iCloud Apple Photo Library VS Referenced Apple Photo Library - the DIFFERENCE & WHY it MATTERS!

This video is crucial to understanding the Apple Photos Preference on a Mac of:
"Copy items to the Photo library".
This setting is the key to having an Apple Photo library that is managed in one location vs having photos organized into a folder structure and referenced into Apple Photos.
If you were previously a Windows user, you're probably used to having photos and folder referenced, but if you copy the items into the Apple Photo Library, the Mac will manage all the files for you and will also give you the ability to have these files sync in iCloud Photos.
00:00 | Welcome Back!
01:01 | Copy items to the Photos Library Setting in Apple Photos
02:48 | How to create a Referenced Photo file
03:19 | How to create a new Apple Photo Library
07:48 | What happens if Referenced Folders or Photos get deleted?!
09:33 | How to copy and consolidate Referenced files into Apple Photos
10:17 | How to find a Referenced Photo in the Finder
10:36 | How to create a Smart Album to find Referenced Files
Other Helpful Related Videos Below:
How to MOVE your iCLOUD PHOTO LIBRARIES and APPLE PHOTO LIBRARIES to an EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE!
• How to MOVE your iCLOU...
Getting started with Apple Photos - HOW TO add and IMPORT pictures into APPLE PHOTOS
• Getting started with A...
Understanding iCLOUD PHOTOS - Syncing iPhones, iPads, and Apple Computers IN-DEPTH
• Understanding iCLOUD P...
SMART ALBUMS ON YOUR MAC - Getting Started
• SMART ALBUMS ON YOUR M...
BACKUP YOUR MAC! - IN-DEPTH look at Apple Time Machine and many ways to save and recover your files!
• BACKUP YOUR MAC! - IN-...
If you have a video suggestion, let's chat!
/ learnwithjoel
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[@Mikejakester]

One of the most beneficial aspects of not copying the files into the Photos library is backups. If you are either syncing to a NAS or backing up manually to external drives, if you have a 500GB library and made a small change and wanted to back it up, you would have to back up the complete file instead of just the small album added. By having your own folder structure and referring the Photos app to the folder, you can just back up the new folder rather than the complete library file. As long as you are confortable having configuartion management of your own Folder, than this should be no problem. Thanks for the insight.

[@Mikejakester]

By the way, if there is an easier way to get around backing up large library files (like the example I provided above) , please let me know.

[@razyks]

Oh man do you have any idea how much helpful are your videos..!! This one is a gem of a video. Really helpful and what exactly I was looking for. ❤❤

[@Learnwithjoel]

I'm so happy this was helpful for you @Razy K Salam! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@barbclark69]

Very useful, Joel, thanks. I've never been clear about this, and this info makes it clear.

[@billbadaracca7174]

Joel, thank you for the lesson, but I'm not clear on his, can you have both Icloud photos and referenced photos in you Photos Library? Knowing that the referenced files will not appear on your phone, etc.

[@Learnwithjoel]

Great question @Bill Badaracca! You are 100% correct. You can have one Apple Photo Library and it can have a combination of photos that are imported into the library and also referenced. However anytime you want a photo referenced in that library, you would need to uncheck the box for "Copy items to the Photo library" in Apple Photos Preferences and then import the photos. Then remember to check the box again when you want new photos imported to go into the library. It's for sure possible! I hope that helps! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@sambaoleck295]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@solomani5959]

Thanks. This is a much better explanation than the apple support doc. 😅 Thanks 😊

[@Gauchosister]

Many thanks Joel for your clear and helpfully videos!

[@Learnwithjoel]

Thank you for your continued support @Gauchosister! If you learned something new, please support my channel, by clicking THANKS below, or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@LegitAF]

This is amazing.... thank you so much. My photo librar"ies" have always been a huge mess and I have been putting off organizing them for almost a decade now..... But after watching your videos I feel like it is finally time to tackle this monster haha. Keep up the videos!!

[@Learnwithjoel]

I appreciate you and your kind words @Anais FM! I think everyone has felt that way in regards to organizing photos! Lots of other videos related to this on my channel! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@cosimop1539]

What a tutorial! Thank you for this gem. Really

[@cosimop1539]

going crazy to save photos to ssd...

[@Learnwithjoel]

You're very welcome @cosimop1539! THANK YOU so much for watching! It is appreciated more than you know! If this video was useful, I’d love for you to SHARE it with on social media and say how it helped you! Please SUBSCRIBE if you haven’t already, and if you have, THANK YOU for your continued support!

[@cosimop1539]

@@Learnwithjoel Subscribed and notification on! My least as a student! Thank thank thanks!

[@katyhughes2624]

Thanks for such a great video! When iPhoto moved to Photos all those years ago, my library migration corrupted and led to me having to 'show package contents' and painstakingly extract all the originals. Having been burned by that process, for years I've been terrified to use any library/cataloging system, and so have just used folders within Finder to organise photos. I'm always trying to see if there are any other solutions but still don't know if this would help to be honest. I'd love the viewing experience and facial recognition etc that Photos offers. I suppose I could keep my folder structure and adjacent have the referenced .photoslibrary. I grab all the photos off my phone and camera etc monthly to put into this file system, and often go back into folders to further organise / move things around and wonder if 1. the re-referencing folders when things get moved (or less obvious, purposely deleted) will be annoying and 2. how I will know/flag to myself if there are photos in the folder system that I haven't yet brought into Photos. Sorry for the long message but wondered if you had any opinions / have the same fear of the library format changing and needing to export all photos back to a sensible folder structure? Thanks!

[@tylermorrison509]

Excellent video btw! Very in depth for advanced users!

[@Learnwithjoel]

Thanks @Tyler Morrison! I appreciate the kind words! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@ebutuoy6701]

Thanks for another super informative and interesting video, Joel! 🙏🏻 You gave me an idea: since I use iCloud Drive to store part of my photos (I need to have them in a definite structure of folders and subfolders and I don’t want to use iCloud photos for reasons) I could link them as referenced to the Photo library on my Mac, that would be a more pleasant way than iCloud Drive to display and look at them. Does it make sense?

[@SakuraBurma]

As always helpful ...

[@Learnwithjoel]

Thanks so much for watching @Hkawng Labang! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@Tajhad]

Thanks Joel , very helpful.

[@Learnwithjoel]

You're very welcome @Terry Haddow! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@teadish1448]

Excellent video! Thank you for clarifying everything here. You answered all of my questions. 🎯 Thanks!

[@Learnwithjoel]

I'm happy I was able to answer your questions @Tea Dish! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@teadish1448]

@@Learnwithjoel Yep, been a happy sub for a while :) Thanks again!

[@newtowntractor]

Great Video, with iCloud limited, can you have the apple photo library on a Synology NAS ? That would be a great video to make in case you ever get to it. Thanks

[@nohandle-01]

Thanks for this Joel. I'm here as I can't justify the ongoing sub to LR CC as I don't use it often or to its fullest extent and Photos seems to have most of the editing tools I use and need. This referenced approach is great as it allows me to keep a library independent of it being embedded in Photos, but I wondered what happens when you actually 'edit' in Photos and whether it is editing the 'reference' or the original photo? If it is only editing a reference but not updating the original (which seems a little pointless), I'm guessing I might have to create a workflow where I first select the reference files I'd like to edit, then consolidate them into the library, and then export them back out? This is the next bit for me to figure out!! Once clarified, I've seen you have some great vids on the actual editing which I've queued up next. 🙏🏾

[@NBauer-ce6xk]

Does this mean my mitigated photos are now only thumbnails with no information that show up in Finders Pictures? I lost 17 GB of photos when I upgraded my MacBook Pro to my MacBook Air. iPhotos only transferred 6 GB. Is there any way to open Mitigated file. Apple refers to iPhoto app but is no longer available.

[@billg3932]

Great topic. Helpful info! I've always had that box unchecked as I choose to go with Referenced files. Somehow I have ~1000 photos in the library. 1.How do i get them out easily? and 2. How do i load/move/import photos from my iPhone14 onto my mac in a folder of my choosing? and then import them as a referenced file into Photos? It seems that new photos are going into the Library.

[@denend4751]

Quick question Sir, when you delete a photo in the Photos App on a Referenced Library, is the original photo in your referenced folder also gets deleted? Thanks!

[@AnthonyRaynor]

I am importing existing folders which are linked. If I later add a photo to the folder, will Photos sense that and add it to the imported folder?

[@NOT_A_TOP_FAN]

Great video. Question - When I purchased my MacBook Pro a a year ago, I opted to spend the money to beef up my RAM and live with a 500gb hard drive and do a external/internal drive combo of saving data. Well, now that I'm understanding iCloud more, I'm finding out that if you use the "optimize" feature, anything thats in the cloud will never get backed up to my Time Machine or Backblaze.... So I'm seriously considering using a 2TB external drive putting all my photos and documents on this external drive and then utilize Time Machine, Backblaze, and I even think I have a One Drive Account worth of 1TB of space. My thought process is I use iCloud but forgo using the "optimize" function and simply house everything in this external drive. My ONLY concern is MacOS isn't as stable as it used to be and updates always seem to jack something up. Is it too risky to run with basically everything on an external drive?

[@Learnwithjoel]

Great questions @bcm7819! It's very true that if the files are set to optimize, they're not technically on the Mac, so Time Machine and other backup solutions will not include the files, as they really don't exist. You can certainly have your Apple Photo Library and other miscellaneous files on an external hard drive as the primary location, but then I would for sure backup that external drive with another external drive using Time Machine or online location like Backblaze. If you use Microsoft Apps and have that subscription, it is nice that they start you off with 1TB. I guess the main thing is as long as you know where your files are located and as long as you have a downloaded copy of content to backup, that is most important. For Photos I use an older Mac with an external hard drive that downloads all Apple Photos files to the external drive. That way I know I have a minimum of one location with all files locally stored. I hope that helps! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@tylermorrison509]

This is unfortunate, a Referenced library has SO MUCH POTENTIAL. But because you can’t update paths in the Photos App, or do a simple search for missing files in a general location you’re pretty much stuck with the exact file structure setup you had the day you imported the photos. That means no upgrading a photos library, no changing Macs, no changing OS etc. it’s unfortunate basic “search and replace paths” features aren’t built in.

[@tylermorrison509]

I know you could manually replace the photo if you remember what folder it was in when you imported it, but that’s an extreme amount of work when dealing with a large volume of photos and videos.

[@Learnwithjoel]

I hear ya @Tyler Morrison! There could be some easy information and paths added to the referenced photos. At least there's an option to show the referenced photo in the Finder, but it could be a lot better if the info tab had a path, or options of moving/migrating to a different location. Definitely room for improvement on @Apple! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@PL-im4mg]

Very useful thank you! One question. If embedded library is better, how do you manage it? It gets bigger and bigger, the library file gets easily 100 GB. Do you move it to a hard drive?

[@Learnwithjoel]

Great question @P L! Over time it will mostly outgrow the internal hard drive on the Mac, so most users will move the library to an external drive and manage it there. I have another video on this process that I'll link below for reference: How to MOVE your iCLOUD PHOTO LIBRARIES and APPLE PHOTO LIBRARIES to an EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXLVnICojsqbiJo I hope that helps! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@PL-im4mg]

@@Learnwithjoel thank you! I’ definitely subscribed! At the moment I’m struggling to find the right workflow. Currently I use Lightroom for editing, loading the photos on an external hard drive. But then they remain there and I never see and enjoy them. Whereas Apple photos would make it easier to show them on tv and share. I’m not a pro. Do you have a recommended workflow for something like the one I described ? Thanks

[@hulkhatepunybanner]

*"Preferences" sounds better than "settings."* Settings sounds like a label on an oven dial.

[@ompomromdom]

This the worst and most unintuitive Apple app ever. I wasted hours figuring this out. 1. There’s no way to find if the photo in a folder is already in the library and can be removed from disk. 2. There’s no way to smart filter broken reference photos. 3. The underlying SQLite is losing photos sometimes. 4. Picasa was much better but google killed it to sell cloud storage, same strategy Apple , made it so bad that you have to pay for iCloud

[@Learnwithjoel]

Hi can understand your insight @pampampom! Companies moving many tools to the cloud. If you don't like the managed library concept, the best bet would probably to self manage all the photos within a folder structure and then know where exactly where everything is at. Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@claervue7098]

lost me on metadata.

[@Learnwithjoel]

I hear ya @claervue7098, things can be confusing! Metadata is just a fancy word for information in regards to photos. Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!

[@Greg-fg1rd]

No idea what's going on here....🤯

[@Learnwithjoel]

I hear ya @Greg, it can be confusing sometimes. Let me know how I can help! Thanks so much for watching! If this video was helpful and you learned something new, please SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t already! If you want to support my content click THANKS below or better yet, SHARE it with a friend on social media and say how it helped you! It helps more than you know and is greatly appreciated!