My Photos Library is stored on a Toshiba external hard disk. When I connect the HD to my new mac and try to switch libraries in the Photos app to view my photos the Photos App crashes and doesn't switch. I can view this same Photos Library (stored on external HD) on my old mac without problems. Any ideas?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6
How is your external drive formatted? As soon as we see "external drive" we all yell, "How is it formatted?" To get full functionality (and to avoid damaging the Photos Library) an external drive must be formatted in either APFS format or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Additionally, the volume can not have had Time Machine on it since it was formatted. As the Photos app has become more complex in newer versions, this has become more important.
Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
Also, make sure the "Ignore Ownership" box is checked in the drive's Info Window. Being on an ill-formatted drive may work for awhile, and then it won't.
We need to know: Are you using iCloud to sync your devices?
How is your external drive formatted? As soon as we see "external drive" we all yell, "How is it formatted?" To get full functionality (and to avoid damaging the Photos Library) an external drive must be formatted in either APFS format or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Additionally, the volume can not have had Time Machine on it since it was formatted. As the Photos app has become more complex in newer versions, this has become more important.
Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
Also, make sure the "Ignore Ownership" box is checked in the drive's Info Window. Being on an ill-formatted drive may work for awhile, and then it won't.
We need to know: Are you using iCloud to sync your devices?
Thanks for the replies - I managed to open it in the end. Trying to switch library on my mac in Photos didn't work - it kept crashing. But double clicking on the Photos library file on my hard drive did work - this then opened the file in Photos on my mac
which system version is running on the old iMac?
Can't open Photos Library on New Mac
