Hi, I'm running out of space on my macbook pro and bought a 'my passport'. I'm trying to transfer my photos and videos from iPhoto to it but can't. I've read the iPhoto threads but don't understand how to follow the instructions.
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Apple's photo management software for the Mac, Photos, has grown to be a fairly competent all-purpose storage locker. But as your photo and video library grows — and especially if you've taken advantage of iCloud Photo Library — you may find that your Photos library strains to fit on your Mac's hard drive.
While there are options to keep your Mac from running out of space, like optimizing your photo storage if you use iCloud Photo Library, it comes at a cost: Without a fully-stored Photos library, you won't be able to create secondary backups of your images and video. (And as good as iCloud has become, your photos and video are precious enough that they're worth keeping backed up in multiple places.)
There is an alternative: Moving your Photos library to an external drive (or creating an entirely separate library and syncing it with iCloud). Here's how to do it, and some reasons why you should — and shouldn't! — consider it for your needs.
Why you should (and shouldn't) use an external drive with Photos for Mac
There are a number of reasons why an external drive might make sense when you're working with Photos for Mac:
That said, there are some downsides, too. Here are some reasons you might not want to use an external drive:
Best external drives for storing photos
Okay, so you've decided to move your Photos library over to an external drive. What next? If you already have an external drive, you can always use it for storing your Photos library (and save on cash). But if you're considering getting a new drive for this endeavor, here's what I suggest:
Want some recommendations for specific external hard drives? We've got those, too.
How to move your current Photos library to an external drive and use it as your primary library
As with creating a new library, moving your library to your external drive is a multi-step process. Here's how to go about it.
Step 1: Copy over your Photos library
Your library will begin to copy over to your external drive. Depending on the size of your library and speed of your drive, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, so be patient. Don't unplug your drive or turn off your computer during this process.
Step 2 (if you use iCloud): Turn off iCloud sync on your old library
Before you open your copied Photos library on the external drive, you have to disassociate the library on your Mac from iCloud. (If you don't use iCloud Photo Library, you can skip these steps.)
Step 3: Make your new library your system default
Now, it's time to make your newly-copied Photos library your system default.
Step 4 (if you use iCloud): Connect your new library to iCloud
Your external library is now set up to be your system default, but it's not currently connected to iCloud. If you use iCloud Photo Library and want to keep that connection active so that you can continually download items you've stored, read on. (Otherwise, you can skip this step.)
Once your library has fully synced and downloaded images, you can disconnect your drive; whenever you want to use your Photos library, you now need to connect your drive to your Mac.
Step 5: Get rid of your old library
A personal plea: Please, please, please make sure your library is fully copied and working on your external drive before you follow the steps below — once you've thrown away your original library, it's gone!
Now you have a direct link to your copied Photos library from the Pictures folder: This prevents your computer from accidentally creating multiple Photos libraries in case you forget to launch Photos with your external drive connected.
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Note: If you're worried about accidentally creating libraries, you can always launch Photos by option-clicking on its icon in the Dock or Applications folder; this will give you the option of picking which library you'd like to launch.
How to create a new Photos library on your external drive and use it as your primary library
Creating a new library on your external drive is a multi-step process. Here's how to go about it.
Step 1 (if you use iCloud): Turn off iCloud sync on your old library
Before you create a new Photos library, you have to disassociate your current library as your system default. (If you don't use iCloud Photo Library, you can skip these steps.)
Step 2: Create your new Photos library
Once you've done this, it's time to create a new library.
Step 3: Make your new library your system default
You'll now have an empty library on your external drive. Next up: Making it your system library.
Step 4 (if you use iCloud): Connect your new library to iCloud
Your external library has now been set up from scratch. If you use iCloud Photo Library and want to download all the items you've stored there to have an external backup, read on. (Otherwise, you can skip this step.)
Once your library has fully synced and downloaded images, you can disconnect your drive; whenever you want to use your Photos library, you now need to connect your drive to your Mac.
Step 5: Get rid of your old library
A personal plea: Please, please, please make sure your new library is live and working on your external drive before you follow the steps below — once you've thrown away your original library, it's gone!
Now you have a direct link to your Photos library from the Pictures folder: This prevents your computer from accidentally creating multiple Photos libraries in case you forget to launch Photos with your external drive connected.
Note: If you're worried about accidentally creating libraries, you can always launch Photos by option-clicking on its icon in the Dock or Applications folder; this will give you the option of picking which library you'd like to launch.
Questions?
Let us know in the comments.
Updated March 2019: Updated for macOS Mojave.
Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this post.
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