How to Run Itunes and Iphoto on external drive

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hi all

New to Mac. I was hoping someone could tell me or point me to a web page that explains how to run both of the apps off a external drive to save space on my Imac?



Thanks all for the help

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    For iPhoto:

    Quit iPhoto, then just drag your iPhoto Library (by default it's in your "pictures" folder) into the new location on the external drive.

    Now re-start iPhoto while holding down the "Option" key. You'll be given the opportunity to select a new (choose "Other Library") library. Select that option and tell it where to find the "new" library.

    Each time you re-start iPhoto normally, it automatically goes to whichever library was used last.



    iTunes is not quite as easy (unless something has changed)... if you do it the same way, it can't find the songs because the db still tries to follow the old file paths.

    Using the option-start menu, select a "New" folder and choose the location for it (external drive)... then you'll have to import all the "stuff" from the old file... if you've got lots, you might want to do this when you can let it copy overnight.



    (There are other ways to do iTunes, too, depending on how you have your iTunes prefs set up, but that works for the way i think most people use it.)
  • Reply 2 of 3
    areseearesee Posts: 776member
    For iTunes do the same. Move the iTunes folder onto the external drive and restart iTunes with the option key. The caveat is that you must let iTunes organize its library the way it wants. It will not work if you leave your media files in their original locations when importing into iTunes.



    Also, you might want to go into iTunes Preferences and make sure that this "new" folder is the one pointed to for iTunes imports.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aresee View Post


    For iTunes do the same. Move the iTunes folder onto the external drive and restart iTunes with the option key. The caveat is that you must let iTunes organize its library the way it wants. It will not work if you leave your media files in their original locations when importing into iTunes.



    Also, you might want to go into iTunes Preferences and make sure that this "new" folder is the one pointed to for iTunes imports.



    Yes, this is true, as I just installed an SSD this week and did the above. I've always let iTunes organize my media, and migration was simple as a result.
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