This library appears in apps like iMovie, iCloud Photos, Shared Albums, and Photo Stream. Click Erase. If nothing fails, great! All photo editors know how frustrating, Photo Mechanic 5 is a photo editing software that allows you to quickly review and edit your photos. Sheree_P, call If it fails to open appropriately, try to rebuild it per instructions above. To copy your iPhoto Library to an external hard drive, you will need to first locate your iPhoto Library folder. 1-800-MY-APPLE, or, Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture, Sales and Quit Photos. One of the most common questions we get from Mac users is how to move their iPhoto Library to an external drive. You can check whether you have a FAT32 partition on the external drive as follows: If the volume shows FAT32, you need to reformat the drive. He specialises in creatively using long exposure times to give artistic, narrative experiences for the viewer. (See: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture) Then drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures folder to the external drive. This can be found by going to your Home folder, then to Pictures, and finally to iPhoto Library. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes Drag it to a drive, partition, or disk image formatted as Mac OS Extended. This is especially important for users with limited hard drive space, or who want to keep a backup of their photos off-site. (The latter is a fantastic screensaver on your Apple TV). Mac OS creates the library the first time you open Photos on your machine. I have a desk drawer full of external drives. You can check that with "File > Get Info" for the drive. Apple disclaims any and all liability for the acts, For starters, while this is an oddball one, some of the people who have had this failure have solved their copy operation holdup by fixing the destination drives format type. ExpertPhotography is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Wait for the data transfer to complete. A folder or folder that contains the photos in the Photos app is the most likely location for them. Hes a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911. How To Move Your IPhoto Library To An External Drive. Looks like no ones replied in a while. omissions and conduct of any third parties in connection with or related to your use of the site. I use and would recommend an external Solid State Drive (SSD) such as the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD. Now your copy is set up and working. Because the library files are packages which look like files, the error gets reported for the package name, rather than revealing which file within the package is at fault. 1-800-MY-APPLE, or. After traveling all over the world, I finally understand where my heart belongs Burma. From the Scheme pop-up menu, choose GUID. Select iCloud Photo Library to turn iCloud back on for . Transfer your photos. Its always a good idea to keep a copy of your photos on an external hard drive or USB flash drive because your computer can go wrong at any time. All postings and use of the content on this site are subject to the. Available in sizes up to 4 TB, these drives are super fast, reliable, rugged, and portableperfect for your camera bag! Put it either in the sidebar or on the desktop. A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. The drive will be named something like Seagate, WD, or the like, followed by a model number. any proposed solutions on the community forums. It may take a few minutes or longer depending on the size of your library. Make sure the library on the external drive has enough free space. Click Other Library and navigate to the new location on the external device. Her startup drive started to fill. Quit Photos. After you've cleaned up your library and formatted your external hard drive, then it's time to transfer your pictures. (See: Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture). Select the volume beneath the drive. Copyright 2022 IDG Communications, Inc. Any iCloud-based images will automatically appear and download if you select them to edit. If I upload my photos to a iCloud Drive on my Mac can I delete them from my iCloud Drive? What kind of iCloud Storage? The files and folders in the Finder are the reference libraries, and if you use a reference library, they are stored in those locations. This will copy, not move, your photos library. I have a 24" M1 2001 iMac. Under Sharing & Permissions, check the box that says then try again. Glenn Fleishmans most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. If the file system is different, copy the contents of the drive somewhere else and reformat the drive. Click on the iCloud tab . This is an excellent way to know which backup is which. If that doesnt solve the problem, I have two more suggestions: You can open the media library package and copy items in small groups to see if you can identify which file or folder is corrupt. Change permissions settings for the item in its current location or the directory from which it wishes to be moved. Rename the copy of the library each time. My family album synchronizes through my iCloud photo library and updates with photos from each new adventure. When I try to copy the transfer process goes quickly but slows at 12-15 GBs and then actually stops at around 30GBs. read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. Step 1 (if you use iCloud): Turn off iCloud sync on your old library. only. 3. Apples iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) and OS X Yosemite (10.10.3) are the most recent models. The Ultimate Guide About Travelling In Burma, How To Reset Your Email Password On Yosemite, What To See In California Yosemite Or San Diego, Why Apple Chose The Names El Capitan High Sierra And Yosemite For Its New Operating Systems, Fascinating Reasons Why A Trip To Burma Is A Unique Experience, 10 Things You Must Know About Traveling In Burma And About Burma. By capturing a duration of time within a single image, he strives to portray the vitality and excitement that can be found amidst the bustle of people, cars, clouds and everything else moving in the frame, whilst communicating calm, serenity and silence. Step 3: Drag Photos Library to the External Drive. You can also select your interests for free access to our premium training: If youre like most people, you have a lot of photos on your computer. any proposed solutions on the community forums. Apple lets you boot from a special partition on your startup drive into the Recovery mode. Macworld is your best source for all things Apple. Subscribe to the Macworld Digital Magazine. If you're into editing photos and post-processing, you need to check out this Topaz JPEG to RAW AI review. Whenever you want to add more images or edit existing pictures in your library, plug in your external drive and open Photos. A decent number of people have received this error with an iPhoto or Photos Library, possibly because the media library folders are big folders full of other folders. ask a new question. Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac. Email yours to My Passport, as an alternative to USB 2.0, can be plugged into USB 3.0. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The volume appears indented named something else and, if mounted, with an Eject button next to it. This means we may receive a commission if you purchase something by clicking on one of our links. You can open your home folder by choosing Go > Home from the Finder menu bar. If you are having trouble dragging or dropping files, you can enable three-fingered drag by going to Pointer Control > Trackpad Options > Enabling dragging and then selecting three-fingered drag. If you have iPhoto installed on your external drive, it will not refer to the library on your computers drive. After you have selected File in the Menu Bar, select Library from the menu. Control-click on that new library file on the external drive and choose Show Package Contents. How do I copy my iPhoto 9.6 Library from my Pictures Library to a LaCie External hard drive? In the Photos app, click on Preferences > General and select 'Use as System Photo Library'. Move Photos Library to the storage device. Mac OS X (10.6.8), Jan 21, 2015 10:09 AM in response to ron290, Make sure your external drive is formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled). It is currently copied to my Time Machine and to cloud storage but I would also like to copy it to an external hard drive for storage in our safe deposit box. This doesn't affect our editorial independence. When the transfer stops, do you receive an error message. Can't copy Photo library file to external drive, User profile for user: Privacy Policy Terms of Use. Select everything in the . Any APFS or Mac OS Extended format drive works. All postings and use of the content on this site are subject to the. Where are all your photos stored? If so, check out this article: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information Sales and Everything To Know Before Travelling To The Beautiful Land Of Burma! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the efficacy of iPhoto '11, Then and only then: When the volume mounts on the Desktop, if you can copy the media library successfully now, hurray, that was the problem. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes If you delete the photo from your Macs Photos library, it will be deleted. Mac 911 cant reply tonor publish an answer toevery question, and we dont provide direct troubleshooting advice. If you receive an error, you should be able to see which folder it failed with. It has a variety of features, including, Having the best laptop for photo editing gives you the greatest advantage in the competitive world of photography. Easily the most common reason for poor focus and blurry images, Leaving your camera on its default settings will produce blurry results, Post processing wont fix a blurry image from a slow shutter . Looks like no ones replied in a while. Before we get started, its important to note that this process will only work if youre using iPhoto 11 or later. Some external drives come preformatted for Windows in FAT32 format if theyre not listed as being specifically intended for Macs. Select the library on the external drive. Grab all the folders except that one that didnt copy and drag them to the new library folder. One of the most common questions we get from Mac users is how to move their iPhoto Library to an external drive. A USB-C port gives you the fastest data transfer. The good news is that its actually pretty easy to do, and there are a few different ways to go about it. It's free to sign up and bid on jobs. (Some forum posts are from folks who thought it was in NTFS format, but Macs can only read, not write, to NTFS without additional software, so you wouldnt be able to start copying at all.). Select Get Info from the Photos library icon after clicking on the Photos icon. If its an image file and not a database or other file, you may have to just do without it. If your computer ever crashes or gets lost or stolen, all those photos will be gone forever. An external hard drive is a great way to back up your photos, and its also handy for storing other files such as music and movies. This import is directly from a camera, device, or your iCloud photo library. If your pictures folder is not listed in your Finder window, use Finder preferences to select what you see in your sidebar. Users can also create custom albums and add tags to help organize their photos. Keeping large media-type files on something other than your system drive is considered good practice. 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Jan 21, 2015 10:10 AM in response to ron290, simple - get an external hard drive formatted Mac OS extended that is directly connected to your Mac with a wired connection (firewire, thunderbolt, USB 2 or 3) and, Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash), And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto, And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive, You must not have your iPhoto library on the same volume as your TimeMachine backup - eventually it will quit working since Tm uses all of the available space as it needs it and you have not backup, Jan 21, 2015 10:05 AM in response to ron290. LarryHN, call And you can decide if you want to share albums with other people or subscribe to their albums. In this article, well show you how to move your iPhoto Library to an external drive using both the Finder and iPhoto itself. To start the conversation again, simply A laptop that isn't up to the, What You Need to Copy Photos Library to External Hard Drive, Step 1: Connect Your External Storage Device, Step 3: Drag Photos Library to the External Drive, Step 5: Set Your Photo Library Preferences, See all articles in Effortless Editing with Lightroom. You can choose whether to store imported photos in the cloud. This library will also synchronize with your other devices. Then drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures folder to the external drive. Your email address will not be published. The process of transferring photos from your Mac to an external drive is fairly simple, and no additional software is required. If you dont have an external hard drive connected, youll get an error message when you try to open iPhoto. Refunds. Click on Finder > Preferences from the menu bar. I have reformatted the external drive (Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and it is a 2.1 TB a 3.0 USB drive. First try copying everything to see if the Finder will report the problem: select everything in the folder, and drag to the new librarys folder. (You can get off Auto mode and take stunning photos in real life with our Photography Unlocked course!). Follow these steps: Create a new Photos Library to use as a skeleton to copy over the contents of the old, potentially corrupted one. So you still save space on your Mac. If youre copying the photos to the library, you should save them in the Photos library file as a package. Before you create a new Photos library, you have to disassociate your current library as your system default. Photos Library is the folder where the Photos App stores the images you import. iCloud Drive will probably corrupt the library by syncing. Now you know how to copy Photos Library to external hard drive. On your startup volume, select an iPhoto or Photos Library and select. Run Disk Repair from Recovery. only. Put it either in the sidebar or on the desktop. When you connect a camera or phone, you will import the photos straight to the external device. So how do you transfer photos from a Macbook to an external hard drive? Make sure you have quit Photos. The app organizes photos into Moments, Collections, and Years. This will copy, not move, your photos library. And you can delete the original Photos Library file from your pictures folder. If Pictures is not an option, go to Finders Preferences > Sidebar and look for it. If you are having trouble moving or copying files or folders, you may need to change their permissions. This way, I do not have to wait for thousands of other shots to load or wade through hundreds of headshots to get to those most important images. Whenever I try to copy my Photo Library file (GB) to an external hard drive it goes about half way and then stalls. Click Photos > Preferences. ask a new question. Connect your external drive to your machine. This is especially important for users with limited hard drive space, or who want to keep a backup of their photos off-site.The good news is that it's actually pretty easy to do, and there are a few different ways to go about it. Only one, however, can be set as your System Photo Library. Drag the file to the bin, right-click, and select empty bin. A G-Drive Mobile SSD R-Series is an excellent alternative to traditional hard drives because it provides superior durability. You can further optimize your storage in the iCloud tab. Select the Sidebar tab. When youve completed copying everything you can, launch Photos with the Option key held down. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. Once you have deleted the library file from your pictures folder, your pictures will no longer be on your Mac. If youre using an older version of iPhoto, youll need to upgrade to the latest version before you can move your library. Open Photos on your Mac. provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations Required fields are marked *. I tested with several small test libraries, and none could be opened on iCloud Drive, or copied back in a working condition. MacBook Air 13, If you hold the option key and click the Photos app, you can select the library you wish to open from a list. A few gigabytes can transfer in a matter of minutes. Here are 3 of the 7 steps we uncover in this 21 minute video: Sharing & Permissions, check the box that says then try again. Jan 21, 2015 2:09 PM in response to LarryHN, How to copy iPhoto Library to an External Hard Drive, User profile for user: In the main view, Disk Utility shows the volumes name, and beneath it the capacity and then should read Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility reveals the format type for a partition, which you can then erase (after backing up) and reformat to the preferred macOS type. If you are transferring an extensive photo library, it can take some time. (If you don't use iCloud Photos, you can skip these steps.) Refunds. captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the efficacy of Its actually pretty simple: just follow these steps. This is a lot to try, but its likely one of these solutions will move you along your way to success. On June 1, 2015, at 6:40 a.m., the following was added: This package is usually located in the Pictures folder. You can store your iPhoto libraries on an external storage device of your choice. Whenever I try to copy my Photo Library file (GB) to an external hard drive it goes about half way and then stalls. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Do you only want to back up your Photos library to an external storage device? SanDisk Extreme Portable Hard Drive (500 GB). Joe Taylor is a UK based fine art photographer. Copy iPhoto libraries onto an external hard drive by connecting it. If the file system is different, copy the contents of the drive somewhere else and reformat the drive. I have reformatted the external drive (Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and it is a 2.1 TB a 3.0 USB drive. Make a complete backup of the volume, because erasing and reformatting a partition deletes all the stored data on it. But if your library is closer to 1 TB (1,000 GB), be prepared to leave it overnight to finish! It is not uncommon for storage demands in your photo library to become an issue after a while. Then click and drag the Photos Library icon to your external drive. Apple disclaims any and all liability for the acts, All Rights Reserved. But you cannot copy to a drive used for Time Machine backup. You can start managing your shoots like a pro! With that out of the way, lets get started! Each major shoot or event is in its own library. To start the conversation again, simply Heres what you need to locate to move your images. This is mandatory if you use iCLoud with your Photo library. While she was able to copy an older iPhoto Library to the other drive, the Finder kept hanging up during the Photos Library transfer with this error: The Finder cant complete the operation because some data in Photos Library cant be read or written. Then click and drag the Photos Library icon to your external drive. Expert Photography 2011-2022. Apples newest operating system, OS X Yosemite, has a new way of storing and organizing photos. Once you have located your iPhoto Library folder, you can simply drag and drop it onto your external hard drive. Another option is to try a different cable to narrow down what could be causing it. This guide will show you how to safely transfer your Macs iPhoto library to an external drive. ExpertPhotography is part of several affiliate sales networks. Then, in the Format pop-up menu, select the file system format. So when you take a shot with your iPhone or edit on your iPad, the pictures automatically store themselves in iCloud. Her Photos Library file is 12.5GB, and she had just a few gigabytes left on the drive. Martha Helena writes in with a problem that may have a few different angles. And check the folders you want to be displayed when you open a new Finder window. By default, Photos Library is stored in the Pictures folder of your home folder. Your most likely method of storing digital photos is on your Mac computer. This increases the odds that if you have a faulty file, it will scotch the copy. In Disk Utility with that partition selected, click. There is a section labeled "If you get an error when moving Photos Library". Here is our step-by-step guide to transferring your files. Control-click on that new library file on the external drive and choose. If not, were always looking for new problems to solve! If you copied the iPhoto Library to iCloud Drive,you will not be able to restore the library. (Repeat with failures as necessary.). Because it is formatted for Windows, it is available for use on Macs as well. (Error code -36). It is worth stating that you must connect your external hard drive each time you use the Photos App. Each drive is dedicated to a different kind of shoot (weddings, events, theatre). Make sure you have quit Photos. If issue persists, try transferring smaller portions of the library at a time. According to AppleInsider, you should have at least 1TB of free storage on hand. How do you transfer photos from a Mac to a hard drive? Your email address will not be published. Select everything in the revealed folder, move to the trash, and delete it. Go to System Preferences > iCloud > Photos > Options. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information You have a lot of possibilities to fix this. Select the item, then File > Get Info, or Command-I if youre using an Internet connection. Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, How to export video from a HomeKit Secure Video camera, How to color-code events in Apple Calendar, How to reset macOS Privacy preferences when other options dont work. Some iPhoto/Photos filename or related data may be incompatible with FAT32. But theres an easy way to prevent that from happening: by transferring your photos to an external hard drive. omissions and conduct of any third parties in connection with or related to your use of the site. And if youre like most people, you dont back them up often enough. Open folders that failed to copy and try to copy elements within them until you diagnose which file is bad. Wait for the data transfer to complete. A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. We give you the scoop on what's new, what's best and how to make the most out of the products you love. After traveling all over the world, I finally understand where my heart belongs - Burma. You can check that with "File > Get Info" for the drive. I am trying to do this copy so to give the external drive to my grandkids for their future use. macOS 10.15, Aug 24, 2022 11:47 AM in response to JDB38. Assuming you have already copied your Photos library onto the external storage device, you can follow these steps. With a compact and sleek design, durable outer casing, and excellent storage capacity, its the perfect portable hard drive for photographers. Browse to the created copy of your Photos Library and double-click the file icon to open it. Another SSD drive is the Samsung T5 SSD, which has capacities ranging from 250GB to 2TB. Now, instead of being stored in iPhoto, they are stored in the Photos app. Drag Photos Library to a location on your external storage device. And they show up on your computer! If you encounter an error popup, select your external drive in the finder window, then choose File > Get Info (Command or Ctrl + I). In the Finder, open the folder that contains Photos Library. Stop here! provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations Weve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently along with answers and links to columns: Repeat steps 1 to 3 whenever you want to back up images. You can use many Photo libraries from external drives. Click Create New, and save the new files on the external drive. mac911@macworld.com including screen captures as appropriate. The local copies on external drive are much better to save your photos. Enter a name for the disk or volume. 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