You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

problem while transferring photos from Mac to external hard drive

The item “Photos Library.photoslibrary” can’t be copied because it is too large for the volume’s format.

this type of msg come while transferring my photos

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 30, 2021 12:16 AM

Top-ranking reply

Level 7

23,954 points

Posted on Jan 30, 2021 12:27 AM

Is the external drive correctly set up for using with a photos library?

It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives)
It Must 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 must also not be a network drive (a direct connection is required - eg USB or Thunderbolt).
File sharing services such as iCloud Drive, Drop box, Onedrive etc are not compatible with Photos libraries. 
It stands to reason that if you want any sort of reasonable performance it should be a fast drive with a fast connection.

See

View in context

Similar questions