{"id":24163,"date":"2020-01-09T00:48:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T00:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/?p=24163"},"modified":"2022-03-25T19:34:04","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T19:34:04","slug":"transfer-photos-external-hdd-html","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/move-photos-hard-drive.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Safely Move Your Mac Photo Library to an External Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is quite likely that you store digital photos on your Mac computer. If you are like most users, your photo library is an ever-expanding entity as you regularly add new images and never get around to deleting any of the older ones. After a while, the storage demands of your library can start to add up and cause lack of space issues on your internal storage device.<\/p>\r\n<p><img class=\"border-gray border-radius-10 aligncenter wp-image-24173 size-full\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/disk_storage_full_photos_mac_hard_drive.jpg\" alt=\"mac external hard drive is full\" width=\"700\" height=\"149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/disk_storage_full_photos_mac_hard_drive.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/disk_storage_full_photos_mac_hard_drive-300x64.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/disk_storage_full_photos_mac_hard_drive-500x106.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>Professional photographers and videographers are even more prone to running into a storage issue due to the size of their Photo libraries. We are making the assumption that you know <a href=\"\/help\/transfer-photos-iphone-mac.html\">how to move your photos from your iPhone<\/a> to your Mac, and that your photo library is on your computer&#8217;s internal hard drive.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"alert alert-secondary\" role=\"alert\">There is a simple solution that can be used whether you earn your living with your photos or just like to take a lot of pictures. What you need to do is to move photos from your Mac to an external hard drive.<\/div>\r\n<p>We are going to show you how to do that, as well as point you toward a few externals storage devices that will work very well as repositories for your photo libraries. Near the end of the article, we will show you how to recover photos that may be accidentally deleted from your external hard drive.<\/p>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_to_move_your_photos_library_to_an_external_hard_drive\"><\/span><strong>How to Move Your Photos Library to an External Hard Drive<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at how to transfer photos from a Mac to an external hard drive. As with any major modification that you will be making to your computer or storage system, we recommend that you make sure that you have a good backup of your device before proceeding.<\/p>\r\n<p>This adds a little time to the whole process, but in the event that something goes wrong during the data move, you will be glad that you have that backup. Just imagine all of your photos gone for good.<\/p>\r\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"steps_to_move_your_photos_library_to_an_external_drive\"><\/span><strong>Steps to Move your Photos Library to an External Drive<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\r\n<div class=\"alert alert-secondary\" role=\"alert\">\r\n<ol>\r\n\t<li>Attach your external hard drive to your Mac.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>If you have not yet done so, format the drive. We suggest using the <strong><em>same filesystem format<\/em><\/strong> that you are using on your internal hard drive.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Open a <strong>Finder <\/strong>window and verify that your new storage device is correctly attached. You should see it listed under Locations in the Finder Window.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>From the left panel in the Finder window, select <strong>Pictures<\/strong>. <img class=\"border-gray border-radius-10 aligncenter wp-image-24336 size-full\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive4_1.png\" alt=\"move photos from mac to external hard drive\" width=\"700\" height=\"261\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive4_1.png 700w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive4_1-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive4_1-500x186.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>If Pictures is not an option, go into <strong>Finder&#8217;s<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Preferences<\/strong> <strong>&gt; Sidebar<\/strong>\u00a0and check the box\u00a0<strong>Pictures<\/strong>. <img class=\"border-gray border-radius-10 aligncenter wp-image-24337 size-full\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive4_2.jpg\" alt=\"move Photo library to external hard drive\" width=\"700\" height=\"370\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive4_2.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive4_2-300x159.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive4_2-500x264.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Right click on the <strong>Photos library <\/strong>icon and select <strong>Get Info<\/strong>. Verify that you have enough free space for the library on the external drive. <img class=\"border-gray border-radius-10 aligncenter wp-image-24338 size-full\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive5.jpg\" alt=\"copy photos from mac to external hard drive\" width=\"700\" height=\"311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive5.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive5-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive5-500x222.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Drag and drop the <strong>Photos library icon<\/strong> onto the <strong>hard drive icon<\/strong> either in Finder or on your Desktop. <img class=\"border-gray border-radius-10 aligncenter wp-image-24339 size-full\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive6.jpg\" alt=\"transfer photos from Mac to external hard drive\" width=\"700\" height=\"194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive6.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive6-300x83.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/steps_to_move_your_Photos_Library_to_an_external_drive6-500x139.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Wait for the copy to complete. The elapsed time will vary based on the size of your library.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>When finished copying, <strong>hold down the option key <kbd>\u2325<\/kbd><\/strong>\u00a0while <strong>launching the Photos app<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Click <strong>Other Library<\/strong> and navigate to the new location <strong>on the external device<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>In the Photos app, click on <strong>Preferences<\/strong> <strong>&gt; General<\/strong> and select <strong>\u2018Use as System Photo Library\u2019<\/strong>. This is mandatory if you use iCLoud with your Photo library.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Go to <strong>System Preferences<\/strong> <strong>&gt; iCloud &gt; Photos &gt; Options<\/strong>. Select <strong>iCloud Photo Library<\/strong> to turn iCloud back on for your Photos.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Disconnect your external hard drive and verify that all of your photos are indeed in the<strong> Photo library <em>on the device<\/em><\/strong>. Once you are certain that the process is completed, you can drag the Photo library on your Mac to the Trash.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>If you want to immediately free up hard disk space, empty your <strong>Trash<\/strong> to permanently delete the photos.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p>At the end of this procedure, your external hard drive will contain all of the photos from your Photos library that were previously stored on your Mac. You have also freed up all of the space that they previously occupied. Nice work.<\/p>\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_best_external_hard_drives_for_storing_photos\"><\/span><strong>3 Best External Hard Drives for Storing Photos<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>There are many fine external storage devices from which to choose to hold your iPhoto libraries. Here are three of them.<\/p>\r\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_western_digital_my_passport\"><\/span><strong>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.westerndigital.com\/products\/portable-drives\/wd-my-passport-usb-3-0-hdd#WDBYVG0010BBK-WESN\">Western Digital My Passport<\/a><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\r\n<p><img class=\"wp-image-24167 alignright\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/00drive_western_digital_my_passport.jpg\" alt=\"move photos from mac to external hard drive\" width=\"250\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/00drive_western_digital_my_passport.jpg 401w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/00drive_western_digital_my_passport-300x226.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>You can obtain this external drive in a variety of colors and sizes ranging from 1TB to 4TB. It is self-powered and features password protection and hardware encryption. WD My Passport is compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 interfaces. It includes WD backup software that can be set to automatically protect your data on a timed schedule. It comes formatted for Windows but can be formatted for use on a Mac.<\/p>\r\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_g-technology_g-drive_mobile_ssd_r-series\"><\/span><strong>2. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandisk.com\/de-de\/products\/clearance\/portable-drives\/g-technology-g-drive-mobile-usb-3-1-ssd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">G-Technology G-Drive Mobile SSD R-Series<\/a><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\r\n<p><img class=\" wp-image-24172 alignright\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/00drive_g_technology_g_drive_mobile_1.jpg\" alt=\"transfer photos to external hard drive on mac\" width=\"249\" height=\"130\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>This drive is available in sizes up to 2TB and since it is an SSD drive, provides enhanced durability over traditional hard drives. It features high-speed data transfer and is shock and vibration resistant. A good choice if you plan on using your drive in challenging environments.<\/p>\r\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_samsung_t5_ssd\"><\/span><strong>3. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.samsung.com\/semiconductor\/minisite\/ssd\/product\/portable\/t5\/\">Samsung T5 SSD<\/a><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\r\n<p><img class=\" wp-image-24171 alignright\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/00drive_ssd_t_5_portable_01.jpg\" alt=\"move iPhoto library to external hard drive\" width=\"250\" height=\"194\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>Here is another SSD drive that comes in sizes from 250GB up to 2TB. It features a distinctive aluminum casing and is extremely portable, weighing in at 51 grams. Fast transfer speeds are a hallmark of Samsung SSDs and this model is no exception.<\/p>\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"tips_to_recover_deleted_photos_from_an_external_hard_drive_on_mac\"><\/span><b>Tips to Recover Deleted Photos from an External Hard Drive on Mac<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>So now that you have all of your valuable photos on your external hard drive, what are you going to do <strong>if you accidentally delete some of those special memories<\/strong>? You might just be doing some housekeeping on your storage device and inadvertently send some photos to the Trash, which you then delete. Maybe you even formatted the drive by mistake.<\/p>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t panic<\/strong>. Here is a great way to recover deleted photos from an external storage device that is attached to a Mac.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<div class=\"alert alert-secondary\" role=\"alert\">\r\n<ol>\r\n\t<li>Download <a href=\"\/hard-drive-recovery.html\">Disk Drill<\/a> hard drive data recovery software for Mac. You can download it for free and use it to preview recoverable photos before spending a cent on the application. <div class=\"relative bottom download__block\">\r\n            <div class=\"d-flex align-center download__block__inner\">\r\n                <div class=\"download__block__image-wrapper\">\r\n                <div class=\"download__block__image\">\r\n                    <img src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sidebar-ban-96.png\" srcset=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/sidebar-ban-2x-1.png 2x\" alt=\"Disk Drill\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\">        \r\n                <\/div>\r\n                <\/div>\r\n                <div class=\"download__block__announce\">\r\n                    <b>download-block-title<\/b><br>\r\n                    download-block-text\r\n                <\/div>\r\n                <div class=\"download__block__action\">\r\n                    <a href=\"\/\/download.html\" data-href-mac=\/\/disk-drill-mac.html data-href-win=\/\/disk-drill-win.html class=\"button button-green btn-md osreplace\">\r\n<svg width=\"16\" height=\"16\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\r\n<path d=\"M11.9546 7.293C11.8736 7.114 11.6956 7 11.4996 7H9.49957V0.5C9.49957 0.224 9.27557 0 8.99957 0H6.99957C6.72357 0 6.49957 0.224 6.49957 0.5V7H4.49957C4.30357 7 4.12557 7.115 4.04457 7.293C3.96257 7.472 3.99457 7.681 4.12357 7.829L7.62357 11.829C7.71857 11.938 7.85557 12 7.99957 12C8.14357 12 8.28057 11.937 8.37557 11.829L11.8756 7.829C12.0056 7.682 12.0356 7.472 11.9546 7.293Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\r\n<path d=\"M13.5 11V14H2.5V11H0.5V15C0.5 15.553 0.948 16 1.5 16H14.5C15.053 16 15.5 15.553 15.5 15V11H13.5Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\r\n<\/svg>\r\ndownload-block-button-text\r\n<\/a>\r\n                <\/div>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Install the program and supply it with your <strong>Administrator\u2019s password<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Attach the removable storage device to your Mac.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Start <strong>Disk Drill<\/strong> and select the external hard drive from the list of discovered devices. <img class=\"border-gray border-radius-10 aligncenter wp-image-42860 size-full\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sd-recovery-mac-disk-drill.jpg\" alt=\"search for lost data on sd card with disk drill on mac\" width=\"1200\" height=\"754\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sd-recovery-mac-disk-drill.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sd-recovery-mac-disk-drill-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sd-recovery-mac-disk-drill-500x314.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sd-recovery-mac-disk-drill-768x483.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Click the <b>Search for lost data<\/b> button to start scanning the external drive for recoverable files and photos.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Click <b>Review found items<\/b> to preview the found photos. If you want to recover all of the photos, place a checkmark in the box at the top of the file list or preview the photos and choose the ones that you want to recover. <img class=\"border-gray border-radius-10 aligncenter wp-image-40671 size-full\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/review-photos-disk-drill-scan.png\" alt=\"preview found files on mac disk drill\" width=\"1200\" height=\"756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/review-photos-disk-drill-scan.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/review-photos-disk-drill-scan-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/review-photos-disk-drill-scan-500x315.png 500w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/review-photos-disk-drill-scan-768x484.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Click the <b>Recover<\/b> button. <img class=\"border-gray border-radius-10 aligncenter wp-image-40672 size-full\" src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/select-photos-recovery-disk-drill.png\" alt=\"select and recover photos from sd card on mac via disk drill\" width=\"1200\" height=\"757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/select-photos-recovery-disk-drill.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/select-photos-recovery-disk-drill-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/select-photos-recovery-disk-drill-500x315.png 500w, https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/select-photos-recovery-disk-drill-768x484.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Choose the folder which you want to use as the storage location for the recovered photos and click <b>OK<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"alert alert-info\" role=\"alert\">&#x26a0;&#xfe0f;<b>Note<\/b>: To recover selected files and use all of the Disk Drill features, you need to get a <a href=\"\/pro.html\">Pro license<\/a>.<\/div>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>You never know what can happen with your computer, so it&#8217;s always a good idea to have a copy of your photos on an external hard drive or a USB flash drive. This way, you&#8217;ll be sure that all your precious memories are safe.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Luckily, transferring your Photos Library to an external drive is hassle-free and doesn&#8217;t take up much time. And thanks to this article, you&#8217;ll know exactly what steps to take.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"related_posts\"><div class=\"related_posts__inner\"><div class=\"h4\">Read also<\/div><div class=\"related_post\"><div class=\"related_post_item\"><div class=\"related_post_img\"><img src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/photo.png\" alt=\"recover deleted photos from sd card\" width=\"144\" height=\"144\" \/><\/div><div class=\"related_post_content\"><a target=\"_self\" href=\"\/howto\/recover-deleted-photos-mac.html\" class=\"related_post_link\">How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos on Mac<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"related_post\"><div class=\"related_post_item\"><div class=\"related_post_img\"><img src=\"\/howto\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/apple.png\" alt=\"apple mac\" width=\"144\" height=\"144\" \/><\/div><div class=\"related_post_content\"><a target=\"_self\" href=\"\/photo-music-recovery.html\" class=\"related_post_link\">Best Photo & Music Recovery Software for Mac<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"faq\"><\/span><b>FAQ<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<div><section itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/FAQPage\">\r\n<div style=\"border-bottom: 00px solid rgb(213, 217, 217);\" class=\"panel panel-default faq-block\" itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" role=\"tablist\">\r\n            <div class=\"panel-heading\" role=\"tab\" id=\"heading1\">\r\n                <div class=\"panel-title\" itemprop=\"name\">\r\n                    <a class=\"toggle-link transition-all collapsed\" role=\"button\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-item-1\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse-item-1\"><h3 class=\"panel-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_do_i_transfer_photos_from_mac_to_an_external_hard_drive\"><\/span>How do I transfer Photos from Mac to an external hard drive?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>                   \r\n                    \t<svg class=\"transition-all panel-toggle\" width=\"16px\" height=\"16px\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\r\n                            <g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\">\r\n                                <path d=\"M7,7 L7,0 L9,0 L9,7 L16,7 L16,9 L9,9 L9,16 L7,16 L7,9 L0,9 L0,7 L7,7 Z\" fill=\"#000000\"><\/path>\r\n                            <\/g>\r\n                        <\/svg>\r\n                   <\/a>\r\n                <\/div>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            <div id=\"collapse-item-1\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\"heading1\" aria-expanded=\"false\" style=\"\">\r\n              <div class=\"panel-body\" itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\r\n<div itemprop=\"text\">\r\n                <p>The process of moving your photos from Mac to an external drive is pretty simple and doesn&#8217;t require any additional software. To move your Photos Library from your Mac to an external hard drive, follow these steps:<\/p>\r\n<ol>\r\n\t<li>Connect the drive to your Mac.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Launch <b>Finder<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>From the top menu, click <b>Go &gt; Home<\/b> and open the <b>Pictures<\/b> folder.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Locate the <b>Photos Library file<\/b> and drag and drop it onto your external drive on the Finder&#8217;s sidebar.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Eject the external hard drive.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n                <div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n              <\/div>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div style=\"border-bottom: 01px solid rgb(213, 217, 217);\" class=\"panel panel-default faq-block\" itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" role=\"tablist\">\r\n            <div class=\"panel-heading\" role=\"tab\" id=\"heading2\">\r\n                <div class=\"panel-title\" itemprop=\"name\">\r\n                    <a class=\"toggle-link transition-all collapsed\" role=\"button\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-item-2\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse-item-2\"><h3 class=\"panel-title\">Why won't my Mac let me move Photos to an external hard drive?<\/h3>                   \r\n                    \t<svg class=\"transition-all panel-toggle\" width=\"16px\" height=\"16px\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\r\n                            <g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\">\r\n                                <path d=\"M7,7 L7,0 L9,0 L9,7 L16,7 L16,9 L9,9 L9,16 L7,16 L7,9 L0,9 L0,7 L7,7 Z\" fill=\"#000000\"><\/path>\r\n                            <\/g>\r\n                        <\/svg>\r\n                   <\/a>\r\n                <\/div>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            <div id=\"collapse-item-2\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\"heading2\" aria-expanded=\"false\" style=\"\">\r\n              <div class=\"panel-body\" itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\r\n<div itemprop=\"text\">\r\n                <p>If you&#8217;ve encountered an issue when trying to transfer your Photos Library from Mac to an external drive, it&#8217;s possible that the drive isn&#8217;t formatted correctly or doesn&#8217;t have enough free space. Keep in mind that if you decide to format your external drive, it will erase all of the data stored on it.<\/p>\r\n<p>To format and erase your external drive, do the following:<\/p>\r\n<ol>\r\n\t<li>Connect the drive to your Mac.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Head to <b>Launchpad &gt; Disk Utility<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Choose your drive in the sidebar.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Click the <b>Erase<\/b> button at the top.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Type in a name for the drive, choose<b> GUID Partition Map<\/b> from the Scheme options and choose <b>Mac OS Extended (Journaled)<\/b> format or <b>APFS format<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Click <b>Erase<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n                <div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n              <\/div>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is quite likely that you store digital photos on your Mac computer. If you are like most users, your photo library is an ever-expanding entity as you regularly add new images and never get around to deleting any of&#8230;","protected":false},"author":7902,"featured_media":24338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2638],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mac-os-x-tips-troubleshooting"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Transfer Photos from Mac to External Drive [Solved]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This article describes how to move your photo library to an External storage drive. We also give a few recommendations for storage devices and talk about recovering deleted photos with Disk Drill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/move-photos-hard-drive.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Transfer Photos from Mac to External Drive [Solved]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article describes how to move your photo library to an External storage drive. We also give a few recommendations for storage devices and talk about recovering deleted photos with Disk Drill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/move-photos-hard-drive.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Data recovery tips. 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