You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Is it possible to add a network folder to Apple Photos?

I have a NAS where I store my pictures. Far too many to store on my MacBook Air. But, I want to be able to see the photos in the Apple Photos app.

MacBook Air (M2, 2022)

Posted on Sep 20, 2023 12:09 PM

Top-ranking reply

Level 10

163,878 points

Posted on Sep 20, 2023 1:19 PM

It may be possible but don't do it.

You can't put a Photos library on a NAS. The disk format is wrong and Photos is not designed for network access.
You could, theoretically, run Photos in Referenced Mode (where the images are not copied to the library on import), and try store the masters on your NAS. This is a recipe for disaster. Photos does not have the tools to manage this step-up, and should the path to the files change (and in communicating with a NAS, it will) then you will find the link to the files broken and each one will need to be recreated one-by-one.

So, frankly, if you want to use a NAS, you need a different application to manage your images.

View in context

Similar questions