Jul 12, 2017 To move our Photos Library, we drag it to its new location, double-click it, and the Photos app will now point to it. So, that was pretty easy. We’ll next show you how to create a completely new System Photo Library. Creating a New System Photo Library. There are any number of reasons you might want to create a new system library in Photos. Apr 22, 2015 How to use multiple photo libraries with Photos for Mac. Photos for Mac lets you work with multiple libraries. Learn how to choose a default library, open another library, and merge multiple. Jun 07, 2015  Because the migrated library takes little additional space, you don't need to delete the original library. So don't do it, even if you're tempted to. You can still use your original photo library with iPhoto (version 9.6.1, as of this writing) and Aperture (version 3.6) after you've migrated it to Photos.

Follow these steps to use the Photos library repair tool:

  1. Hold down the Option and Command keys while you open Photos on your Mac.
  2. In the dialog that appears, click Repair to start the repair process.

You might be asked to type in your user account password to authorize the library repair.

The repair tool analyzes the the library's database and repairs any inconsistencies it detects. Depending on the size of your library, this might take some time. When the process is completed, Photos opens the library.

If you repair a library that's automatically updated with iCloud Photos, the entire contents of the library re-updates with iCloud after the repair process completes.

Photos in your System Photo Library are available in apps like iMovie, Pages, and Keynote. You can also sync them to iOS devices and view them on Apple TV. And if you want to use your own images as your desktop picture or screen saver, the images need to be in your System Photo Library before you can select them in System Preferences.

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If you have only one photo library, then it's the System Photo Library. Otherwise, the first photo library that you create or open in Photos will become the System Photo Library. If you have more than one library, you might need to designate a System Photo Library, so other apps can access the photos and videos you want them to use.

Follow these steps to designate a System Photo Library:

  1. Quit Photos.
  2. Hold down the Option key and open Photos. One of the photo libraries is already designated as YourLibraryName (System Photo Library).
  3. Choose the library you want to designate as the System Photo Library.
  4. After Photos opens the library, choose Photos > Preferences from the menu bar.
  5. Click the General tab.
  6. Click the Use as System Photo Library button.

If you open a second or different library in the Photos app, and you haven't designated it as the System Photo Library, other applications will use photos from the original System Photo Library. Hold down the Option key when you open Photos to see which library is set as the System Photo Library.

iCloud and the System Photo Library

You can use iCloud Photos, Shared Albums, and My Photo Stream only with the System Photo Library. If you choose a different library in Photos without designating it as the System Photo Library, the iCloud tab in Photos preferences is disabled:

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If you designate a new library as the System Photo Library and then turn on iCloud Photos, the photos and videos in the new library will merge with those already in your iCloud Photos. If you want to keep the contents of your photo libraries separate, don’t turn on iCloud Photos for more than one library in Photos.