View and search your photos by location

If photos have locations assigned to them (either because you added them or you imported photos from a camera with GPS capability, such as the iPhone), you can find the photos based on where they were taken.

You can find your photos by looking at the Places map, which marks all the locations where photos were taken. Or you can narrow the photos you see by choosing location categories, such as city or state. You can also search directly for a specific place by typing its name in the search field.

Important:  You must be connected to the Internet for the Places feature to show photo locations on the map.

If you’re not connected to the Internet, you can still see all the photos that have location information assigned. Click to select Places in the Source list, and then click the Show Photos button in the bottom-right corner of the window.

Image of Show Photos button in Places view

To view some or all of your photos by location:

  1. Click to select Places in the Source list to show the Places map.

    If you’re in full-screen view, click the Places button in the toolbar. If you don’t see the Places button, click the button in the top-left corner of the window one or more times, until you see the toolbar change to the right one. Learn more about using the toolbar in full-screen view.

  2. From the Places map, you can do any of the following:

    • Click the Places Home button to see all marker pins on the map.

    • View photos by region, such as country or city, by clicking the region and choosing a place from the pop-up menu.

    • Drag the zoom slider to zoom in or out of the map, and drag the map to move a certain area into view. You can also double-click anywhere on the map to zoom in on that area.

    • Click Show Photos to show all the photos associated with pins visible on the map. For example, if you zoom in to one area of the world, the photos shown were taken only in that area.

      Image of Places map

  3. To view photos at a particular location, move your pointer over the red marker pin on the map to show the location tag, and then click the right angle bracket (>) on the tag.

    Image of right bracket on location tag

To view a photo you just added a location to:

  1. If you haven’t already done so, select the photo and click the Info button to open the Information pane.

  2. In the Information pane, click the arrow to the right of the place name.

    Image of show in Places button

To search by location:

  1. Click to select Events or Photos in the Source list.

    If you’re in full-screen view, click the Events button in the toolbar. If you don’t see the Events button, click the button in the top-left corner of the window one or more times, until you see the toolbar change to the right one. Learn more about using the toolbar in full-screen view.

  2. Click the search button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window.

    Image of search button

  3. In the search field that opens, type the location you’re looking for (for example, “Empire State Building” or “New York”).

    Image of Search icon and field

  4. As you type, the photos in the main viewing window change, as iPhoto shows you the photos with locations that correspond to those words.

To change the map style:

  1. Click to select Places in the Source list to show the Places map.

    If you’re in full-screen view, click the Places button in the toolbar. If you don’t see the Places button, click the button in the top-left corner of the window one or more times, until you see the toolbar change to the right one. Learn more about using the toolbar in full-screen view.

  2. Click the Terrain, Satellite, or Hybrid buttons in the top-right corner of the window.

    The default map style is Terrain.

    Image of Terrain, Satellite, and Hybrid buttons

If you see a message on the Places map saying you aren’t connected to the Internet, and you’re sure you’re connected, check to see if iPhoto is set to look up locations.