How to Back Up Mac Photos

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 3, 2019 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to save a backup of your entire Photos library on a Mac. You can automatically upload all your pictures to iCloud if you want an online backup, or copy your Photos Library file to an external drive if you want to save a manual backup.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:
Backing Up to iCloud

1
Open the Photos app on your Mac. The Photos app looks like a colored pinwheel in a white circle icon. You can find it in your Applications folder.
2
Click the Photos tab on the menu bar. You can find it next to the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your screen. It will open a drop-down menu.
3
Click Preferences on the menu. This will open your Photos settings in a new window.
4
Click the iCloud tab at the top. This button looks like a
icon at the top of the Preferences window.
5
Click and check the iCloud Photo Library option. It's at the top of the iCloud tab here.
- When this option is checked, all your pictures are automatically uploaded and stored on your iCloud account. You can access all your pictures on all your devices.
6
Select the Download Originals to this Mac option. You can find it under the iCloud Photo Library heading. This will store full-resolution versions of all your pictures on your Mac.
- If you select Optimize Mac Storage, you'll download and store low-resolution versions of your pictures on your Mac. You can download the full-resolution version of a picture if you have enough storage space.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:
Backing Up to an External Drive

1
Open the Photos app on your Mac. The Photos app looks like a colored pinwheel in a white circle icon. You can find it in your Applications folder.
2
Click the Photos tab on the menu bar. You can find it next to the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your screen. It will open a drop-down menu.
3
Click Preferences on the menu. This will open your Photos settings in a new window.
4
Click the Show in Finder button next to "Library Location." You can find this option at the top of the General tab. It will open a new Finder window, and show your Photos Library file here.
5
Right-click the "Photos Library" file in Finder. This will open your right-click options on a drop-down menu.
6
Select Copy on the right-click menu. This will copy your Photos Library file to your clipboard. You can now paste it to your external drive to keep a manual backup of your pictures.
- Alternatively, you can select the file, and press ⌘ Command+C on your keyboard to copy it.
7
Connect your external drive and open it on your computer. You can find your external drive mounted on your desktop. Double-click on it to open its contents in Finder.
8
Press ⌘ Command+V on your keyboard. This will paste the copied Photos Library file to your external drive.
- Anytime you want to use this backup, copy the Photos Library file from your external drive, and paste it to the original location of the file on your Mac.