Photo library moved to an external hard drive. How to keep it synchronized?
I cannot update my pictures taken from my iphone into my Photo Library anymore. I moved it to an external hard drive. How should I proceed to synchronize it?
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Did you make the library on the external volume again your system photos library?
- Open the external library in Photos, then open the Photos > Preferences > General: Click the button "use as System Photos Library" if it is not dimmed.
- Then make the library again your iCloud Photos Library in the Photos > Preferences > iCloud tab.
Now the moved library will be merged again into the existing iCloud Photos Library by uploading it again into iCloud to compare it to the existing library. For a large library this new upload can take several days, even weeks, before any new photos will download from iCloud into the library. You can avoid the lengthy new upload by starting over with a. ew, empty Photos Library on your external volume.
- Launch Photos while holding down the options key ⌥, and when the library chooser dialog appears, select to create a new library.
- Make this new, empty library your system Photos Library and enable iCloud Photos. Photos will immediately start to download your photos and videos from iCloud into the new library and you do not have to upload the library again.
One problem with the system photos library on an external drive is, that you need to keep this drive connected, even if you are currently not working with the Photos.app. The System Photos Library needs to be always available while you are logged into your user account, as the background processes need to be able to analyse the library, even if you are not using Photos.