Move photo library to external drive

I would like to move my Photo library from my internal HD to an external HD.  Does anyone know the correct way to do this without losing any data?Is this done by an export of all photos (which I tried but it hung up for two days with no progress after making it mostly through).  Will dragging and dropping the Photo Library work (I am scared to try this.)  Thanks!

Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit Photos
2. Copy the Photos Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching Photos. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

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    I want to move the '08 iphoto library to an external drive, as I am running out of space on the iMac. However I have numerous picture folders (2007, 2006, etc) within my 'pictures' folder in addition to the iphoto library. The photos from these folders all appear in iphoto.
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    Dimitri
    Welcome to the Apple user to user assistance forums
    No - iPhoto is only concerned with the iPhoto library - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library as a single entity to the external drive - launch iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) key an use the select library option to point to the new library location.
    LN

  • Moving photo library to external drive

    Hi,  
    My Mac hard drive is really getting full, i've only got 10GB left!
    I've bought myself a 1TB external USB hard drive, and would like to move my large iPhoto Library onto it.   
    If I move it across, and then create a fresh new iPhoto Library on my Mac Hard drive will I still be able to access my old photos on my external drive?
    Also will it affect syncing through iTunes, and/or syncing with my iCloud photo stream?
    Lastly, can you think of any other things that are generally ok to dump on an external drive and start afresh? I'd like to move my Steam Games, but still access them through the external drive,   what do you think?
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    Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    1. Quit iPhoto
    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
    3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
    4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
    Why would you create a second library on the internal idk? Just use the one on the external.
    It makes no difference to syncing.
    Regards
    TD

  • Saving Photos library on external drive?

    I have been storing my iPhoto library on an external drive and opening iPhoto from that drive. How can I do the same thing for the new Photos app? I have so many pictures and I don't want to use up storage space on my computer or pay for tons of storage in iCloud.
    Is there a way to import my iPhoto library into Photos on my computer (which already has some photos in it) and then move the entire new library to the external drive?

    Is there a way to import my iPhoto library into Photos on my computer (which already has some photos in it) and then move the entire new library to the external drive?
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  • If I Move iPhoto Library to External Drive Does It Keep Organized?

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    See this document how to format a drive for photo libraries: (it explains it for aperture, but it is done the same way for iPhoto)
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    The left pane shows your disks and disk partitions, and the right pane lets you do useful things, like reformatting and repairing your drive.
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  • Move iphoto library to external drive

    Hi everyone. I'm a first-timer here. I'm trying to free up space off my local hard drive and want to move an iphoto librabry to an expernal drive. When I do I get this message after more than an hour: "The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “File Name” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36)". I wonder what I can do to move the library? If it's a corrupt photo(s) or video(s) how can identify which one(s) is/are corrupt as there are literally thousands of photos and videos. Any help is appreciated. Cheers.

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    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
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  • Move imovie library to external drive

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  • Move iphoto library to external drive...now what?

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    iPhoto Library Manager documentation
    this page will show you everything you can do with iPhoto Library Manager.

  • Move photos & catalog to external drive

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  • Can't move iTunes library onto external drive?

    I am trying to clear some space of my MacBook Pro's internal hard drive by moving my iTunes library onto an Mac-formatted external drive. I have followed to the letter the instructions of the Apple document (setting external HD as location of new iTunes library, then selecting Advanced/Consolidate Library).
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  • Can't move iPhoto library to external drive

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  • HT1660 move iTunes library from external drive to internal drive

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