How to Move Your iMovie Library to an External Hard Drive to Free Up Space | Step By Step | Giveaway

If your iMovie library is taking up too much space on your internal hard drive, it is time to move to an external hard drive. I will show you exactly how to transfer your iMovie library over into an external hard drive. Step by step. Very easy to do, reclaim your space and your sluggish computer.
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[@jozhill2749]

Thank you! This has saved me so much space on my old laptop

[@CruxofTech]

Awesome! I am glad it helped you out. thanks for watching !

[@beejerice]

Excellent video! I was a bit nervous about doing this, but it was just as easy as you made it look! Thanks so much! I don't think I've have this much free space on my MacBook since I bought it. :)

[@CruxofTech]

You're very welcome! I am glad you were able to get it done and reclaim all that space back! Thanks for watching!

[@toddpa-c3826]

This is why people should make different libraries for each “event” and you can achieve what u need off to the external - so much better . Not to mention to remove your render files - those definitely add up also

[@CruxofTech]

Yea, I do this with Final Cut now. I never really looked into those things when I was using iMovie. Thanks for the tip

[@catalinanavarro3678]

I have tried copying them many times and they are not the same size.... what do I do now??? ;( THANK YOU!

[@gamingbros2533]

it happend to me aswell

[@SimplyEseeri]

Thank you so much for this detailed helpful video! I was able to recoup 75% more space. Thank you!

[@CruxofTech]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@beckyvanpaassen9595]

Thanks for the great video! I did everything as you said, even tried it twice. But when I open the movie, there is nothing in there. Any ideas? I didn't delete the one on my HD yet

[@CruxofTech]

Try it again and do not delete anything until it works. What do you mean when you say when you open the movie, are you referring to iMovie?

[@hockeytalk6084]

Very thorough. Thanks for the clear and concise explanation!

[@CruxofTech]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

[@lorendl6027]

THANK YOU! I needed that info, your explanations are great, I subscribed :)

[@CruxofTech]

Awesome, thank you!

[@SandyFam]

Ours is 500+ Gig and currently says it will take 3 hours. 😂 I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the helpful video! ❤Best of luck to you and your channel 🎉

[@CruxofTech]

It will definitely be worth it when it’s done, let me know how it goes. Thanks for watching and subscribe if you haven’t!

[@barbclark69]

Thanks for this. I have a question. If you do all this, then open iMovie on your computer, it will create a new iMovie Library on your hard disk, right? Then you can name that Library #2 or whatever. Am I right in that? --Barbara

[@CruxofTech]

What I did is, I pointed the library to the hard drive so that way the library was located in the external hard drive

[@ithinkaboutthings9052]

Good information! I noticed my old MacBook Pro would get pretty warm when iMovie was getting full. I plugged in a small usb fan and it cools the monster. Anyone else run into this? The specialty cooling mats can be pretty pricey.

[@CruxofTech]

Yea, whenever your disk starts to get full, it works harder making it get hotter. That can lead to early disk failure, its always best to have as much disk space available as possible. That is why moving items to an external is key not only to regain the space but to extend the longevity of the disk. Not to say that the disk won't fail for other reasons but it helps Thanks for watching and considering subscribing if you haven't, it would definitely help me and the channel out!

[@chantalrochon3566]

Thank you for this video, it helped🎉😊

[@CruxofTech]

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching!

[@malissaschayes3604]

This is awesome! just what I needed. One question, now that your iMovie library is on external. Does that mean the iMovie program is off your computer??

[@CruxofTech]

Great, I'm glad it was able to help! iMovie is still on your computer but your library no longer is.

[@CruxofTech]

Thanks for watching!

[@HuzzaTVDreamBook]

Nice information vlog ❤❤❤ keep it up 👍

[@CruxofTech]

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it !

[@PurpleTree]

Allah razı olsun bro

[@wil2k747]

So let me ask you a question by moving iMove library to an external drive and deleting the original iMovie library from main drive, once you click on the iMovie library in the external drive reconfigure the location for the library by telling iMovie where to go and save future projects?

[@CruxofTech]

If I understand the question correctly, yes, once you tell iMovie where to point to the new Library, that is where everything will be saved to from now on. Make sure your hard drive is connected when using iMovie.

[@wil2k747]

@@CruxofTech Yes you were correct and thanks…

[@Abyssimo]

Pablo, you are hot!

[@barbclark69]

A second question. After moving my iMovie Library and deleting it from my iMac, there are still hundreds of raw movie files in the Movies folder where I originally save them. Can I also get rid of all those because they are also stored in the original Library? - Barbara

[@CruxofTech]

If everything was moved correctly, then you wouldn’t need those files but make sure before you delete all those files that you check that everything was copied over.

[@bobbythedisneydad5221]

Super helpful!!! Thank you for the east follow along and great advice

[@CruxofTech]

Great, I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching, I appreciate. Consider subscribing if you haven't for more videos like this

[@riterstaci6744]

Thanks for great vid! QUESTION: I transferred my imovie library 3x. On 2 different ext. hard drives. 2 transfers are not showing me the file size. Under size it is takes "calculating data". It did completely transfer.i would like to delete my internal drive, but I want to ensure all my files transferred completely. For some reason my first transfer only transferred half of my files. Which is why I did multiple transfers. Can you help me resolve why my "get info" is not displaying size information, pls. ??

[@CruxofTech]

I'm not exactly sure but it could be because it is a huge amount and it is taking some time to get the correct amount. How long have you let it try to calculate the amount of space?

[@r.aheema]

hello, thank you for this video. What if you currently have a project going on, if you delete the library would you still be able to see the project and continue it, or it will be gone as well?

[@CruxofTech]

I'm not sure if I understand. If you delete the library, I would think it would be gone as well.

[@dominiqueklen1370]

Hello, many thanks for great video. I managed to copy over the library according to your instructions. However, the movie library would not open form the external drive. It just keeps loading for hours and never loads. Any idea what could be wrong?

[@CruxofTech]

Hey, thanks for watching! I'm not sure, I would try it again maybe something happened when they were moving over. Are there any other files on the external drive and if there are, are you able to open those?

[@Tburns1036Gaming]

I am trying to copy from an external hard drive to a upgraded/faster ssd, followed the process, and when I eject the old hard drive to open the library on the new ssd, each clip says file is missing. What do I do?

[@CruxofTech]

I am not sure. I would think the same process would work with external drive to external drive but I have not tried that myself. I just went from my internal hard drive to an external hard drive.

[@lovejesus12012]

Helpful but when i go to File then Open, only one iMovie library is showing. Even though i have saved it to my external hard drive just like you showed in the video 🧐

[@CruxofTech]

Has your library fully transferred over into the external?

[@mrsangeladurand]

When I move the iMovie library over to my external hard drive i noticed their is no sound but they did have sound. What might’ve done wrong?

[@CruxofTech]

I am not sure, that has never happened to me.

[@cathymccarter5900]

This was very helpful thank you!!

[@CruxofTech]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it !

[@andrew_qgi]

Much appreciated.

[@CruxofTech]

Absolutely, thanks for watching!

[@beaforizs7123]

A question: I saved Imovie-library to an external hard drive, and deleted the original imovie library folder from my laptop. The original videos that I was working on, they are still on my laptop. Later, when I want to work again on some of the videos in Imovie app, will I need those videos or can I delete them? If I should keep them, I store them on laptop or external file, when I anyway use Imovie library from external file? I ask, because once I had an issue working from in internal Imovie library, but clips were missing of a project. It took a while when I fund out that the problem was, that I moved the original file to an external drive. When I moved it back to the laptop, the missing clip appeared in the imovie project. I hope my question makes sense. My understanding would be that, I can delete the original videos, because everything I need is in the external Imovie Library, but correct me please Thanky you!!!

[@CruxofTech]

Hey, thanks for watching! I keep all of my raw video files, meaning the clips that I filmed and used in my edits. I keep them on the external and if I need to use them, I can work from there or bring it back to the internal. I typically do not have to go back and reuse those clips once my final edit is done but I understand everyone has different needs and work flow. I personally do not like deleting the video files that I filmed and used, just in case I do need to go back to use a clip. I make a folder for all my edits per "video" so for instance for this video I have the main folder called "iMovie and within that I have a folder named "How to move iMovie" and within that folder I have all the media needed to create my edit like video, images, audio as well as the finished video. Sorry for the long answer, hope that helps. Let me know if that makes sense

[@lolaololade]

Really helpful thank you!

[@CruxofTech]

Great, I'm glad you were able to find this video useful!. Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it.

[@MEGSHOUSE]

How do I update it once it's moved over?

[@CruxofTech]

I'm not sure I follow, update what ?

[@cierachanae]

This is exactly what I needed. Thank you!

[@CruxofTech]

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching !

[@jovelroystan]

Thanks, super helpful.

[@CruxofTech]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it. Consider subscribing, if you haven't.

[@CruxofTech]

I subscribed to your channel, I like the content. Keep it up!

[@LivingWaterQuilter]

Thanks! good tutorial

[@CruxofTech]

Thanks for watching, I’m glad it helped!

[@beezee5314]

I can’t see anything on your desktop

[@CruxofTech]

hey, not sure what you mean by your comment.

[@ulungparikesit]

Hello there. I'm using the latest version of iMovie 10.3.3 and masOS Monterey version 12.3.1 and the results are different from your tutorial. First I have to find the iMovie Library folder by using the search function feature. Then iMovie Library can be moved to an external HDD but when I open the file function in iMovie, iMovie Library External does not appear. There is only one iMovie Library. I happen to be using a 2terabyte ASUS ROG+SSD enclosure as my external hard drive. Do you have another solution?

[@CruxofTech]

Hey there, thanks for watching. I will have to check It out using the latest version of macOS. I have switched over to Final cut in the past few months. I will have to revisit this and perhaps make another video on how to do it.

[@beaforizs7123]

Your last Tipp saved my entire work, the last minute befor I deleted the original file, I found out that only half of it was actually copied to the hard drive. Now it worked out! I can really delete. Thank you!

[@CruxofTech]

Great to hear! Thanks for watching

[@gamingbros2533]

please help me on my computer when i coppied it to an external drive it had less gb please reply

[@CruxofTech]

I would start over and slowly go step by step. I am not sure what could've happened but don't delete anything until you have the same size.

[@gamingbros2533]

Don’t worry i tryied using it only whyth the lower gb and it works thx bro

[@CruxofTech]

@@gamingbros2533 good I'm glad you were able to figure it out.

[@tutoringisus]

great video. i have a question, once you erase imovie library from the hard drive now i am totally dependent on the external correct?what happens if i want to just move project by project to external and go back to the hard drive and erase what i have moved to free up the space rather than become dependent on carrying the external with me all of the time?

[@CruxofTech]

Yes, you are dependent on the external but you still can save to your internal drive if you want, I just liked it all going to the internal all of the time. I'm pretty sure you can point it so all your files stay on your hard drive and then you manually move them over.

[@tutoringisus]

@@CruxofTech thanks for your reply. so what i do now is save the files only on an external for future use after I am done uploading my final version and I just erase it from hard drive by going to imovie library directly but I did not move the whole library over, what doo you think of doing it this way?

[@CruxofTech]

@@tutoringisus Yea that works fine as well. I did it this way because I wanted to free up as much space as possible without having to keep tabs of what I have to delete. I actually started using Final Cut about a year ago and do it this way. I have the files that I am working on on my internal hard drive and when I am done I move them over and delete them from my hard drive. If I had external SSD hard drives' I would set it up where I work right off of the external because they are faster than regular hard drives.

[@tutoringisus]

@@CruxofTech makes sense thanks allot

[@myebonytower]

Wow!! Thank YOU!!! 🥳

[@CruxofTech]

You are so welcome! Thanks for watching

[@MyTabooLyfe]

I can’t get anything to save to my external drive it gives me the 🚫 symbol when I try to save anything there.

[@CruxofTech]

Is it formatted to the correct system, whether you are using a PC or Mac? Maybe there isn't enough room left on the external. There could be a few reasons why.

[@MyTabooLyfe]

@@CruxofTech it’s brand new 6TB external hard drive. At first it was doing backups regularly with no problem now it says backup unable to complete because Macintosh HD almost full or something like that.

[@CruxofTech]

That's weird, I'm not really sure without actually seeing it. You can go to "About this Mac" ---> "Storage" to see how much space you have left on your internal as well as any external hard drives that are currently connected to your Mac.

[@MyTabooLyfe]

@@CruxofTech I have 5.71TB available on my external to use. But I just seen under permissions it says read only. So I figure that’s the reason I can’t save anything on it. It’s showing it’s an APFS (Case-sensitive, encrypted) APFS volume.

[@CruxofTech]

That could be the reason why. If you were to google that, someone should have a fix for the issue you are having. Then you can reconfigure or whatever needs to be done so it can work as it should. Good luck, let me know how it goes.

[@SincerelyShan]

So glad I found you video! Thanks so much for step by step details. I freed up so much space on my MacBook. Thank you!!

[@CruxofTech]

You are so welcome! I'm glad it helped, thanks for watching!

[@CamillaI]

Subscribed always have fun freeing up space now its in Lacie can I retrieve just individual projects ?

[@CruxofTech]

Thanks for subscribing! You should be able to get individual projects. I currently have it set up that way, I can either open them up via iMovie or through the finder. Let me know, if that answers your question.

[@CamillaI]

@@CruxofTech If I open Library through LaCie everything come up so hopefully good thanks

[@IllumiNatione]

This helped me so much. Thank you!

[@CruxofTech]

Glad it helped and you found it useful. Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it!

[@DIDIANDY]

THANK YOU SO MUCH NEEDED THIS

[@CruxofTech]

Thanks for watching, I greatly appreciate it. I'm glad it helped!

[@Brock_S]

Hi, good video. Do you find using iMovie from data on an external drive is slower than when the data is on the internal Hard drive? I've seen videos where they recommend the external SSD drives, but they are so expensive. If performance is only slightly slower, I'll just use a standard USB external drive. I saw another video where the host said the cheap drives work just as well as the SSD ones for iMovie. Thanks

[@CruxofTech]

Thank you, I appreciate it. I do not find that it is any slower, I had no issues whatsoever. I was using the LaCie drive and it worked well. I didn't notice any lack of speed that would prevent me from working at a good pace. I hope that works and thanks for watching!

[@k-lasermusic]

Bro my storage dropped HALF thanks to you. Like deserved.

[@CruxofTech]

Glad I could help! Thanks for watching and consider subscribing, if you haven't. I would I appreciate it.

[@TheMultifacetedMedium]

Thanks Pablo!! Super helpful info.

[@CruxofTech]

Happy to help!

[@jaydfitness]

wow the BEST video I’ve discovered!!!

[@CruxofTech]

Great, I'm glad it was able to help you! Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it!

[@JOEBROTV]

How can I make the external go drive the default location for the library? Or is the only way to just drag it in everytime?

[@CruxofTech]

I'm pretty sure that as long as you point the library to the external hard drive, it will automatically save to it without needing to drag it over.

[@JOEBROTV]

@@CruxofTech yea you are correct thanks again!

[@CruxofTech]

@@JOEBROTV absolutely, thanks for watching!

[@UBU41God]

I feel stupid for asking this, but how do you "right" click with my Mac's mouse?

[@CruxofTech]

Which mouse do you have, is it the wireless magic mouse that looks like one big button? If so, just press more towards the right side and you should be able to do it. You might have to go to system preferences and set it there. To do that go to System Preferences --> Mouse --> and configure what each button does from there. They also have little tutorials there to show you what each "motion" does. I hope that helps and thanks for watching!!!

[@UBU41God]

@@CruxofTech oh my goodness! Thank you for the tip!

[@CruxofTech]

I'm glad you were able to make it work!

[@allangrajek6688]

Thank you so much, this was easy to follow and very helpful.

[@CruxofTech]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@NiahShontae444]

great video. thank you so much for the help!

[@CruxofTech]

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it !!!

[@dawnr0bins0n]

great video, worked like a charm! thank you!

[@CruxofTech]

Great, I’m glad it worked for you! Thanks for watching!

[@janicejune]

Thank you so much! This was great!

[@CruxofTech]

You are so welcome! Thanks for watching !

[@DaisyDeleki]

This was really helpful! Thank you!!

[@CruxofTech]

Glad it was helpful!

[@laurajean9151]

thank you so much for this!

[@CruxofTech]

You're so welcome! Thanks for watching, I appreciate it!