Moving my photos library to an external drive AND want a iCloud sync/backup

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Level 1

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Moving my photos library to an external drive AND want a iCloud sync/backup

Hello All,

I have an old Macbook Air (2011). Not ready to buy a new one. OSX Yosemite 10.10.5. I have about 6.6GB space left and get 'Startup Disk full' messages constantly. Bulk of my system drive is photos and music.

I want to

> move my photos library to a external hard drive.

>I also want a backup in the iCloud for redundancy

>I want the pictures to sync automatically between the external hard drive and iCloud.

I'm getting lost in the details.

What I know:

The external hard drive needs to be formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)

It can't be same drive as TimeMachine backups

It needs to be connected when opening photos app on the MacOS

What I don't know:

How exactly does iCloud work for photo storage?

Are my 'wants' achievable and work for the purposes stated.

Please give me steps to do it!

Thanks!

Ragni

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), Audi Q5 without Navigation

Posted on Mar 26, 2018 2:52 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

LarryHN

Level 10

106,116 points

Mar 28, 2018 12:19 PM in response to Aarpy

Some critical steps they do not cover

1 - fully test and verify the library on the EHD prior to deleting the old one

2 - set the library on the EHD as the system library

3 - always be sure he drive is available prior to launching Photos on your Mac

and when you move a library it will be totally uploaded to iCloud which can take a while

LN

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Answer 2

LarryHN

Level 10

106,116 points

Mar 26, 2018 3:01 PM in response to Aarpy

iCloud Photo Library does what you want (except the backup part - there is no iCloud backup for Macs, it is a syncing service ) -- simply set the library on the EHD as the system library and everything in it will be uploaded to iCloud and kept in sync as any changes (additions, deletions or edits) or made on any of your connected devices -- iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support

LN

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Answer 3

Aarpy Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 26, 2018 3:06 PM in response to LarryHN

Thank you Larry. So the steps are:

> Format the EHD appropriately

> Move the pictures library to the EHD as mentioned here: https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/184491/how-to-safely-move-your-macs-i photo-library-onto-an-external-drive

> Make the EHD the system library

> Turn iCloud photo service on (iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support)

Question: I'm going to be taking this mac with me on meetings, so the EHD may not always be connected. As long as I plug it back in when I'm home, it will still update the library with any new pictures I take, right?

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Moving my photos library to an external drive AND want a iCloud sync/backup

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