Hi, I have over 30,000 pics in my Photo app, with the Photo ICON in y dock. Can I move the photo Library to an external drive and still access them when I click on the Photo Icon?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.0
You just have to ensure, that the external volume is always mounted, when you are signed into your user account, even when you are not working with Photos. The background processes, like the photosanalysisd need always access to the Photos Library.
And do not forget to add the external drive with your photos Photos Library to your regular Time Machine backups.
Buy an external volume that is large enough to hold your future photos as well - a Photos Library tends to grow quickly. Buy a volume with at least twice as much storage as you are expecting to be using in three years or so. Photos will need a lot of extra free storage, when it repairs the library or upgrades it to a different system version. And you will need the extra storage to be able to create a safety copy of your library, before you repair it or upgrade it. The volume for your Photos Library cannot be large enough.
You just have to ensure, that the external volume is always mounted, when you are signed into your user account, even when you are not working with Photos. The background processes, like the photosanalysisd need always access to the Photos Library.
And do not forget to add the external drive with your photos Photos Library to your regular Time Machine backups.
Buy an external volume that is large enough to hold your future photos as well - a Photos Library tends to grow quickly. Buy a volume with at least twice as much storage as you are expecting to be using in three years or so. Photos will need a lot of extra free storage, when it repairs the library or upgrades it to a different system version. And you will need the extra storage to be able to create a safety copy of your library, before you repair it or upgrade it. The volume for your Photos Library cannot be large enough.
Hi - Yes, you can.
But you must have the external storage connected whenever you want to use photos. (In face when you log into your mac)
The external storage must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled), and not be (or have been) used for time machine. It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked. It should not be on a memory stick, SD or similar. It stands to reason that if you want any sort of reasonable performance it should be a fast drive with a fast connection.
See
After successfully setting up the external hard rive and getting ready to set the process of switching System Photo Library, I get this message:
"Switching the System Photo Library will turn off iCloud Photos.
Any photos and videos that have not been fully downloaded will be removed from this Mac and Shared Albums will be disabled. Turn on iCloud Photos for this new System Photo Library in Preferences."
I am hesitant to continue. HOW DO I TURN ON iCLOUD PHOTOS? WHERE IS THAT SCREEN LOCATED? I GET NERVOUS WITH PHOTOS....THANKS
After successfully setting up the external hard rive and getting ready to set the process of switching System Photo Library, I get this message:
"Switching the System Photo Library will turn off iCloud Photos.
Any photos and videos that have not been fully downloaded will be removed from this Mac and Shared Albums will be disabled. Turn on iCloud Photos for this new System Photo Library in Preferences."
I am hesitant to continue. HOW DO I TURN ON iCLOUD PHOTOS? WHERE IS THAT SCREEN LOCATED? I GET NERVOUS WITH PHOTOS....THANKS
Yes - you will need to designate the library on the external drive as the system library (in photos preferences) and it will behave just as before.
Thank you, Tony,
I also have Mac iCloud with ample space. If I transfer Photo Library to an external drive, will iCloud still be involved with real-time photo storage?
Super! Thanks
Hi, I have over 30,000 pics in my Photo app, with the Photo ICON in y dock. Can I move the photo Library to an external drive and still access them when I click on the Photo Icon?
