take photos and video, then import them onto my Macbook using the new Photos app.

Now I'm trying to find the original videos so I can put them on an external hard drive for a friend to edit. I notice that within the Photos app, if I control-click on my videos, there is no "Reveal in Finder" option. If I do "Get Info" and look at the filename, it says IMG_6517.MOV. But when I do a Spotlight search, that file does not come up.

Where does the new Photos app store the originals for photos and videos I've imported?

Best Answer

I figured out the answer by going to Terminal and doing find ./ -name *.MOV -print.

The Photos Library is different from the iPhoto Library. If you've upgraded from iPhoto to the new Photos app, then for any video files you've imported, you can find the originals at:

~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/Masters

This way, you don't need to export your video files; you can just copy them.

  1. In Finder, go to Go > Go to Folder
  2. Enter ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/Masters
  3. Navigate to whatever video files you want and copy them to your destination.
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