Click the Command + Option button and open the iPhoto option.

Quick Note: You can also use the 'Rebuild iPhoto library database' feature as shown below to rebuild the library if the above method fails to fix the repair library issue: In such cases, it is recommended to repair iPhoto library and then rebuild the photo library database. Troubleshooting might have solved the issue to some extent, but if the repair process has stopped in the middle then the images are not accessible even after repairing the photo library, it can be hard to determine the reason.

The process takes some time, depending upon the photos you have saved on the system.

Enter your credentials as administrator to initiate the repair.

The app will request you to start repair process.

Click on iPhoto to launch the app and press command + option keys.

Start troubleshooting to solve the error, using below steps How to fix error “you do not have permissions to make changes” on iPhoto These are the above reasons why one would encounter the message “this photo library is locked” let us know below how to fix it.

iPhoto library is running out of free space: If the drive on which iPhoto library is saved is running out of free space, then this could be the reason why your iPhoto library might have gotten locked.

Specify read and write permissions to access external drives on Mac to correct this factor.

Conflict of ownership on removable drives: If your iPhoto Library is stored on an external drive that is used by many Mac users, there might be a permission dispute on that drive that disables other users or devices from accessing it.

Close the iPhoto on the other devices, when you are trying to access iPhotos from your current device.

When you are trying to access iPhoto from multiple devices : So, if you are accessing a library that is already open on multiple devices, you might receive an error.

What are the reasons behind the error “this photo library is locked”? Starting your Mac in Recovery mode and running your disk repair utility, to resolve the error might not always work, here are some more things you can try.

Although the iPhotos app has seen quite a few updates, this old problem/error still haunts us to date. An error stating “this photo library is locked or you do not have permission to make changes to it”. An error pops up when you are trying to access images from multiple devices using an iPhoto.

Mac new hard drive photo library