Export and sort Apple Photos library metadata by file size
Project description
iphoto-sizer
Exports metadata from your macOS Apple Photos library to CSV or JSON, sorted by file size (largest first). Useful for finding what's eating your iCloud storage.
Includes an optional web UI for browsing, filtering, and exporting results from your browser.
Screenshots
| Landing Page | Scan Results |
|---|---|
Prerequisites
- macOS with the Photos app and a library present
- Python 3.11+
- Full Disk Access granted to your terminal (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access)
Install
From PyPI:
pip install iphoto-sizer
With the optional web UI:
pip install "iphoto-sizer[web]"
Or with uv:
uv tool install iphoto-sizer # CLI only
uv tool install "iphoto-sizer[web]" # CLI + web UI
Or from source:
git clone https://github.com/spencerpresley/iPhotoSizer.git && cd iPhotoSizer
uv sync # CLI only
uv sync --extra web # CLI + web UI
Usage
If you installed with pip install or uv tool install, the iphoto-sizer command is available globally. If you installed from source with uv sync, prefix commands with uv run (e.g., uv run iphoto-sizer).
CLI
# Export everything to photos_report.csv in the current directory
iphoto-sizer
# Only items larger than 100 MB
iphoto-sizer --min-size-mb 100
# Write to a specific path
iphoto-sizer -o ~/Desktop/large_files.csv
# Export as JSON instead of CSV
iphoto-sizer -f json -o ~/Desktop/photos.json
# Combine options
iphoto-sizer --min-size-mb 500 -f json -o ~/Desktop/big_ones.json
Web UI
iphoto-sizer --web
Opens a local web server in your browser where you can:
- Run a new scan or open an existing JSON report
- Browse all items with sorting, filtering, and search
- View summary stats (total size, item counts, video/photo breakdown)
- Export results to CSV, JSON, or both
- Open individual photos directly in Photos.app (experimental)
CLI Options
| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--min-size-mb |
Only include items at or above this size (MB) | 0 (all items) |
-o, --output |
Output file path | photos_report.csv |
-f, --format |
Output format: csv or json |
csv |
--web |
Launch the web UI in a browser | off |
Output
CSV columns / JSON fields:
filename, extension, media_type, size_bytes, size, creation_date, uuid, icloud_status
sizeis human-readable (e.g."150.23 MB","1.50 GB")icloud_statusis"local"if the original file is on disk,"cloud-only"if it only exists in iCloud- Records are sorted by
size_bytesdescending
A summary of total items, total size, and the 10 largest files is printed to stderr after export.
Notes
- Full Disk Access is required because the tool reads the Photos library's SQLite database directly (via osxphotos). Grant it to your terminal app in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access.
- Initial library load typically takes 5-20 seconds depending on library size.
- Photos that fail to parse are skipped with a warning; they don't stop the export.
- The tool checks for at least 50 MB of free disk space before writing.
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