How to transfer photo library from 2017 iMac to new iMac ?

how do I transfer my photos from old 2017 27 inch iMac to new iMac? Old iMac Monterey.

I have already set up the new iMac , I did not use migration assistant because I wanted to start clean.

The only thing I want to transfer are my photos and videos .

I attempted airdrop but there are too many photos and the file info did not transfer with the images.

Is there a simple easy to understand method to do this ?

Posted on Feb 3, 2026 3:40 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 3, 2026 6:22 AM

I assume you mean you are using the Photos app and want to transfer the Photos Library. Is that correct?


If so, there are a number of ways you can copy your Photos Library to your new iMac. First, the Photos Library is normally located in the Pictures folder in your user home folder. The filename is Photos Library.photoslibrary It can be quite large, which means copying takes time.


  • The simplest way to move the library to your new iMac is to copy it to a flash drive or an external HDD or SSD drive, then move the drive to your new iMac and copy the library from the drive to your new user Pictures folder.


  • The preferred, and fastest way, to copy the library is to enable File Sharing on your new iMac. Then, from your old Mac, log on to your new iMac and use the Finder to copy the library to your new user Pictures folder.
2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 3, 2026 6:22 AM in response to June1117

I assume you mean you are using the Photos app and want to transfer the Photos Library. Is that correct?


If so, there are a number of ways you can copy your Photos Library to your new iMac. First, the Photos Library is normally located in the Pictures folder in your user home folder. The filename is Photos Library.photoslibrary It can be quite large, which means copying takes time.


  • The simplest way to move the library to your new iMac is to copy it to a flash drive or an external HDD or SSD drive, then move the drive to your new iMac and copy the library from the drive to your new user Pictures folder.


  • The preferred, and fastest way, to copy the library is to enable File Sharing on your new iMac. Then, from your old Mac, log on to your new iMac and use the Finder to copy the library to your new user Pictures folder.

How to transfer photo library from 2017 iMac to new iMac ?

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