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Photos are some of the most important files people want to keep safe. Storing them in the cloud is nice, but you might also want the peace of mind of having your pictures stored locally. Luckily, it’s easy enough to copy your Mac’s Photos library to an external drive. This guide assumes you’re using the actual “Photos” app on your Mac, the default if you’ve used iCloud Photo Stream or imported from your iPhone. If you just have your photos in a folder on your Mac, all you need to do is plug your external drive in and move them over. If you’re using another app that maintains a library, you’ll have to configure things within that app. Moving Your Photos LibraryTo understand how this works, it’s important to know how the Photos app catalogs files. It’s actually simple; there’s a single file that contains your entire library. If you want to back this up, you plug in your external hard drive and drag the whole file over to that hard drive in the sidebar of Finder.  The harder part comes when you need to change which Photos library you want to use. You’ll have to change the location from which the Photos app is reading. In the image below, I’ve got two Photos libraries, the default one, and a backup library. While you can access the backup library just by double-clicking it—which will open it in the Photos app—it’s better to switch Photos to use this one by default. You can always switch back to the regular library when you need to. Double click the backup library to open it, then open the preferences for Photos from Photos > Preferences in the menubar. Select “Use as System Photos Library,” which will change the default to the new library. Back Up Your Drive Automatically With Time MachineBacking up files manually is not the best solution, as you can never predict when your computer will break. It’s better to back up automatically, so you don’t have to think about it at all. Apple’s built-in Time Machine is the best tool for backing up to an external drive. You can read our guide on setting it up to get started. Image Credits: dourleak/Shutterstock READ NEXT
How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology. Since we launched in 2006, our articles have been read more than 1 billion times. Want to know more? When you first use Photos, you create a new library or select the library that you want to use. You’ll need to properly manage them, including taking steps to make sure you don’t run out of local storage. You can create multiple photo libraries on your Mac, but you have to choose one to be THE System Photo Library. Photos in it are available in apps like iMovie, Pages, and Keynote. You can also sync them to iOS devices and Apple TV via iTunes. If you want to use your own images as your desktop picture or screen saver, the images need to be in your System Photo Library before you can select them in System Preferences. Plus, some Apple apps and third-party apps also access your System Photo Library using the Media Browser. If you have only one photo library, as most folks do, it’s the System Photo Library. If you have more than one, the first photo library that you create or open in Photos will become the System Photo Library. Related: How to Move Your iTunes Library to an External Drive By default, your System Photo Library is stored in the Pictures folder on your Mac. If like me, you take lots of pics, a hard drive or solid-state drive can fill up easily, especially since more Macs ship with limited storage. However, you can move the System Photo Library to an external storage device. Make sure you’ve backed up your photos, quit Photos, then:
Note that, if a Photos library is located on an external drive, don’t use Time Machine to store a backup on that external drive. The permissions for your Photos library may conflict with those for the Time Machine backup. If you want, you can create additional photo libraries and store them in any location on your Mac or on an external storage device. If you do have multiple libraries, you can only work with the photos in only one library at a time. To work with photos in another library, you must switch between photo libraries. To do this:
If you switch to a library other than the System Photo Library, the changes you make aren’t reflected in iCloud Photos, because iCloud Photos only syncs changes from your System Photo Library. Note that, by default, all the files you import into Photos are stored in the current photo library. If you want, you can set Photos to leave the files you import in their original locations (for example, on a storage device) and not place them in the library. Dennis has over 40 years of journalism experience and has written hundreds of articles. For the past 20-plus years, he's been an online journalist, covering mainly Apple Inc. He's written for MacCentral, MacWorld, MacMinute, Macsimum News, Apple Daily Report, and is now contributing editor at Apple World Today. How do I backup my entire iPhoto library to an external hard drive?Here is our step-by-step guide to transferring your files.. Step 1: Connect Your External Storage Device. ... . Step 2: Navigate to Your Pictures Folder. ... . Step 3: Drag Photos Library to the External Drive. ... . Step 4: Open Your Copy of Photos Library. ... . Step 5: Set Your Photo Library Preferences.. How do I export my entire apple photo library?In the Photos app on your Mac, select the photos you want to export. Choose File > Export > Export Unmodified Original. If you want to export IPTC information (assigned IPTC metadata and keywords) as a sidecar XMP file, select the Export IPTC as XMP checkbox.
How do I copy everything from my Mac to an external hard drive?Step by Step: Backing up Your Mac to an External Hard Drive With Time Machine. Locate System Preferences in the Apple Menu. ... . Select Time Machine. ... . Select Backup Disk. ... . Select Your Hard Drive and Encrypt Backup. ... . Create a Password for Your Backup. ... . Wait for Backup to Begin.. Can I put all my Photos on an external hard drive?Copy the Photos Library from your Pictures Folder to an external disk. Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch Photos. From the resulting menu select “Other Library” and navigate to the new location.
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How do i copy my entire iphoto library to an external hard drive
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