IPhoto lost files

iphoto

iPhoto has lost 40 years of valuable pictures! We are devastated.
I have bought recovery software, re-built everything, searched and wept.
If anyone knows how to get the photos back, even the small ones from thumbnails, I would really appreciate it.

I have opened the iPhoto package and copied it to a new folder on the desktop. It is 1.5 TB in size and contained a huge amount of files. That makes me think there is something hidden which I can't access or see. I am so peeved!
If I try to 'export' nothing seems to happen. Is that because there are no original or modified files, or because it won't export thumbs only?

Looking at the content of the iPhoto Library I see

clarkbedroom:~ LandJClark$ cd ~/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library; du -sm *
 15 AlbumData.xml
 0 Attachments
 0 Auto Import
 76 Backup
 56 Before Restore
 1 Contents
 1 Data
 1 Data.noindex
 434 Database
 1 Info.plist
 1 Library.data
 1 Library.iPhoto
 1 Library6.iPhoto
 1019 Masters
 33 Previews
 10 ProjectCache
 1 ProjectDBVersion.plist
 2 Projects.db
 2 ThemeCache
 1804 Thumbnails
 1 com.apple.iPhoto.plist
 1 iLifeShared
 1 iPhoto Selection
 1 iPhoto.ipspot
 1 iPhotoAux.db
 1 iPhotoLock.data
 1 iPhotoMain.db
 1 iPod Photo Cache
clarkbedroom:iPhoto Library LandJClark$

Best Answer

If the iPhoto Library file/folder is 1.5 TB in size, chances are good that your pictures still are somewhere.

First thing to do now is to copy the whole file to another location/disk so you won't loose it even if something goes wrong while trying to recover the pictures. Then restart iPhoto with Command and Option to get the recovery option screen on startup:

enter image description here

Start with the first option and see whether it solves the issue. If it doesn't, retry with the next one. See Rebuilding the iPhoto library for details.

If this doesn't work, you can also have a look at the contents of the iPhoto Library file/folder by inspecting the package content in Finder. The photos should be in iPhoto Library/Masters.

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