Hi: I am not Apple literate. I have 50,000+ photos from an old hard drive, that I am trying to integrate into my MBAir's photo library. I don't think there is enough hard drive space on the MBA, so I want to be able to use iCloud if I can. I don't even know where to begin. When I try and import the photos onto the Mac, it keeps giving me an error which is cryptic but I think caused by lack of disk space on the MBA
Any help?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15
Hi - iCloud is a syncing service, not a backup service. It is designed to sync your library across all your devices. The consequnce of this is that normally all your photos are stored on your devices AS WELL as in iCloud. You must also have enough iCloud space for your entire library. The included free 5GB is rarely enough. Are you paying for an iCloud plan?
It is also very important to understand that if you delete a photo from one of your devices (including your MBA) they are deleted from iCloud and all other devices.
There are two alternative ways to reduce the space taken by photos on your Air.
1 - use iCloud and "optimise mac storage" (one of the iCloud settings in photos). This will store full size masters only in iCloud and replace them on your mac with much smaller preview files. Full size images are downloaded when needed for editing or output from the library (printing/export etc). The main issue with using "optimise mac storage" is that backups now become problematic, because you don't have the masters on your mac, they are not included in your backup. See:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250001961
2 - Store your library on an external drive. You can still sync it with iCloud if you wish. If you were to go that way, then to correctly prepare the external drive:
It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives)
It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)
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.
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.
See
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517
Hi - iCloud is a syncing service, not a backup service. It is designed to sync your library across all your devices. The consequnce of this is that normally all your photos are stored on your devices AS WELL as in iCloud. You must also have enough iCloud space for your entire library. The included free 5GB is rarely enough. Are you paying for an iCloud plan?
It is also very important to understand that if you delete a photo from one of your devices (including your MBA) they are deleted from iCloud and all other devices.
There are two alternative ways to reduce the space taken by photos on your Air.
1 - use iCloud and "optimise mac storage" (one of the iCloud settings in photos). This will store full size masters only in iCloud and replace them on your mac with much smaller preview files. Full size images are downloaded when needed for editing or output from the library (printing/export etc). The main issue with using "optimise mac storage" is that backups now become problematic, because you don't have the masters on your mac, they are not included in your backup. See:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250001961
2 - Store your library on an external drive. You can still sync it with iCloud if you wish. If you were to go that way, then to correctly prepare the external drive:
It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives)
It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)
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.
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.
See
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517
Plus, the external volume needs to be connected and mounted, before you sign into you user account, if your system Photos Library is on the external. And available at all times, even if you are not working with Photos. Otherwise you may continually get warnings, that Photos cannot find the System Photos Library, which will be a dazzle for an iCloud Photos Library.
With a portable Mac, I would not put the system Photos Library on an external volume, unless we do not need to carry it around and it always sitting on a desk, where an external volume does not matter.
For a portable Mac with lack of local storage, you might consider to keep a large archive of all photos on an external drive, and a smaller System Photos Library with a selection of your favourites on the system volume. That is what I am doing - keeping the system photos Library small enough to fit onto the internal drive, sync it with iCloud Photos to all other devices, and I am continually loading off the photos I do not need on all devices onto my archive drive with yearly Photos Libraries of all photos.
This is what I do also.
Thanks for the detailed answer. I was afraid that's what it was going to be!
Thank you, and yes I have got that "cannot find library" message. Annoying!
Need help with Photos
