Categories: MacMultimedia

How To Install iPhoto in Yosemite or El Capitan (OS X 10.10 & 10.11)

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For whatever reason you’ve wound up here (probably not a fan of Photos) – this step-by-step guide will show you how to install/re-install iPhoto on your Mac running Yosemite (OS X 10.10.x). Update: this guide/method also works for OS X “El Capitan” (10.11)


click to enlarge

After Photos came out, you might have noticed that iPhoto no longer wanted to run.

Trying to update…

… seems to be futile.

Fear not. Following these instructions, you’ll have iPhoto working in Yosemite in no time.

NOTE: Apple is sending a clear message – iPhoto is gone. It’s unlikely that it’ll receive another update (perhaps bugfixes, feature updates far less likely) and it would seem the future is “Photos”. Once you have iPhoto working again, maybe you’ll want to take a closer to look at Photos. Maybe not.

Regardless – here are the steps to turn iPhoto back into a functional App.

  1. Click the “Apple Icon” in your Menu Bar and select App Store….

  2. The App Store will open.


    3. click to enlarge

  3. Click Purchases.

  4. If you aren’t signed in, you’ll be prompted to do so. If you’re already signed in, skip the next step.

  5. Sign in with your Apple ID

  6. Now scroll through your list of Purchases. Locate iPhoto.

  7. Click the Update button.

  8. If all goes as planned, your Mac is now downloading and installing a functional version of iPhoto. Congrats! You’re done. To everyone else: there’s a big chance it isn’t working. Give it a few minutes, but if the update doesn’t seem to be happening – fear not – and keep reading.
  9. Exit out of the App Store, and close down all open Apps (saving work if needed etc). Open your System Preferences and locate the Users & Groups option. Click it.

  10. In order to make changes (or add a user, which is what we’ll be doing) – you’ll probably need to “Unlock” this section first. Click the Lock icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.

  11. Enter your password.

  12. Now click the “plus sign” ( + ) directly below the Login Options text (as illustrated in the screenshot below).

  13. What you’ll be doing is creating a new account, installing iPhoto on it, and then your account will wind up with a functional version as well. So create the user and make sure the New Account: is set to Administrator. The Full Name and Account Name can be anything you’d like – this account will be deleted after iPhoto is working again. Make sure you select Use separate password, enter it twice in the spaces provided, and then click Create User.

  14. Now the new User account you just created will be listed with the other accounts on your Mac.

  15. You may want to read the rest through before you actually follow the steps – you’re about to sign out of your account and will need to close this browser window to do so.
  16. Exit out of the System Preferences, and log out of your account by selecting the Apple Icon and then Log Out.

  17. Sign in to the new account you just created. Once again open the App Store, sign in, go to your Purchases and locate iPhoto. Click the Install button next to it.

  18. Shouldn’t take too long – it will depend on the speed of your Internet connection. May want to grab yourself a beverage.

  19. After the installation has completed sign out of your “new” account, then back into your regular account. iPhoto no longer has the “this isn’t going to work” icon!


    20. click to enlarge

  20. Launch it as you always have, and enjoy!


    21. click to enlarge

View Comments

  • Hi @disqus_qUa0Y3dNoM:disqus

    Sadly this doesn't work for me with macOS 10.12.3. Whatever I do, I get a message saying:

    "Update Unavailable with This Apple ID
    This update is not available for this Apple ID either because it was bought by a different user or the item was refunded or cancelled."

    The only option is to click "OK" and then I get the message:

    "We could not complete your request.
    There was an error in the App Store. Please try again later. (,)"

    I've deleted iPhoto, prefs, etc. Current version of iPhoto is 9.4.3

    I've still got the "one update pending" flag on AppStore though. Frustrating! I've been using Macs since 1993, and PCs since 1998, and this intractible problem is much more like Windows than Mac.

    Is there some way I can correct the hidden settings in iPhoto that are associating it with another Apple ID, and blocking the update?

  • Thanks Ross, the first few steps took me no more than a minute. And... Voilà! Fantastic, I photo is the best, and running. I'll still try to play with Photo and see if I can sort out the duplication or triplication and the chronological disorder that it creates (head ache).

  • Update: Once I added a new user, my trackpad wouldn't let me log in. I had to use another mouse but while I was on the phone talking to Apple I mentioned trying to get iPhoto back on my computer. She transferred me to someone and they checked remotely that I had a few files on my computer and talked with iTunes and gave me a code to redeem at the app store. They said it now makes it appear that I purchased the app. My library was re-added to it, etc. My old version is in the trash and they gave me a new version that works on my system. If you show Apple that it's a hardship to you, they might give you a code and get it back on your computer. I don't understand why they would want to give their customers a product that isn't any good. They can make iPhoto compatible as they already have or it wouldn't be working on my computer now. fyi.

  • Ross, I noticed you said to make a new user as admin but the picture in the example shows the user as Standard under the iPhoto Fix User. Is that part important and also I don't have an option for a separate password. Does that matter? One other thing. I have iPhoto showing under updates even though it's got the circle and line through it showing it's not usable but it won't let me update (says unavailable) but it's not showing up under the purchases tab. It came on my computer. I went from OS X to El Capitan. I hate photos and would like some advice on how to get IPhotos back. Thanks!!

  • It doesn't work for me. I followed all the directions, but iPhoto in the App store does not give me an option to download, there is no 'Install' button. I don't have an old version anymore either, it all disappeared after downloading El Capitan. Any other ideas?

  • Great article, but I have a problem that is not addressed. My iPhoto was installed from disk years ago. In other words, it was never purchased from the app store, so I have no past purchase to update. Where do I go to install the app again if I can't find the original disk set. I think it is 2 hours away. Can I re-activate my existing version. The problem is that all the reading I did prior to upgrading to El Capitan and Photo vs. iPhoto, there was never any mention of iPhoto being disabled. I was going to find all duplicates and clean the libraries before I converted to Photos. Now I'm trapped with an iPhoto duplicate finder and Photos as my app. I am open for any suggestions you may have. Thanks.

  • Thank you so so so much! I felt like dying after I installed ILife 11 then my Iphoto with all my albums and Facebook albums was gone! Uhhhhhhh!

    I was not aware that I had 'purchased' Iphoto. I don't recall having paid for Iphoto. Have you?

    And I think I will never ever ever ever download an app without checking very well first!

    Now speaking of ILife, does anyone know which ILife is on Yosemite? I am trying to know my way around Mac and it certainly is not easy. Actually I am trying to make a movie and for some reason I have Imovie 9.0.9 and obviously there are younger (better?) versions of IMovie, and since IMovie 9.0.9 presents some difficulties, I wanted to find another one, hence ending up downloading ILife after reading webpages I haven't understood much of...

    Yeyeyey, Life is hard for a non-tech person on technical internet issues...

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Published by
Ross McKillop
September 10, 2015 6:47 pm