If you’re like me, then you probably have tons of photos stored on your external hard drive. And, if you’re like me, then you’ve probably had the frustrating experience of trying to open your photos library from your external hard drive, only to be met with an error message.
It’s a frustrating problem, but luckily, there are a few things you can try in order to fix it.
First, make sure that your external hard drive is properly connected to your computer. If it’s not, then that could be the reason why you can’t access your photos library.
Another thing you can try is to restart your computer and see if that helps.
Sometimes, all it takes is a reboot in order to get things working again.
Finally, if neither of those two solutions work, then you may need to format your external hard drive in order to use it with Photos for Mac. Formatting will erase all of the data on your hard drive, so make sure to back up any important files before doing this.
If you’re like many people, you probably have a lot of photos stored on your external hard drive. And if you can’t access them, it can be very frustrating!
There are a few things that could be causing this problem.
First, make sure that the hard drive is properly connected to your computer. If it’s not, then that could be why you can’t open the photos library.
Another possibility is that the file format of the photos is not compatible with your computer.
If this is the case, then you’ll need to convert the files to a compatible format before you’ll be able to view them.
Finally, it’s also possible that the photos library itself is corrupted. If this is the case, then you’ll need to use a data recovery program to try to repair it.
If you’re still having trouble accessing your photos after trying all of these things, then it’s time to contact a professional for help. They should be able to figure out what’s going on and get your photos back up and running again in no time!

Credit: support.apple.com
How Do I Access My Photo Library on an External Hard Drive?
Assuming you have an external hard drive with photos already stored on it, there are a few ways you can access those photos.
One way is to connect the external hard drive to your computer using a USB cable. Once the hard drive is connected, you should be able to see it listed as a drive in My Computer (Windows) or Finder (Mac).
You can then open up the drive and access the files just like you would any other file on your computer.
Another way to access photos stored on an external hard drive is by using cloud storage. Cloud storage lets you upload files from your computer to an online account, which can then be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.
There are many different cloud storage providers available, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud.
If you want to view the photos stored on your external hard drive without having to transfer them to your computer first, you can also do that using an app like Photo Viewer for Windows or Image Viewer for Mac. These apps will let you browse through the files on your hard drive and view the images without copying them over first.
Can Not Open Photo Library on Mac?
If you’re having trouble opening your photo library on Mac, there are a few things you can try. First, make sure that the Photos app is up to date. You can do this by going to the App Store and checking for updates.
If there’s an update available, install it and then try opening your photo library again.
If that doesn’t work, try restarting your computer. Sometimes all it takes is a reboot to fix the problem.
If you’re still having trouble, try resetting the Photos app. To do this, go to the Finder and find the Photos app in your Applications folder. Right-click on it and select “Show Package Contents.”
Then open the Contents folder and delete the file called “com.apple.photos.plist.” This will reset the app and hopefully fix the problem.
If none of these solutions work, you may need to contact Apple support for help troubleshooting the issue.
How Do I View Photos on My External Hard Drive on a Mac?
Assuming you’re using a Mac with a recent version of macOS, here’s how to view photos on your external hard drive:
1. Connect the hard drive to your Mac using a USB cable.
2. Open Finder and click on the “External disks” section in the sidebar.
3. Select your external hard drive from the list of devices.
4. Double-click on any photo file to open it in Preview, or use Quick Look to preview entire folders of images at once without opening them individually.
How Do I Open Old Photos Library on Mac?
Assuming you’re referring to the Photos app that was introduced in 2015 with OS X El Capitan, and not iPhoto:
There are a couple different ways to open an old Photos library on your Mac. If you’re still using the Photos app that came with El Capitan, you can find your old library by opening the app and then going to Preferences > General.
Under “Use as System Photo Library,” you’ll see the location of your current library as well as any other libraries that are available. To switch to another library, simply click on it and then restart the app.
If you’ve since upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, things are a little different.
In this case, you can access your old libraries by going to Finder > Home > Pictures. Here, you’ll see all of the Libraries that are available to you. To use one of these older libraries, simply hold down the Option key while opening the Photos app.
This will bring up a menu where you can choose which Library to open.
How to Fix Photos Library When it Doesn’t Open from External Hard Drive on Mac
How to Open Photos Library from External Hard Drive
If you’re like most people, your photo library is one of your most precious assets. It’s filled with memories of your life, your family, and your friends. So what do you do when your hard drive crashes and you can’t access your photos?
Fortunately, there are a few things you can try to get your photos back. In this blog post, we’ll show you how to open Photos Library from an external hard drive.
First, make sure that the external hard drive is connected to your computer and turned on.
Then open the Finder window and click on the Go menu at the top of the screen. Select “Connect to Server” from the drop-down menu.
In the server address field, type in “smb://[external hard drive name]”.
Replace [external hard drive name] with the actual name of your external hard drive. For example, if my external hard drive was named “My Passport”, I would type in “smb://mypassport”.
Click the Connect button and enter your username and password when prompted.
This will give you access to all of the files on your external hard drive, including your Photos Library file.
Once you have access to your Photos Library file, simply double-click it to open it in Photos app. And that’s it!
You should now be able to view and edit all of your photos just like before.
Conclusion
If you’re trying to open your Photos library from an external hard drive and it’s not working, don’t worry! There are a few simple steps you can take to fix the problem.
First, make sure that the external hard drive is properly connected to your computer.
If it’s not, then reconnect it and try again.
Next, check to see if the external hard drive is formatted correctly. If it’s not, then you’ll need to format it before you can use it with Photos.
Finally, if none of those solutions work, then you may need to create a new Photos library on your external hard drive. To do that, open Photos and go to Preferences > General. Then click the “Use as System Photo Library” button and select your external hard drive from the list of options.