Running out of space on my iMac

Photos is a really sophisticated program that is constantly scanning and analyzing in the background. Running a Photos Library from a NAS system just doesn't work-- it can really mess up the database's connection with the Library and corrupt the data. Don't do that! See this:

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

You can use an external drive as long as it is hard-wire connected to your Mac. It can't be a networked drive, and it can't have Time Machine on it. The external drive must be formatted in either APFS format or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Many of us have two external drives-- one with Time Machine for automatic backups, and another for things like large Photos libraries.

All your pictures don't have to be in the same Library. I have several libraries; some are on external drives, and some I keep on my Mac's drive. Some libraries are pretty static-- they have older pictures that I work on only occasionally. And my "System Library" is a smaller Library that has copies of only the pictures I chose as favorites. I have that synced through iCloud with my phone and iPad -- those are the pictures I enjoy looking at and sharing with others. And since it's smaller, it's faster to work on and to search.

iCloud also allows you to keep only smaller versions of your pictures on your devices, and to depend on iCloud for keeping the full images when you need them. This can save a good deal of space.

Let us know what you think you're going to do...

It's to be 17° C and sunny in Dallas, today. I visited Copenhagen many years ago, and I want to go back!

Don't forget about a backup system-- just the other day I deleted an entire library thinking that it was a copy--but it wasn't. Luckily, I had backups. I use two external drives: one for data like music and Photos libraries, and the other for Time Machine backup. If you get a solid state drive (SSD), they are very fast, and they are best when formatted with APFS. Also with APFS you can create two (or more) separate volumes on the same drive. That way you can have Time Machine on one volume and have your libraries on the other-- they mount on your system like two independent disks. This is a way to get around the requirement that you can't have a Photos Library on a volume that has Time Machine on it. There is some information here:

Partition a physical disk in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

For comparison, on Amazon a (Crucial X9) 2 TB SSD costs about $125; 4 TB is $240. These are each about the size of two flash drives side by side. I use a laptop, so small may be more important to me.

Get an external SSD from OWC (MacSales.com) and move your Photos library to it. And your Music library as well.

I suggest you call Customer Support at OWC and see what they recommend based on your Mac model, intended workflow and budget. OWC is considered by most experienced users here as the premier 3rd party supplier for Macs.

Sadolin44 wrote:

Dear Old Toad,

thanks a lot for your suggestion, I'll follow your advice and buy an external SSD move your my Photos library to it.

Make sure the drive is formatted APFS before putting your library on it.

i think what you should do is get an external drive which is pretty cheap if not just buy more iCloud

Sadolin44 wrote:

Dear Old Toad,

thanks a lot for your suggestion, I'll follow your advice and buy an external SSD move your my Photos library to it.

Kind regards

Niels