Ask: Massive iMovie Library Size

Got an Apple, Mac, or iOS tech question? We have the answer. In this week's installment of Ask, we'll figure out what to do when you have a mysteriously large iMovie library for no apparent reason.

Question

I make a bunch of videos for my kids’ sports teams using iMovie on my Mac. After I complete the projects and share the video, I delete the project and events in iMovie (the ’11 version). But in the Finder it still shows that my library is 176GB; I checked everywhere I can see and there are no files in iMovie. How do I get that size down?

Answer

In order to completely remove iMovie projects and original footage in the events library, you need to right-click (or control + click) on the project and choose the “Move Project to Trash” option. This will remove the project from iMovie and place it in the Trash where it can later be deleted from your Mac completely by emptying the Trash. 

You’ll need to manually specify iMovie projects for deletion.

If you’ve already removed the iMovie projects and events without deleting them, you can still remove the existing Events and Projects by using the Finder. To do this, follow these steps: 

1. In the Finder, choose Home from the Go menu.

2. Open the Movies folder.

3. Find the “iMovie Events” and “iMovie Projects” folders and drag them to the trash.

If your iMovie projects and events are stored on an external hard drive, just open your external hard drive, then find the “iMovie Events” and “iMovie Projects” folders and drag them to the trash. That’s all there is to it!

Ask is written by Cory Bohon, a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer.

Got a tech question? Email ask@maclife.com.