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Q: Can I change the location of my iPhone photo backups to an external drive?

I'm running out of space on my MacBook, and I'm wondering if it's possible to redirect my photos library backup from my iPhone to an external drive.

 

I found some instructions online that suggest copying and pasting the Photos Library to the external drive, then restarting Photos while holding down Alt. I've tried that, and I get the attached error message:

 

"The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "Photos Library" can't be read or written. (Error code -36)"

 

Can anyone direct me regarding how to proceed?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Screen Shot 2016-09-07 at 10.30.25 AM.jpg

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Sep 7, 2016 7:31 AM

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Q: Can I change the location of my iPhone photo backups to an external drive?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 7, 2016 7:39 AM in response to BackstreetZAFU
    Level 10 (105,653 points)
    iLife
    Sep 7, 2016 7:39 AM in response to BackstreetZAFU

    This error may happen, if your external drive does not have a compatible file system.  Is the file system on the drive MacOS Extended (Journaled) as it should be?  If not, use a different drive or save all files from the drive to a different location and reformat the drive with Disk Utility.  See this help document (it has been written for Aperture, but for Photos libraries goes the same):   Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201909

     

     

    if you still cannot copy the Photos Library to your external drive, make sure the "Ignore Ownership" flag has been enabled.

     

    See:  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201517

    1. Select this drive in the Finder.
    2. Choose File > Get Info.
    3. In the Info window, find the Sharing & Permissions section. You may need to click the disclosure triangle to see the details for this section.
    4. Click the lock in the lower-right corner of the Info window. Enter an administrator name and password when prompted.
    5. Select the option to Ignore Permissions on this volume (usually selected by default).
    6. Copy your  library to this drive.

    portable drive

    This flag cannot be set on a NAS or on a drive used by Time Machine. But you should not store the Aperture Library on a NAS or a Time Machine volume anyway.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Sep 7, 2016 7:41 AM in response to BackstreetZAFU
    Level 10 (84,170 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 7, 2016 7:41 AM in response to BackstreetZAFU

    You are confusing terms and functions

    I'm wondering if it's possible to redirect my photos library backup from my iPhone to an external drive.

    there is no backup of Your Photos library to your iPhone - such a capacity does not exist - and a backup does not affect the disk used on your computer main drive in any way

     

    I'm running out of space on my MacBook

     

    Fixing this has nothing to do with an iPhone or with any backup - to run your Photos library on an external drive you must have an external hard drive formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) that is connected to your MacBook using a fast wired connection like USB. FireWire or ThunderBolt and is not used as a TimeMachine backup volume and that is always available prior to launching Photos

     

    You also need a second EHD for your backup

     

    Once you have the proper hardware installed then quit Photos and drag the Photos library to the EHD then double click on it there to select it as the new default location and fully test it to verify that everything is there and working then delete the library form the internal drive - test one more time prior to emptying the trash

     

    and verify that your backup system is backing up the EHD - by default many including TimeMachine do not backup up EHDs and you need to set them to

     

    LN