iCloud Photos library import to Mac Studio is slow and stuck

Jimzushi wrote: … there's 88.71 GB left to import and I have 143.1 GB currently available on my internal HD. Anything I can do to finish this import?

This certainly sounds like you're out of storage space! The Mac uses its internal drive for manipulating files, and you haven't left enough available. My 1TB MacAir starts acting a bit crazy with less than 150 GB remaining, and you're trying to get away with less than 60 GB! Apple recommends keeping at least 10% free, but my experience is that closer to 15% should be kept available.

With such a large Library, your best bet is to use an external drive, an SSD is best, formatted in APFS. You can see this:

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

To make a new System Library on an external drive, see this:

Make a New System Library connected to iCloud

Let us know how it goes…

Jimzushi wrote: …The first instructions that you linked are for moving the library from the local drive to an external, not from iCloud to an external.

I included the first Link primarily to spell out the official requirements for using an external drive with Photos. I pretty much summed those up in the early part of the second link, and I included the first Link as a reference.

iCloud Photos keeps the Photos Library on your Mac exactly the same as the Photos Library at iCloud.com. If you want all the pictures and information, you can get that by either moving a fully synchronized Library to a drive or by just filling an empty Library from iCloud Photos. Other methods, like downloading from a browser, for instance, don't provide all the Library's data.

The second instructions you linked seem to be the instructions that I need to follow to directly move the iCloud photos library to the external drive. I need to re-read to make sure that I understand the process.

That's why I include pictures!

There is enough room left on the local drive to import the remaining photos, there would be 55 GB available even after the entire library is imported. I guess the OS needs extra space to complete this task?

If you don't have 10% free, then the Mac will spend all its time trying desperately to rearrange files to make room, and you can't get anywhere. That 55GB you are pretending is "available" is already being used by the OS. As I said, I have seen things go awry with 150GB "available." It isn't.

Jimzushi wrote:

Ok that sounds good. Should I delete the incomplete library from my local drive first?

Deleting that is fine. Just make sure, even if you're keeping the Library on an external drive, that you have at least 10% free storage on the Mac.

You are in an ideal position to use an external drive with a desktop Mac. Just keep it plugged in always. Photos does lots of background processes in Photos , and it's confusing to have the Library disconnected. I would avoid unplugging the drive without having shut down the Mac first. Otherwise re-syncing might take a very long time.

As muguy says, filling the Library will take days, maybe more than a week.

Where are checking the size of the library?

It will depend on the kind of device, where you are using your iCloud Photos Library, how much storage you will need locally on the device. without "Optimize Mac Storage" enabled your Mac will need locally much more storage than the size of the library in iCloud. A Mac with a large display will need larger working copies than an iPhone , for example.

I just checked the size of my own Photos Library with 82959 objects (82137 photos and 822 videos).

• My iCloud webpage is showing for Photos 363.61 GB used
• But the Photos Library on my Mac has a size of 452.25 GB.

When I look into the library package, I can see, that the photos library is needing a lot of extra storage for resources, like previews and thumbnails, database file to describe the relations between photos and albums etc, but also access for the media browser and other apps.

Most of the storage is used for the original image files, but the other folders are accounting for 20% of the library size. When I ctrl-click the library and use "Show package content" and sort the internal folders by size, I am seeing this:

Jimzushi wrote:

Yes, this is what I want to accomplish: moving the library to an external SSD. The first instructions that you linked are for moving the library from the local drive to an external, not from iCloud to an external. I was under the impression that if the library was located on iCloud it had to imported internally before moving to the external SSD.

Yes, those point to moving the current file. No, you need not download the library internally first. Essentially, you just need a library on an external drive (current or empty) which you then connect to iCloud and make the system library.

The second instructions you linked seem to be the instructions that I need to follow to directly move the photos library to the external drive. I need to re-read to make sure that I understand the process.

I'd just do this, not download to your Mac first.

There is enough room left on the local drive to import the remaining photos, there would be 55 GB available even after the entire library is imported. I guess the OS needs extra space to complete this task?

Maybe, downloading large libraries can take time, same with an initial upload. There may be a need for additional space during the download which would then be recovered.

Just remember, you'll still want to backup your external library using Time Machine (or similar) too a different drive.

As léonie showed, the Photos Library is a dynamic environment. It's constantly scanning and updating the database, even making preview-sized images, and creating the "resources" that offer more features and makes scanning through all the pictures quicker. Some storage is temporary, so the Library may shrink sometimes, as well. This is why the Library shouldn't be turned on and off or unplugged and plugged back in--it's best to shut down the Mac if you need to unplug the drive.