How to Move Your Photos Library to a New Mac
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Tested on
- macOS Sequoia 15.0 - MacBook Air M3
- You will need
- External hard drive formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled), Thunderbolt or USB-C cable, sufficient free disk space on the new Mac
Step by step
Quit the Photos application
Ensure the Photos app is completely closed on your source Mac. Click Photos in the menu bar and select Quit Photos, or press Command-Q.
Note: Leaving the application open during file transfer will result in database corruption.Find the Photos library file
Open Finder and navigate to your Pictures folder in the sidebar. Locate the file named Photos Library.photoslibrary.
Note: If you use multiple libraries, identify the specific file by right-clicking it and selecting Get Info to check the file size.Copy the library to the external drive
Connect your external drive to the source Mac. Drag the Photos Library.photoslibrary file from your Pictures folder to the external drive icon in Finder. Wait for the copy process to complete entirely before disconnecting the drive.
Note: Do not move the file; always copy it to ensure you have a backup on the source machine.Move the library to the new Mac
Disconnect the drive from the source Mac and connect it to your new Mac. Open a new Finder window and drag the Photos Library.photoslibrary file from the external drive to the Pictures folder on your new Mac.
Note: Transfer speeds will vary based on the connection type (Thunderbolt is recommended for large libraries).Open the library in Photos
Hold the Option key and click the Photos icon in the Dock. When prompted, select Choose Library, navigate to the Pictures folder on the new Mac, and select the Photos Library.photoslibrary file you just moved.
Note: The first launch may trigger a database upgrade to ensure compatibility with your current macOS version.