Move your iMovie for Mac library
To save space on your Mac, move your iMovie library to an external storage device.
An iMovie library holds your iMovie projects, and all the media and data used in your projects. iMovie libraries can get large, so to save space on your Mac, you can store the library on an external storage device. Before you move an iMovie library, it's a good idea to back up your Mac.
Prepare your external storage device
You can store your library on an external storage device such as a USB or Thunderbolt storage device formatted for Mac as APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Apple doesn’t recommend storing iMovie libraries on devices like SD cards, USB flash drives, or on a shared storage network.
You can’t store your library on a storage device used for Time Machine backups.
Move a library to an external storage device
Quit iMovie.
In the Finder, choose Go from the menu bar, then choose Home.
Open the Movies folder, then drag the file named iMovie Library to your external storage device. If it's not located in the Movies folder, search for iMovie Library using Spotlight.
When the library file is finished copying, double-click the library file on the external storage device to open it in iMovie. If an alert appears asking you to give iMovie access to a removable volume, click OK.
Make sure the library you moved contains all your media, drag the original file from the Movies folder on your Mac to the Trash.
Empty the Trash.
When you save your projects after moving the library, all content imported into iMovie and your projects save to the new location.
If you disconnect the external storage device
If the storage device with the library is connected, library you moved opens automatically when you open iMovie. If you the storage device isn't connected, iMovie opens to a new, empty library created in the Movies folder on your Mac. iMovie saves your projects and imported media in the new library.
If you want to open the library you moved to an external storage device, connect the storage device, then double-click the iMovie library file. You can then move clips, events, and projects between libraries.
Learn more
Moving your library won't affect iMovie Theater content you might've moved to iCloud.
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