How to Move Your Apple Mac Photos Library to an External Hard Drive (Safely & Easily) Are you out of space on your Mac? Moving your Photos library to an external hard drive is the best way to free up valuable storage on your Mac! This step-by-step tutorial will show you the safe and official method to relocate your entire photo library without losing a single photo, video, or album. In this video, you will learn: - How to prepare your external drive for the Photos library. - The simple drag-and-drop method to move the library. - How to set the new library as your "System Photo Library." *** If you enjoyed this video please like and subscribe! *** 👍🏻 Recommended SSD USB drives and sizes to select from: Samsung: - SAMSUNG T7 Portable SSD, 1TB External Solid State Drive, Speeds Up to 1,050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2, Reliable Storage for Gaming, Students, Professionals, MU-PC1T0T/AM, Gray - SAMSUNG T7 Portable SSD, 2TB External Solid State Drive, Speeds Up to 1,050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2, Reliable Storage for Gaming, Students, Professionals, MU-PC2T0T/AM, Gray - SAMSUNG T7 Portable SSD, 4TB External Solid State Drive, Speeds Up to 1,050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2, Reliable Storage for Gaming, Students, Professionals, MU-PC4T0T/AM, Gray - SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB, up to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Rated, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, Portable External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0S/AM, 2022), Black - SAMSUNG T7 Shield 2TB, Portable SSD, up-to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged,IP65 Water & Dust Resistant, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, Extenal Solid State Drive (MU-PE2T0S/AM), Black - SAMSUNG T7 Shield 4TB Portable SSD - 1050MB/s, Rugged, Water & Dust Resistant, for Content Creators - Black - SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 1TB, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 External Solid State Drive, Seq. Read Speeds Up to 2,000MB/s for Gaming, Students and Professionals, MU-PG1T0B/AM, Black - SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 External Solid State Drive, Seq. Read Speeds Up to 2,000MB/s for Gaming, Students and Professionals, MU-PG2T0B/AM, Black SanDisk: - SanDisk 1TB Extreme PRO Portable SSD - Up to 2000MB/s - USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, IP65 Water and Dust Resistance, Updated Firmware - External Solid State Drive - SDSSDE81-1T00-G25 - SanDisk 2TB Extreme PRO Portable SSD - Up to 2000MB/s - USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, IP65 Water and Dust Resistance, Updated Firmware - External Solid State Drive - SDSSDE81-2T00-G25 - SanDisk 4TB Extreme PRO Portable SSD - Up to 2000MB/s - USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, IP65 Water and Dust Resistance, Updated Firmware - External Solid State Drive - SDSSDE81-4T00-G25 - SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s, USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2, IP65 Water and Dust Resistance, Updated Firmware - External Solid State Drive - SDSSDE61-1T00-G25 - SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s, USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2, IP65 Water and Dust Resistance, Updated Firmware - External Solid State Drive - SDSSDE61-2T00-G25 - SanDisk 4TB Extreme Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s, USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2, IP65 Water and Dust Resistance, Updated Firmware - External Solid State Drive - SDSSDE61-4T00-G25 Some tips on SSDs: Speed (Interface): The speed of your external SSD is determined by its connection type. Look for drives with a USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2 or faster) or Thunderbolt port. USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps): This is a great standard that provides plenty of speed for most users. Most modern SSDs and Macs support this. Thunderbolt 3/4 (40Gbps): If your Mac has a Thunderbolt port (common on MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, iMacs, and Mac Studios), a Thunderbolt-compatible SSD will offer the fastest possible transfer speeds, which is ideal for working directly on the drive with high-resolution photos and videos Capacity: Choose a drive with a capacity that is large enough to hold your entire current Photos library and still have ample room for future growth. A general rule is to get at least double the size of your current library. File System Format: This is a crucial step. For a Photos library to work correctly and reliably on an external drive, it must be formatted for Mac. The best formats are: APFS (Apple File System): This is the modern, default format for Macs running macOS High Sierra and later. It is highly optimized for SSDs and is the recommended choice for a Photos library. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. #MacPhotosLibrary #ExternalHardDrive #MovePhotosLibrary #MacStorage #PhotosApp #FreeUpSpace #AppleTutorial #MacTips #HowToMac #TechTips #MacOS