Tons of Video and Photos - sit on tons of iCloud space - and on my MacBook and iPhone..

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Tons of Video and Photos - sit on tons of iCloud space - and on my MacBook and iPhone..

But now, my MacBook Pro storage is under 10%. I love how when I go to either my 12 Pro phone or Macbook Pro, I can call up this giant library and work with the materials. However, must now I archive the Photo library on my MacBook so that there's more available room?

I have lots of external drive space available. (You can see I like redundancy) However, if I removed the photos/videos (or archive them, really) from my MacBook Pro, how may I still keep my photo library up to date both devices (and iCloud).

On my legacy iMac, I have several Photos libraries inside, though those are not on the cloud. These are separate from my newer devices (iPhone and MacBook Pro).

MacBook Pro

Posted on Nov 5, 2022 4:41 PM

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Answer 1

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Richard.Taylor

Level 5

7,470 points

Nov 6, 2022 9:28 AM in response to junobear

In Mac Photos>Preferences>iCloud, do you have "Optimize Mac Storage" checked? This would be a good thing to save space on the Mac. If this is checked, then the Mac will hold smaller, lower resolution copies of the pictures stored in iCloud. Full resolution copies will download automatically when you want to print or edit a picture.

If you've already optimized storage, and you're still running out of space, you might think about making a smaller photos library that has only the very best stuff in it. You make that smaller one your system library to keep on your Mac. You would then archive the massive complete library on an external drive.

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,612 points

Nov 8, 2022 3:26 PM in response to junobear

I guess by doing that, however, all that becomes 'less available' to me as it serves as a living archive.

I don't understand how that becomes "less available" to you. And every library is a living archive, no?

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Answer 3

junobear Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 8, 2022 11:56 PM in response to Yer_Man

By 'less available', I mean that it would no longer be on the cloud. I would have to consciously connect to the EXT HD to access it. I have done that, and then often forgot about checking the EXT HDs until I am looking for something specific. I guess I need to remind myself to revisit the external hard drives more often.

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Answer 4

junobear Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 9, 2022 10:59 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks. That sounds wonderful. When I look at my iCloud, however, I see only the Apple devices (desktop, laptop, phone) connected. Would iCloud recognize my External HDs? (These are connected to my iMac). If so, how?

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

208,355 points

Nov 8, 2022 12:50 PM in response to junobear

In line with what Yer_Man suggested this would be an excellent EHD for your laptop to have if your library is less than 200 GB: 250GB OWC Envoy Pro mini

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Answer 6

junobear Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 8, 2022 12:11 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thanks - I've considered optimizing photos but have always wanted to keep the option to use the best resolution. So, unless there's another reason to do it, I will just carry on as before.

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Answer 7

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,612 points

Nov 8, 2022 2:21 AM in response to junobear

Move the entire library to an external - it needs to be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or apfs. Most simple thing.

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Answer 8

junobear Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 8, 2022 12:28 PM in response to Yer_Man

Yes, great idea. I've done that many times before with success.

I guess by doing that, however, all that becomes 'less available' to me as it serves as a living archive.

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Answer 9

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,612 points

Nov 9, 2022 1:09 AM in response to junobear

Moving the library to an external does not affect the Cloud at all. It will continue to sync as normal.

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Answer 10

Nov 9, 2022 12:59 PM in response to junobear

The Photos app is on your Mac. It's Photos that keeps up with the Library. iCloud talks to Photos; Photos talks to Library. No problem.

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Tons of Video and Photos - sit on tons of iCloud space - and on my MacBook and iPhone..

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