HT204655: Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X

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archiform
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: how to backup photos to external hard desk

I need to backup the photos from photos app to an external hard desk to free space from my labtop?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 20, 2015 11:32 AM

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archiform

Q: how to backup photos to external hard desk

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 20, 2015 12:29 PM in response to archiform
    Level 10 (108,148 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 20, 2015 12:29 PM in response to archiform

    That are two different things you are asking - backup and free space.  If you just make a backup copy of your photos library on a external drive, you will not free storage on your internal drive.  Do you want to move the Photos Library off your System drive to an external drive?

     

    You can move the Photos library to an external drive and run Photos from there. But then you will always have to connect the drive, when you want to use Photos.

    Any external drive you are using for a Photos Library should be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled). 

    • Make a current Time Machine backup of your Mac.
    • Quit Photos, if it is running.
    • Connect the drive that you want to use for your Photos Library, then drag the Photos Library to that drive.
    • Now double click the copied Photos Library to open it in Photos and test it.
    • If all is working well, you can delete the original library.