How do I change my library?

PhotoStructure is designed for million-asset libraries, so you shouldn’t need to switch between libraries in most cases.

If you want to have a couple separate libraries, though, you certainly can.

  1. Click “Settings” from the navigation menu, or click the tray icon and select “Preferences…”.

  2. Scroll down to the Library path, and enter a new (or previously existing) PhotoStructure Library directory.

  3. When you click “Save” (at the bottom of the window, past the EULA), PhotoStructure will close the currently-open library, and open a new library in that directory.

Keep in mind a couple things:

  • Opening a new directory will not copy over prior assets. If it’s a new directory, the library will be empty.
  • If that directory had previously been a PhotoStructure library, all the assets in that library will now be visible.
  • If both libraries are set to import from all drives automatically, you’ll end up copying every one of your photos and videos into both the first library and the second directory.

How do I move an existing library? đź”—

PhotoStructure libraries are designed to be portable.

For this example, our library is in /home/malita/PhotoStructure, but we have a new external drive we want to move our library to, /Volumes/Media.

  1. First, shut down PhotoStructure. This is really important: don’t move a library while PhotoStructure is running.

  2. If your library is small, just drag-and-drop the /home/malita/PhotoStructure to your external drive. If the library is larger, though, you may need to use a terminal command to have everything work. On macOS or linux, run cp -vra /home/malita/PhotoStructure /Volumes/Media/PhotoStructure.

  3. Start PhotoStructure. You should see a dialog that says “your library is missing!” Select the “Pick a new library” button.

  4. On the next page, change your PhotoStructure library to be the new location on your external drive, /Volumes/Media/PhotoStructure.

  5. Your prior library will be open and available.

Photo of Matthew

Hi! I’m Matthew, the author of PhotoStructure. I’m a dad, amateur photographer, and author of open source, adtech, fintech, and edtech software since the turn of the millennium. He/him. I am building a self-hosted, safe, and fast new home for all your photos and videos.
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