Using an external HDD specifically for Photos

[Artypat]

Does anyone use an external HDD for their Photos and not keep any on the Mac itself? I’m thinking of buying a 2021 Mac but 256 GB is far too small. I currently have a 2013 Mac that has had a 1 TB SSD fitted but if I buy a new Mac, would it work okay having all my photos on a separate HDD? I asked because my current Mac is soon going to be obsolete and I have recently had problems accessing my photos.

 

[Backlighting]

I keep all my pics on IMGUR...there's no charge. Check em out:

Imgur

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

imgur.com

 

[IWT]

Does anyone use an external HDD for their Photos and not keep any on the Mac itself? I’m thinking of buying a 2021 Mac but 256 GB is far too small. I currently have a 2013 Mac that has had a 1 TB SSD fitted but if I buy a new Mac, would it work okay having all my photos on a separate HDD? I asked because my current Mac is soon going to be obsolete and I have recently had problems accessing my photos.

You can certainly keep your photos on an External Hard Drive (EHD).

Firstly, you can copy your Photos Library to an EHD. Then, on your Mac, tell it where the Library is. When you confirm that the Library on the EHD is okay, you can delete the Photos Library on your Mac to save space.

This Apple article explains all the details regarding running your Photos Library from an EHD.

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

To save storage space on your Mac, you can move your Photos library to a different storage device.

support.apple.com

Read it carefully and bear in mind that running your Photos Library from an EHD, means that it is the only source of all your photographs. You might therefore consider copying the contents of that EHD to another EHD from time to time as a Backup (BU).

Secondly, you can BU all your photos to iCloud assuming you have enough space in iCloud - or you can purchase more space if you need it.

Anything not clear, or if you want more info, please post back.

Ian

 

[techiesteve]

I keep all my pics on IMGUR...there's no charge. Check em out:

Imgur

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

imgur.com

Before even considering IMGUR, take a look at their TOS.

 

[Artypat]

You can certainly keep your photos on an External Hard Drive (EHD).

Firstly, you can copy your Photos Library to an EHD. Then, on your Mac, tell it where the Library is. When you confirm that the Library on the EHD is okay, you can delete the Photos Library on your Mac to save space.

This Apple article explains all the details regarding running your Photos Library from an EHD.

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

To save storage space on your Mac, you can move your Photos library to a different storage device.

support.apple.com

Read it carefully and bear in mind that running your Photos Library from an EHD, means that it is the only source of all your photographs. You might therefore consider copying the contents of that EHD to another EHD from time to time as a Backup (BU).

Secondly, you can BU all your photos to iCloud assuming you have enough space in iCloud - or you can purchase more space if you need it.

Anything not clear, or if you want more info, please post back.

Ian

Thank you, Ian. I already have my photos backed up on to an EHD and also on another EHD via the Time Machine. Maybe a bit OTT but I want to make sure I don’t lose them! I don’t really want to buy more space on the Cloud. However, I’ve never actually used the photos library direct from the EHD so just really wanted confirmation that it would work OK. I think my current Mac is failing and there soon won’t be full support for it from Apple, so I was considering buying a new 2021 Mac which, as you probably know, is not on offer with 1 TB SDD which I have installed on my current Mac, thereby giving me loads of room.
That’s the main reason I wanted to know if I can safely run Photos from an EHD. Sounds as if it won’t be a problem. Pat

 

[IWT]

Good luck Pat. Hope you get and enjoy your new Mac whenever that might be. Your multiple backups are a credit to you. You can never be OTT because data in any form is precious and, in comparison, disk is cheap.

Ian