iPhoto Library is an independent folder that stores all the photos on your Mac. Before you transfer photos from iPhoto Library to an external hard drive. It is advisable to take a complete backup of all your iPhoto Library files.
If you open the iPhoto application, an error message might appear saying it could not locate the iPhoto library file which is having all your photos on Mac. Sometimes, the iPhoto library might open but it won’t load all or a few of your photos.
Photos missing from the iPhoto library is always disheartening. In such cases, utilize the Remo Recover tool which is a specially designed software to locate and restore photos from Mac. Remo Recover is a digital photo recovery tool for Mac that not only recovers photos but can also recover lost or deleted videos, audio, text documents, etc. from all the latest versions of Mac including macOS Catalina.
How to Move Mac iPhoto Library to an External Hard Drive Safely?
- Connect your external hard drive to your Mac computer to transfer iPhoto Library safely
- Click iPhoto and select Preferences
- Then, click on the Advanced tab on the next dialog box and verify if Importing (Copy items to the iPhoto Library) is checked or not. In case, if it is not checked, then, tick the box to avoid missing any photo from being transferred to the external hard drive
- Now close the iPhoto window by either pressing Command + Q keys or by clicking the Quit iPhoto option under the iPhoto tab
- Now find the iPhoto Library. (For most users, you will find iPhoto Library on your Mac hard drive or in your user home folder.)
- Then, choose the Picture folder
- Select the iPhoto Library and drag it to the external hard drive which you have connected to your Mac
- A progress bar will appear to indicate the time it requires to complete the transferring process depending on the size of the iPhoto Library
Must Read : Do not delete the original iPhoto Library soon after transferring it to the external hard drive. First, make sure that the transferred Photos to the external hard drive are fine.
If you have lost photos due to sudden interruptions while transferring photos to an external hard drive or deleted the source photos from iPhoto Library on Mac before knowing that the photos are damaged or not opening on the external hard drive.
Make use of the Remo Recover tool to easily recover photos, videos and other media files from various models of Mac computer in simple clicks. You can also utilize this Remo Recover tool to restore photos from formatted and corrupted Mac and various external drives like external hard drive, SSD, pen drive, etc.
Remo Recover tool supports the recovery of more than 300 file formats. Some of the Photo formats like JPEG, JPG, JFIF, JPEG 2000, TIFF, PNG, BMP, GIF, PSD, and Video formats like AVI, MP4, MOV, MPEG, MPG, M4V, 3GP, etc. can be recovered using this Mac Photo Recovery tool.
Perform the Below Steps Before Deleting Your iPhoto Library from Your Mac Computer:
Follow the steps, in case, you want to delete the photos from the iPhoto Library on your Mac after transferring photos to the external hard drive:
- While opening the Photo library hold the Option key
- This will show you the available Photos Libraries with their respective locations
- Now, choose the one (Photo Library saved in the external hard drive), which you have recently transferred and hit Choose Library
- This will make iPhoto to launch photos from the newest iPhoto Library (i.e., from your external hard drive)
- Now quit the iPhoto
Note : After performing the above method, you can trash or delete the iPhoto Library from the Mac to increase your Mac disk space.
Conclusion:
Maintaining a backup helps you avoid risk at different stages of photo transferring from Mac and eventually, helps you transfer photos safely to an external hard drive. In case, you have not taken the backup, install the Remo Recover tool, which comes handy while performing Mac photo recovery in deleted, missing and formatted data loss situations. This Remo Recover tool is compatible with all the latest versions of Windows and Mac Operating system.
