Help: how to move all photos and music from internal drive to an external SSD?

[James Bond 007]

Hello folks,

I need your help and guidance, the internal drive 500 GB of my 2011 iMac is now almost full due to storing pictures in Photos library and music in iTunes library on the internal drive. I am now going to move all my photos and music from the internal drive to an external 1TB SSD but these photos and music can still be accessible from Photos app and iTunes app on the iMac. Could someone guide me how to do that (my iMac also has an external drive 500 GB used as Time Machine for the internal drive since the beginning). Thanks in advance for your kindly help!

 

[mj_]

Step 1) Close Photos and iTunes
Step 2) Move both Libraries to the external drive
Step 3) Launch Photos and iTunes while holding the Option key and point them to the new location of your libraries

 

[James Bond 007]

Step 1) Close Photos and iTunes
Step 2) Move both Libraries to the external drive
Step 3) Launch Photos and iTunes while holding the Option key and point them to the new location of your libraries

Great! Many thanks for your clear guidance.

 

[Fishrrman]

I advise you AGAINST trying to move anything to the time machine drive.
This is a recipe for trouble.

Having said that...
You'll need a new external drive.
I'd suggest a 2.5" bare SATA SSD -- they're not expensive.
Then, put it into a case like this:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

tinyurl.com

(It just snaps in, you don't even need tools)

Next you need to format it using disk utility.
You use the "erase" feature to do this (there is no "format" button).
Choose "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format".

Once that's done, and the external drive is on the desktop:
The quick and easy way to move the libraries:
a. Open your home folder
b. Open the "Music" folder
c. Scroll down and locate the "iTunes" folder
d. Drag the iTunes folder to the external drive. It will take some time to copy everything over, so be patient.
When that's done, continue:
e. Open the pictures folder
f. Locate the Photos library
g. Drag this to the external drive, again, will take time to copy.

Now, the copying is done, but you have to instruct iTunes and Photos to use the libraries in the new locations.
You do this by HOLDING DOWN THE OPTION KEY, then opening iTunes (and Photos).
You will see a dialog asking you to "choose the library".
"Point the way" to the NEW libraries on the external drive and click ok/open.

More to be concerned about:
Since you now have an EXTERNAL drive that has important data on it (as well as your internal drive), you must now BACK THIS DRIVE UP as well as the internal.

I don't use time machine and I recommend that you use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to "dupe" the contents of the external drive to a backup. If you do things this way, the backup will be INDISTINGUISHABLE from the source drive. That's what "a clone" is all about.

DO NOT use the external drive for your precious photos without backing it up, too!

 

[James Bond 007]

I advise you AGAINST trying to move anything to the time machine drive.
This is a recipe for trouble.

Having said that...
You'll need a new external drive.
I'd suggest a 2.5" bare SATA SSD -- they're not expensive.
Then, put it into a case like this:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

tinyurl.com

(It just snaps in, you don't even need tools)

Next you need to format it using disk utility.
You use the "erase" feature to do this (there is no "format" button).
Choose "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format".

Once that's done, and the external drive is on the desktop:
The quick and easy way to move the libraries:
a. Open your home folder
b. Open the "Music" folder
c. Scroll down and locate the "iTunes" folder
d. Drag the iTunes folder to the external drive. It will take some time to copy everything over, so be patient.
When that's done, continue:
e. Open the pictures folder
f. Locate the Photos library
g. Drag this to the external drive, again, will take time to copy.

Now, the copying is done, but you have to instruct iTunes and Photos to use the libraries in the new locations.
You do this by HOLDING DOWN THE OPTION KEY, then opening iTunes (and Photos).
You will see a dialog asking you to "choose the library".
"Point the way" to the NEW libraries on the external drive and click ok/open.

More to be concerned about:
Since you now have an EXTERNAL drive that has important data on it (as well as your internal drive), you must now BACK THIS DRIVE UP as well as the internal.

I don't use time machine and I recommend that you use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to "dupe" the contents of the external drive to a backup. If you do things this way, the backup will be INDISTINGUISHABLE from the source drive. That's what "a clone" is all about.

DO NOT use the external drive for your precious photos without backing it up, too!

Great! Many thanks for your helpful advice and detailed guidance. I am not going to move my photos and music to the time machine external drive but I am going to buy a new external SSD and doing it as per your guidance. Cheers!

 

[hfg]

Hello folks,

I need your help and guidance, the internal drive 500 GB of my 2011 iMac is now almost full due to storing pictures in Photos library and music in iTunes library on the internal drive. I am now going to move all my photos and music from the internal drive to an external 1TB SSD but these photos and music can still be accessible from Photos app and iTunes app on the iMac. Could someone guide me how to do that (my iMac also has an external drive 500 GB used as Time Machine for the internal drive since the beginning). Thanks in advance for your kindly help!

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201517