How do I restore Photos in Finder Sidebar to its original functionality?

Question

How do I restore Photos in Finder Sidebar to its original functionality?

I've just spent the better part of the past hour trying to figure out why Photos is no longer in the Finder Sidebar and more importantly, how to put it back. During this process I stumbled across another person who had asked the same question:

Photos gone from Finder sidebar in OS 26 … - Apple Community

I studied this thread but could not find the answer I'm looking for. I already found I could add Photos back to the Finder Sidebar by selecting it in Finder/Applications and holding Command while dragging it to Favorites. This worked nicely, except it really didn't -- at least not to return things to how they were -- when clicking on Photos in the Finder Sidebar Menu displayed the contents of the Photos app with full access right there in Finder. Now, adding Photos to Favorites using Command/Drag from Finder/Applications just adds a shortcut to the Finder Sidebar and clicking on it now opens the Photos app, separate from Finder -- an entirely different function than what it was.

Can anybody tell me why? Or better still, how to put it back to the way it was in the good old days, or more accurately, the good recent days, before it went awry... not all that long ago...

Thanks for any help, much appreciated!

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Adding "Photos" to Finder Sidebar Favorites is now just a shortcut to the Photos app -- a poor change that needs correcting

Posted on Nov 28, 2025 2:42 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 28, 2025 4:46 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

If you read that thread correctly, you will see that there was never an option to see the Photos library contents in Finder itself

Clearly there is something I still don't understand. I do see the version of Finder that opens if I click on the image insertion icon below, the sidebar now shows another section called "Media" beneath "Favorites" and "Photos" is there, displaying in Finder the way I remember it. What isn't clear to me is when that will be the case and when it won't, or why. I did not realize that Photos in Finder Sidebar was only there sometimes and not there at other times. It just has been there consistently when I've scrolled down the Finder Sidebar looking for it -- until a little while ago, I scrolled down looking for it and it was gone!

I also see that the version of Photos that gets added to Favorites when dragged from Applications has the Applications icon next to the name Photos whereas the version of it that I see under Media when I click on insert image below is the version I'm used to seeing, as well as the functionality I have come to expect. So I threw out the app version and now I guess I will try to come to terms with when the version I like will be there and when it won't and maybe even one day grasp why.

Thank you for the feedback, it is still in the process of sinking in, which may take awhile...

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Answer 2

Nov 28, 2025 4:53 AM in response to MacBookMountain

PS. the edited title is much more concise than mine was in asking the question I still wish I understood the answer to

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,048 points

Nov 28, 2025 6:55 AM in response to MacBookMountain

The media picker has never existed in the Finder window sidebar. It has always only been in the Open File pane.

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Answer 4

Nov 28, 2025 9:48 AM in response to neuroanatomist

Yes, apparently I want to return to happy days gone by that never existed. The green, green grass of home and all that. Lovely, thanks for clarifying.

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Answer 5

Nov 28, 2025 3:00 AM in response to MacBookMountain

If you read that thread correctly, you will see that there was never an option to see the Photos library contents in Finder itself - that existed only in Open/Save dialog windows.

This is a relatively common misconception. The navigation in Open/Save boxes works similarly to Finder, but that's not exactly the same thing.

It IS still there.

For example, say you wanted to include a photo in a reply here. Start typing, press the image button below the text to select a file, and at the bottom of the sidebar, there you have it:

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Answer 6

Nov 28, 2025 6:29 AM in response to MacBookMountain

MacBookMountain wrote:

I did not realize that Photos in Finder Sidebar was only there sometimes and not there at other times. It just has been there consistently when I've scrolled down the Finder Sidebar looking for it -- until a little while ago, I scrolled down looking for it and it was gone!

It’s there in the sidebar of an Open/Save dialog box. It’s not there in the sidebar in Finder, and was not there in Sequoia, either.

In other words, your question about restoring ‘original’ functionality is moot. The functionality didn’t change with Tahoe.

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