Copy or move items between libraries in Final Cut Pro for Mac

You can copy or move clips, projects, or entire events between libraries in the same storage location or between libraries in different storage locations. You can also copy the contents of one library to another library.

Copying or moving items between libraries lets you:

Use multiple libraries on the same storage device to organize a large number of active projects and media assets.
Work on your project and media files on a different Mac that has Final Cut Pro installed.
Back up your project and its media files to a storage device, a network volume, or other storage media.
Allow multiple users to access your media in an external folder on shared storage.
Free up space on your Mac or storage device.

When you copy an item from one library to another, the corresponding files are duplicated on the storage device that contains the receiving library. When you move an item from one library to another, the corresponding files are moved from the library file in the first storage location to the library file in the second location.

Note: If you have created or customized any Final Cut Pro effects, transitions, titles, or generators in Motion, set the storage location for your Motion content to In Library before starting any copy or move operations between libraries or storage devices. Otherwise, the Motion content is not included in those operations. See Manage Motion content in Final Cut Pro for Mac. Regardless, you must manually track and move any third-party (FxPlug) content, because it is not managed within the Final Cut Pro library.

Copy items to another library

You can copy clips, projects, events, or the contents of a library to another library.

In the Libraries sidebar in Final Cut Pro, do one of the following:
- Select the event you want to copy.
- Select the event that contains the clips or projects you want to copy.
- Select the library you want to copy.
If you’re copying clips or projects, select them in the browser.
Note: You can’t select clips and projects at the same time.
Do one of the following:
- If the library you want to copy to is present in the Libraries sidebar: Drag the items to the library. If you’re copying an event, drag it to the library icon . If you’re copying clips and projects, drag them to a specific event icon.
- If the library you want to copy to is not present in the Libraries sidebar: Do one of the following:
  - Choose File > Open Library and choose the library from the submenu, then follow the instructions above.
  - Choose File > Copy [item] to Library and choose the library from the submenu, or choose New Library to create a new library and set a location for it.
In the window that appears, select options for copying the items, then click OK.
If you chose to include optimized or proxy media, and the optimized or proxy media isn’t available, you’re given the option to generate the media.
Final Cut Pro copies the item you selected and the corresponding media to the destination library’s storage location, generating optimized or proxy media at that location if needed.

Move items between libraries

You can move clips, projects, or events between libraries.

In the Libraries sidebar in Final Cut Pro, select the event you want to move, or select the event that contains the clips or projects you want to move.
If you’re moving clips or projects, select them in the browser.
Note: You can’t select clips and projects at the same time.
Do one of the following:
- If the library you want to move the items to is present in the Libraries sidebar: Command-drag the items to the library by first starting to drag and then holding down the Command key as you drag. If you’re copying an event, drag it to the library icon . If you’re copying clips and projects, drag them to a specific event icon.
- If the library you want to move the items to is not present in the Libraries sidebar: Do one of the following:
  - Choose File > Open Library and choose the library from the submenu, then follow the instructions above.
  - Choose File > Move [item] to Library and choose the library from the submenu, or choose New Library to create a new library and set a location for it.
In the window that appears, select the options you want for moving the items, then click OK.

Important: When you import media into Final Cut Pro, you can select the “Leave files in place” option to link to the files in their current location rather than copy them into the library. In that case, Final Cut Pro creates symbolic links (also called symlinks), which are special files that point to the media files. When you copy or move clips between events, only the symbolic links are copied or moved (not the source media files). To replace the symbolic links with the actual source media files, select the events and choose File > Consolidate Event Files.

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Final Cut Pro User Guide for Mac

Copy or move items between libraries in Final Cut Pro for Mac

Copy items to another library

Move items between libraries