> How big can a Photos library get?
I have one huge Photos library with hundreds of albums and more than 20,000 images. What’s the maximum size, and how can I avoid it?
Apple doesn’t publish limits on the size of Photos libraries. Early versions struggled with a few thousand, but as the app has matured it has coped better with larger. However, as libraries grow, more users encounter problems. Now, trying to keep a library of more than 100,000 images is probably pushing Photos to its limits.
Those are a combination of: the number of files in the library, the size of the database which Photos uses to organize them, and how much you use features like albums, which can’t break your library down into more manageable chunks. The only way to do that is by splitting it into separate libraries. Switching between libraries isn’t convenient, as you have to open the app with the Alt key held to select the library. You also can’t drag and drop images between libraries, as Photos only opens one at a time. Now’s a good time to start exporting images from your current library to secondary libraries, aiming to keep no more than 20-30,000 images in each.