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User profile for user: kayleighhwx
kayleighhwx Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

photos taking up too much storage

I have an early 2015 Macbook pro with 250gb storage and I am currently having storage issues. My photos take up the most space so I am wondering if its possible to download my entire photo library that dates back to 2015 onto an external hard-drive and then start a new library on my mac to free up some space? I already do this with a lot of files as I am a designer and need the space for various apps and design files but I am worried if I try to do this I wont be able to view my photos again. Is it possible to create separate libraries so If I want to view my old ones I can without having to lose the original library? I feel like I could just download the library, transfer the library onto a hard drive and then get rid of the library on my mac to start a new one , but I'm not entirely sure this is the right way to go about it!

Any help is appreciated :)


MacBook Pro

Posted on Jan 22, 2021 9:33 AM

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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
196,929 points

Posted on Jan 22, 2021 10:02 AM

Yes, it is possible. That is what I am doing. We can have several photos libraries, and one of them, the system Photos Library, can sync with iCloud Photos. You can switch between libraries and view them in turn, by quitting Photos and double-clicking the library you want to open.

See this manual page: Create additional photo libraries in Photos on Mac - Apple Support


Your larger photos library needs to be on an external volume, that has been prepared like this: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support


Prepare your external volume as described in the link above. What you have to do to move the library will depend on your iCloud Preferences. Are you using "Optimise Mac Storage"? Then your library will be incomplete, when you copy it directly to the external volume. You could create a new, empty library on the external volume, then make this new library your System Photos Library, enable iCloud Photos, and let all photos download to this new library. Do not enable "Optimise" for this library. Once the download has finished, you will have a complete version on your external volume. Test this thoroughly to be sure, that all photos and videos have been downloaded.


Now switch back to your library on the internal volume, enable iCloud Photos again for the library on your system volume and delete the photos you do not need on your system volume. I have only kept the favourites and my most recent photos.



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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
196,929 points

Jan 22, 2021 10:02 AM in response to kayleighhwx

Yes, it is possible. That is what I am doing. We can have several photos libraries, and one of them, the system Photos Library, can sync with iCloud Photos. You can switch between libraries and view them in turn, by quitting Photos and double-clicking the library you want to open.

See this manual page: Create additional photo libraries in Photos on Mac - Apple Support


Your larger photos library needs to be on an external volume, that has been prepared like this: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support


Prepare your external volume as described in the link above. What you have to do to move the library will depend on your iCloud Preferences. Are you using "Optimise Mac Storage"? Then your library will be incomplete, when you copy it directly to the external volume. You could create a new, empty library on the external volume, then make this new library your System Photos Library, enable iCloud Photos, and let all photos download to this new library. Do not enable "Optimise" for this library. Once the download has finished, you will have a complete version on your external volume. Test this thoroughly to be sure, that all photos and videos have been downloaded.


Now switch back to your library on the internal volume, enable iCloud Photos again for the library on your system volume and delete the photos you do not need on your system volume. I have only kept the favourites and my most recent photos.



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photos taking up too much storage

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