Finding Photo Files

[inkwolf]

I am trying to make more room on my mac's hard drive by moving my photos to an external hard drive. I need to be able to transfer a copy of the photos I want to move to the external hard drive and then make sure that all extra copies (previews, thumbnails, and masters) are erased from my mac.

I am using OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 and Photos Version 1.0.1 (215.65.0)

The problem is that I don't know how to find all copies of the photos in Finder. What would I do if I didn't want to move the entire photos library, only a portion of the pictures?

Thank you!

 

[honestone]

First of all, are you making a backup at all to your external drive?

Secondly, you state that you want to move your photos to the external drive, then need to be able to transfer a copy of the photos you want to the external drive, and then make sure all "extra" copies (whatever extra means) are erased from your Mac.

Now, when you say "move", that typically means to move them to the external drive, and have them erased from your Mac. If that is the case, where would the copy come from?

It might be good if you clearly spelled out the process, and making sure to use the correct terminology (for example, copy, instead of move).

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

The easiest way is to simply move the Photos Library from the internal to an external hard drive, then delete the one on the internal. Read Terence Devlin's response at the link below and follow the directions:

How do I move my photos library to an external drive?

Of course, it is best to have a current Time Machine or other backup first, as honestone eluded to.

C

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Just to stress, it is important that the Photos Library is copied & pasted rather than moved because if there is a problem with the process you always have the original Photos library intact.

 

[honestone]

Just to stress, it is important that the Photos Library is copied & pasted rather than moved because if there is a problem with the process you always have the original Photos library intact.

That's the exact reason why a backup is critical, and one made with either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner would be the best.