Preparing for merge of two photo libraries on Mac

Before you merge photo libraries on Mac, there are some preparatory steps to take:

1. With iCloud Photos enabled, open your second Photos library and wait for all images to be backed up.
2. Close Photos, then reopen it using your primary library. All items should now be combined in the same iCloud Photos library.

By setting your second Apple Photos library as your main library temporarily, then turning on iCloud Photos, all the images in your second library will be backed up to the cloud. They won’t replace the images you’ve already uploaded, so the second library will be merged with the first.

We recommend backing up your images before you start merging photo libraries. You shouldn’t lose data following these steps, but a backup stored in a safe place ensures you don’t lose anything if things do go wrong. It’s also a good idea to delete duplicate photos on Mac to avoid backing up unnecessary copies.

How to combine photo libraries on Mac

We’ve found three effective ways to combine photo libraries on Mac:

1. Manually merging photo libraries: If you want complete control over the merge and what’s included in your library, you can tackle the process manually.
2. Merging photo libraries via iCloud: Not comfortable with combining your photo albums without a little help? Merging via iCloud Photos makes things a little easier.
3. Using third-party tools to merge photo libraries: Third-party tools take care of merging your photo libraries for you, so we recommend this option to novice Mac users, or those who are worried they may mess things up.

1. Manually merging photo libraries on Mac

Although it may seem like a daunting task, it’s actually rather easy to manually merge your photo libraries on macOS. Simply follow these steps:

1. Make sure that Photos is currently using your primary library. If you need to switch, hold down the Option key while you launch the app, then select your .photoslibrary file.
2. Go to File > Import in the Photos menu bar.
3. Select your second photos library, then click Review for Import.
4. To import everything, click Import All New Photos. Alternatively, select individual items, then click Import Selected.

The content you’ve chosen will now be added to your primary Photos library, and once you’re certain you’ve transferred everything you want, your second library can be deleted. If you find things get a little messy, there are many ways you can learn how to organize photos on Mac.

2. Merging photo libraries via iCloud

If you use iCloud Photos and already have it enabled on your Mac and iPhone, you may want to merge your photo libraries that way. Try this:

1. Open your second library in Apple Photos by holding the Option key as you launch the app, selecting your .photoslibrary from your storage drive, then clicking Choose Library.
2. Wait for all items to be synced to iCloud.
3. Once syncing is complete, Quit Photos, then relaunch it using your primary Photos library file.
4. Wait for iCloud syncing to complete again, and then you should see all the items from your second photos library have been added to your primary library in iCloud.

From our experience, It’ll take time to upload everything to the cloud if you have large libraries to merge, so we recommend using this method only when you can leave your MacBook running. Both libraries must be tied to the same iCloud account, and if you can’t find your .photoslibrary file, just look at where are photos stored on Mac.

3. Using third-party tools to merge photo libraries

If you don’t feel comfortable merging your photo libraries on Mac yourself, you’ll be pleased to know there are third-party tools that can do it for you. We like Powerphotos, but other options are available, and some, like Powerphotos, offer a free trial.

Once installed, your software should recognize all Photos libraries on your MacBook Pro. You can then follow these steps:

1. Select your software’s Merge Libraries tool.
2. Choose the two source libraries you want to combine into one, then click Preview and then Merge.

The process may differ if you use a different piece of software, but it should be very similar.

Conclusion

It can be handy to split your photos and videos into multiple albums, but for most macOS users, managing just one and keeping everything together is best. If you’ve already found yourself with multiple Photos libraries, the good news is it’s easy to combine them manually, via iCloud, or with third-party tools.

Remember, before you merge your photo libraries, it’s a good idea to remove duplicate images to save space and keep your final library organized. MacKeeper’s Duplicates Finder finds all the duplicate and identical images, videos, and other files on your Mac, then makes it easy to remove them.

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