Hello,
I have very low space on my Mac´s hard drive, and I would like to relocate the Photos Library location, from my Mac (default setting) into an external drive.
Is possible? How can I change that location?
Image attached shows actual/default location
Thank you
KK
Mac mini, macOS 15.3
Photos is very picky about the external drive. How is your drive formatted? 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. There have been so many problems with using incompatible drives that the newest macOSs won't even allow a Library on a non-Mac formatted drive to open, since there is a chance of damaging the Photos database. See this:
Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
You might also want to check the permissions for your new drive, if you're sure it's properly formatted. This is not usually a problem, but it sometimes comes up.
Click on the drive icon, and open the Info window with command-i. Go to the bottom:
If “Ignore Ownership” is there, then it should be checked.
Photos is very picky about the external drive. How is your drive formatted? 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. There have been so many problems with using incompatible drives that the newest macOSs won't even allow a Library on a non-Mac formatted drive to open, since there is a chance of damaging the Photos database. See this:
Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
You might also want to check the permissions for your new drive, if you're sure it's properly formatted. This is not usually a problem, but it sometimes comes up.
Click on the drive icon, and open the Info window with command-i. Go to the bottom:
If “Ignore Ownership” is there, then it should be checked.
Drag it there in the Finder, launch Photos with the Option key held down, click on Other Library, and choose it.
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How to change Photos Library location?
