Repair and rebuild your Aperture library

In the rare event that your Aperture database becomes corrupted or the files within it have permissions issues, Aperture provides a few methods for reconstituting your Aperture library and the file relationships within it.

Repair or rebuild your Aperture library

Close Aperture, if it’s open.
Locate the Aperture library you want to fix, and then hold down the Command and Option keys while double-clicking the Aperture library.
The Photo Library First Aid dialog appears.
Do one of the following:
- To repair the permissions of the files within your Aperture library: Select Repair Permissions.
  This option should be used when Aperture can’t access some of the image files within the database or is unable to open the library. The Repair Permissions option reviews each file in your Aperture library and sets the read-and-write access of each file where appropriate, allowing Aperture to access the files again.
  Note: This option does not relocate referenced images whose original image files are offline. For more information about reconnecting offline images, see Work with referenced images.
- To repair your Aperture library file: Select Repair Database.
  This is the first option you should use if you believe there is something wrong with the Aperture library other than image file access issues.
- To rebuild your database from scratch: Select Rebuild Database.
  Rebuilding large libraries can be time-consuming; use this option if you’ve tried repairing your database and the issues with your library persist. Aperture examines the library’s entire database and rebuilds each component until it reconstitutes your original Aperture library.
Depending on your selection, click Repair or Rebuild.

Aperture either fixes file permissions within the library or repairs or rebuilds the library, and then opens the application workspace.