{"id":65213,"date":"2020-09-07T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T01:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=65213"},"modified":"2021-05-21T10:13:01","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T15:13:01","slug":"move-macos-photos-library-to-external-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/65213-move-macos-photos-library-to-external-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Move Your macOS Photos Library to an External Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"owc<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re short on space on your Mac, you can free up a lot of space by moving your Photos library to an external drive<\/a>. Here\u2019s how to do this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you have back-ups of your pics. (Which, by the way, you should be doing anyway.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s How to Move Your Photos Library<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Quit Photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Copy the Photos Library from your Pictures Folder to an external disk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch Photos. From the resulting menu select \u201cOther Library.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"choose<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

4. Navigate to the new location (the external drive) you\u2019ve chosen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

5. You\u2019ll get a message that says: \u201cThis library contains items that need to download from iCloud Photo Library.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Click on “delete incomplete items.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. In the Photos app, go to “Preferences” and under “General,” click “Use as System Photo Library.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"general<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

8. Then go to “System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud.” Make sure there\u2019s a check by Photos if you want the app to use iCloud for storage (and you probably do).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"apps<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

9. Test the library. When you’re sure all is well, feel free to trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These instructions apply, for the most part, to other versions of macOS besides Catalina. However, I\u2019m using Catalina on a 16-inch MacBook Pro for this tutorial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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