How to Access and Organize Photos on an External Hard Drive on a Mac

Managing your photo libraries on an external hard drive (EHD) on a Mac Book can be a game-changer, especially if you want to keep all your iCloud photos accessible in one place. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do this effectively.

Transferring Photos to an External Hard Drive

If you have photos already stored in your local picture folder or within the iCloud Photos, you can command-drag to move them to an external drive. Here’s how:

Open the Photos app on your Mac Book. Select the photos you want to move. You can either select individual photos or use the arrow keys to select multiple photos. Press and hold the Command key and drag the selected photos to the EHD. This is known as "command-drag." Once released, a copy of the photos will appear on your external drive. To open the photos from the external drive, simply double-click on the copied photos to access them.

Setting the External Drive as the System Photo Library

If you want to use the external drive as your system photo library, you can do so by following these steps:

Open the Photos app. Go to Photos > Preferences (or press Command ,). Select the Advanced tab. Check the box labeled Use as system photo library. Select your external drive from the dropdown menu.

Accessing iCloud Photos on an External Hard Drive

Want to have all your iCloud Photos on your external drive in a hard copy? Here’s how to download and organize them:

Log into your iCloud account via the iCloud website. Navigate to the Photos section. You can choose to download a specific album or browse and download photos one by one. However, for an efficient bulk download, you can choose to download 1000 photos at a time. Select the 1000 photo batch you want to download and click the download button. The photos will start downloading to your specified location on the external drive.

Organizing Your Photos for Efficient Access

Once your photos are on your external hard drive, you may want to organize them. Here are some tips:

Create folders to categorize your photos, such as 2023 Family, 2023 Trips, and Important Events. Tag your photos with metadata, which can help you easily find them later. Consider using a photo management tool that can help you organize and metadata that can be useful.

Conclusion

Using an external hard drive for your photo library on a Mac is both convenient and practical. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can easily manage and access your photos, ensuring they are backed up and readily available. Whether you use the Photos app directly or via iCloud, your photos will be safely stored and easily accessible.