How to Safeguard photos and videos

1 Check library settings

In Photos, go to Photos > Preferences > General. If ‘Copy items to the Photos library’ is ticked, skip to step three. If it isn’t, you may have images in Photos linked to external files stored elsewhere on your Mac.

3 Export favourites

For favourite shots, make copies. Export them to a subfolder within your Pictures folder and/or upload them to a private Flickr account. The method you go for is less important than it being routine – make it something you just do.

5 iCloud Photo Library

If you turn on iCloud Photo Library, anything you shoot on your iPhone will be sent to Apple’s servers and downloaded to your Mac (if ‘Download Originals to this Mac’ is selected in Photos’ iCloud preferences).

2 Consolidate your library

To consolidate the photos in the library file, select Photos in the sidebar, choose Edit > Select All, and then use File > Consolidate. This will ensure everything you see in your Photos feed is now stored in the Photos library.

4 Back up your Mac

When you have your Photos library as you want it and made local copies of important pictures outside it, back up your Mac so you have at least two copies of everything. The chances of losing a photo again are falling.

6 Back up Photos’ library

In the Pictures folder, Photos Library is a package that contains all your photos and videos. Consider making periodic copies of it to an external drive. It may already be included in your off-line backups.