Can you backup phots library from an iMac to backup drive then use that to transfer to a laptop?

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Level 1

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Can you backup phots library from an iMac to backup drive then use that to transfer to a laptop?

I want to save my photos library to a backup hard drive as another way of safekeeping my photos.

But I also have a laptop- I don't have any photos library set up on it.

-Can I use that to transfer the same library between macs?

-Can I use that same backup drive to store it and then when I want to look at photos I connect it to the laptop... but keep the actual library on the hard drive...

I Want to save space on the laptop.

Or is it better to leave the library on laptop...

Will a copy still be on the hard drive at all times?

If i add photos to the library does it automatically add those to my hard drive -if attached to laptop?

Imac is - 27" 5k 2017 - Monterey 12.6

Laptop is MacBook ProRetina 2015. Monterey 12.6

I have a separate backup hard drive for this. I know not to use the Time Machine backup drive.

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.6

Posted on Oct 18, 2022 2:20 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,665 points

Oct 18, 2022 2:44 PM in response to mmbak

You can move your photos library to an external drive and then use that library from your laptop. See instructions in: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Oct 18, 2022 2:44 PM in response to mmbak

You can do that. I keep a backup on a mechanical TimeMachine drive and also on a separate external solid state drive. And you can have Photos use a library on an external drive. Do you have “Copy items to the Photos library" checked? If that isn't checked, then Photos may lose track of your pictures in a move. But don't worry, having it checked is the usual setting, and it means your library has all your pictures inside it, so it's easy to move everything around.

If you want to keep your library on an external hard drive (many people do) then you should have a backup on one of your computes or on another drive. A mechanical drive is OK for a backup, but a solid state drive is faster and, of course, more expensive-- maybe twice the cost.

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Answer 3

mmbak Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 18, 2022 9:32 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Okay, that is helpful. I will look for a solid state drive. I heard of those little back and red san disk ones that are pretty good. I assume a solid state drive is better if you constantly want to keep it on there and pull up your library on a laptop every so often. I was concerned the constant back and forth instead of leaving library on laptop would have problems eventually.

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Answer 4

Oct 19, 2022 9:13 AM in response to mmbak

Good plan. There are a number of good brands, but if it looks too cheap it probably is. I've seen things advertised as SSDs that are really just flash drives-- really slow and not very trustworthy. Just stick with things like SanDisk and Crucial, etc. Many of the SSDs now come with USB-C connectors, but many have adapters to USB-A included.

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Can you backup phots library from an iMac to backup drive then use that to transfer to a laptop?

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