1. The Photos app for Mac is one of the basic photo management tools in the market. It’s termed basic mainly because of its simplicity, but don’t be fooled because the application is actually powerful. In fact, one of the reasons why Apple developed this particular app was to provide users of the Mac, iPad, iPhone, and the iPod touch a photo.
2. How to organize pictures outside of the Photos app; Tips to help organize photos on a Mac 1. Consolidate an all your photos in the Photos app for Mac. When macOS Yosemite was released in 2014, the Photos app finally came to Macs, replacing outdated iPhoto.

Whether you’ve just taken a weekend trip up North or the European vacation of your dreams, you’re guaranteed to return home with a massive amount of photos, probably a handful of videos, and, if you were feeling particularly artsy, half a dozen time-lapses.

But now that you’re home, what are you going to do with all those pictures? Where are you going to keep them? How are you going to share them?

Enter the Photos app for Mac.

What is Photos on Mac?

The Photos app is a convenient home for all of your pictures and videos. Anything you shoot, Photos will store it and — better yet — organize it, so you can actually find said pictures when you feel like reliving the memories.

In this post, we’ll go over the basics of using Apple’s Photos app. We’ll talk about where to find photos on your Mac and how you can manage your ever-growing photo library. And of course, we’ll cover all the features Apple has built into this underrated app.

iPhoto vs Photos: What’s the difference?

Those of you familiar with iPhoto for Mac are probably wondering what makes its successor so special. And to oversimplify it, Photos is the next step in photo management — and a giant step at that.

Prior to Photos, Apple made two apps for managing pictures and videos. iPhoto, for those of us less experienced in photography, and Aperture, for the ones looking to do some heavier editing. Photos perfectly blurs the line between those two apps, combining the best of both while adding new features like iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Photo Sharing.

1) Open the spot in the Photos app that contains the image, whether it’s in an album or your library. 2) Select the image. You can either click the individual image on the main screen or double-click to open it in a larger view. 3) Click the Get info for selected images button in the toolbar. Peter Philpott wonders how to access his media files in Photos for OS X: “In iPhoto, I could right-click on a photo and get it to reveal the original in the Finder.”. Photo Viewer Free is a super fast photo viewer software with wonderful experience, supports almost all photos formats and RAW files, batch process and effective touch up features for photo browsing. Keep organization: Photos automatically sorts your photographs by date and location. Photos uses facial and object recognition to tag images for faces, objects, and scenes, letting you search for.

If you used iPhoto before, Photos will feel instantly recognizable. You’ll have your pictures, albums, and collections in the main window, a navigation sidebar to the left, and different viewing options at the top. However, a significant point of difference between iPhoto and Photos is the app’s performance. When working with larger libraries, iPhoto had the tendency to lag or choke up and had arbitrary limits that would restrict album and collection sizes. Photos gets rid of those limitations entirely and is able to handle much larger libraries than its predecessor. While the look of Photos may be the same, it feels like a faster and more powerful app.

Where are the photos stored on Mac?

The Photos app maintains pictures and videos in its own library, making it easy to view the content, but confusing to access the actual files. To find the photos on your Mac, you’ll need to find that Photos Library first:

1. With the Photos app open, click on Photos in the menu bar
2. Then go to Preferences > General
3. At the top of the window, you’ll see Library Location. Click the Show in Finder button.

The first thing you’ll notice after you find the Photos Library file is you can’t do much with it. You can double-click it, but that opens Photos again. If you want to find the original files of your pictures and videos, you’ll need to:

1. Right-click on Photos Library to open the alternate menu
2. Select Show Package Contents from that menu
3. Open the Masters folder
4. All of your pictures and videos live in this folder, organized by year, month, and date

How to use Apple’s Photos app

When you open Photos for the first time, the app offers you a glimpse of what your library will look like with all your pictures and videos imported. You get a quick intro to some of the features and tools, and learn how you can make these memories tangible through printed objects like calendars, photo books, and more.

Once you’ve finished the tour of the app and gone through the initial setup, you’re all set to start importing your pictures and videos!

How to import photos to Mac

There are several ways you can import your media content to Photos, depending on where you’ve been storing it.

From your iPhone or a digital camera

1. Connect your iPhone or camera to your Mac with a USB cable. You might need to unlock your iPhone with your passcode, and then tap Trust when prompted to Trust This Computer.
2. On your Mac, if the Photos app doesn’t open automatically, go ahead and open it.
3. The Photos app will show you an Import screen that has all the photos and videos on your iPhone or camera. If you don’t see the Import screen, click on your iPhone or camera in the Photos sidebar under Devices.
4. From here you can either choose to Import All New Items or select a batch and click Import Selected.

From a folder or an external hard drive in Finder

You have a couple of options here. If your pictures and videos live on an external hard drive, you’ll want to make sure it’s connected first. Then, you’ll want to do one of the following:

• Drag the files from your drive into the Photos window
• Drag the files from your drive onto the Photos icon in the Dock
• In Photos, go to File > Import from the menu bar. Choose the photos or videos you want to import and click Review for Import.

An important thing to know about Photos is that the app copies the pictures and videos into the Photos Library we talked about earlier, leaving the original file either on your device or in its folder.

Tabs in Photos: Library, Albums, Projects

Have you ever been unable to find a specific picture because you couldn’t remember when you took it? You can remember everything else about the photo, things like where it was taken and who was in it, but not the one thing you need to navigate your files.

The Photos app helps you with this predicament by organizing your pictures not only by date, but also by event, location, and even by people’s faces. In the sidebar, you’ll find a number of tabs designed to make sorting through your pictures easier.

Memories. Photos creates “memories” based on who is in a series of images as well as when and where those pictures were taken.

Favorites. These are the pictures you’ve gone through and clicked the heart icon on, marking them as your favorites.

People. This is where you’ll be able to see all the pictures of you have of specific people.

Places. This is where you can see all the pictures you’ve taken in specific locations.

Shared. This section is where you’ll find all the albums you’ve shared with other people and the albums that have been shared with you. (Check out our guide to iCloud Photo Sharing for more info on Shared Albums.)

Albums. If you want to group certain pictures for easy navigation, you’ll want to create a new album. This section is where you can access those albums.

How to tag people in photos

If you want to tag someone in a specific picture:

1. Open the photo in the Photos app
2. Click the info button in the top right corner.
3. At the bottom of the info window, you’ll see circles with faces at the bottom. Tap on one of those.
4. The face will now be circled on the photo. Underneath the circle will be a text box labeled “unnamed.” Click on the text box and type the person’s name.

If the person you’re tagging has already been tagged in your Library, their name should appear under the circle on the photo.

How to share pictures from the Photos app

The Photos app on Mac has made it easier than before to share your pictures. Just select the photos you want to share and click on the Share button in the top right-hand corner. You’ll see a list of options:

• Shared Albums
• AirDrop
• Messages
• Notes
• and more, depending on what apps and accounts you set up on your Mac

Tap on your preferred option and proceed to send the pic or create a Shared Album.

Google Search App Mac

Now that you’ve gotten a feel for how to use Photos on Mac, it’s time to give it a spin. Once you’ve got your library set up and organized, you’ll see how easy it is to relive and share your memories with Photos.

These might also interest you:

Photos is organized into Library, For You, Albums, and Search. When you turn on iCloud Photos, your collection is kept up to date across your devices. And with the advanced search features, you can easily find photos based on a person, place, object, or event.

Before you begin

• Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.
• Set up iCloud on all your devices.
• Make sure that you’re signed in with the same Apple ID.

Library

Enjoy a curated view of your moments in the Library tab, then browse by years, months, days, or all photos. You'll also see Live Photos and videos come to life as you scroll and browse.

• Years: View your entire library of photos and videos that you've taken each year. Then swipe to scan the highlights.
• Months: See groups of photos and videos taken during each month by memories and locations. Tap the More button to share or play a movie created from your moments.
• Days: Browse photos of the day and watch some of your videos automatically play as you scroll. Tap a photo and swipe up to see its location on a map and the people in it.
• All Photos: See your complete photo library including screenshots and duplicate photos in the order they were taken.

With iOS 14, you can filter what gets displayed, so it's easier to browse through your Library. For example, you can choose to show only photos or only videos. To filter what you see:

1. Tap the Library tab, then tap the More button in the upper-right corner.
2. Tap Filter, then choose an option.
3. Tap Done.

To undo the filter, tap the Filters button near the top of your screen, then choose an option, and tap Done.

Live Photos and videos won't autoplay in Photos when Low Power Mode is enabled.

For You

In the For You tab, Photos searches for your photos and videos to find moments that stand out, then presents them in collections called Memories. You can also see Shared Album activity, get ideas for adding effects to select photos, and find Sharing Suggestions, which are collections of photos you can share.

Albums

In the Albums tab, you find the albums that you’ve created, shared albums that you've created or joined, and collections of different types of photos and videos, like Selfies, Portrait, and Slo-mo. You can also look at your photos arranged on a world map in the Places album, or browse your photos based on who’s in them in the People album.

The Recents album shows your entire collection in the order you added them to your library. When you use iCloud Photos, the changes you make to your albums on one device appear on your other devices too.

Create a new album

1. Open Photos.
2. Go to Albums and tap the Add button .
3. Tap New Album. Type an album name, tap Save, then choose the photos and videos that you want to add.
4. Tap Done.

Add to an existing album

1. Open Photos.
2. Tap Select, then tap the photos and videos that you want to add.
3. Tap the Share button , then tap Add to Album and choose an album.

Manage your albums

New Photos App For Mac

To change the name of an album:

1. Go to the album and tap the More button .
2. Tap Rename Album.
3. Change the name, then tap Save.

To rearrange your albums:

Download Photo App For Mac

1. Go to Albums, tap See All, then tap Edit.
2. Touch and hold an album and drag it anywhere you want.
3. Tap Done.

With iOS 14, you can also sort the photos within your albums. Here's how:

1. Go to an album, then tap the More button .
2. Tap Sort, then choose a sorting option, like Custom Order, Oldest to Newest, or Newest to Oldest.

Share an album

You can share photos, videos, and albums with select people, then allow them to add their own photos, videos, and comments. In the Albums tab, you can see the Shared Albums that you've created and joined. Learn more about sharing albums in the Photos app.

Search your photos

Mac Photos App Search Engine

Photos makes it easy to find photos of a specific person, place, thing, or event. Tap the Search tab, then type what you're looking for in the search bar.

• Moments: Search for an event, like a concert you attended or a trip you took. Photos uses the time and location of your photos along with online event listings to find matching photos.
• People: Find photos in your library of a specific person or a group of people. Just keep names and faces organized in your People album.
• Places: See your photos and videos on a map in the Places section. Or type a location name in the Search bar to see photos and videos from that place.
• Categories: Photos recognizes scenes, objects, and types of locations. Search for a term like 'lake' and select a result to see photos that match.

The Search tab also suggests moments, people, places, categories, and groups for you to search. Tap a suggested search, such as One Year Ago or Animals, to explore your photos.

When you search your photos, the face recognition, and scene and object detection are done completely on your device. Learn more about photos and your privacy.