How to transfer iMovie from iPhone to USB

To save space on your Mac, you can move your iMovie library to an external storage device.

An iMovie library holds all the media and data used to make movies in iMovie. If your iMovie library is large and you want to free up storage space on your Mac, you can move your iMovie library to an external storage device.

Before you move an iMovie library, it's a good idea to back up your Mac.

Moving your library to an external storage device doesn’t affect any iMovie Theater content you've moved to iCloud.

You can store your library on an external storage device, such as a USB drive or Thunderbolt drive formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journalled). Apple doesn’t recommend storing iMovie libraries on storage devices like SD cards, USB flash drives or drives shared on a network.

You can’t store your library on a storage device used for Time Machine backups.

1. Quit iMovie.
2. Select your external storage device in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info.
3. If the information in Sharing & Permissions isn’t visible, click the triangle 
   
   , then make sure the “Ignore ownership on this volume” box is ticked. If it's not selected, click the lock 
   
   , enter an administrator username and password, then tick the box.
4. Click your desktop to make sure you’re in the Finder, then choose Go > Home from the menu bar at the top of your screen.
5. Open the Movies folder, then drag the file named iMovie Library to your external storage device.
6. After the library file has been copied, 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.
   If you clicked Don't Allow, in the Finder choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Security and Privacy, then click Privacy. Click Files and Folders in the sidebar, then select "Removable Volumes" under iMovie.
7. Make sure the library you've moved contains all your media, then drag the original file from the Movies folder on your Mac to the Bin.

When your external storage device is connected to your Mac, the library you've moved there will open automatically when you open iMovie. If you disconnect the external storage device containing the library, iMovie will open to a new, empty library created in the Movies folder on your Mac, and iMovie will then use that new location to save any projects you create and media you import.

If you want to open the library you've moved to an external storage device, you can open it again after reconnecting that storage device. You can then move clips, events and projects between libraries.

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Send your movie to friends and family, export it so you can watch it on other devices or share it on social media.

Send your movie by email or text message, export your movie so you can watch it on another device or share your movie to the web. If you want to edit your movie after you’ve shared it, open the saved project in iMovie, make your changes and then share it again when you’re ready.

You can send a finished movie to others in an email with the Mail app or in a text message with the Messages app.

1. From the Projects browser, tap the movie you want to share. If you’re editing a project, tap Done in the top left corner.
2. Tap the Share button
   
   , then tap Messages or Mail.
3. Add your text to the message or email that has been created, then tap Send.

If your movie is too big to send, you can reduce the size of the file. Cancel your current message or email, return to the share screen, tap Options, then choose a lower resolution. 

If you want to watch the movie on another nearby Apple device, you can use AirDrop to transfer the file. You can also save your movie to your Photos library.

1. From the Projects browser, tap the movie you want to share. If you’re editing a project, tap Done in the top left-hand corner.
2. Tap the Share button
   
   .
3. To change the resolution or format of your movie, tap Options, then tap Done when you’ve set your options.
4. Choose where you want to export your movie to:
   • To use AirDrop, tap AirDrop and then tap the profile picture of its user at the top of the screen. Or you can use AirDrop between your own Apple devices. 
   • To export the movie to your Photos library, tap Save Video. If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you can access the video from all Apple devices signed in to the same iCloud account.
   • To save your movie to iCloud Drive, to a folder on your device or to another third-party storage service you’ve enabled in the Files app, tap Save to Files, choose a location and then tap Save.

Save your movie in the Photos library, then upload it to the web.

1. In the Projects browser in iMovie, tap the project you want share, then tap the Share button 
   
   . 
2. If you want to change the resolution of your video, tap Options under the movie title and then choose a resolution. 1080p is a good choice for sharing to the web.
   Lower resolutions, such as 720p HD, will produce smaller files that can be uploaded to the web faster than movies with higher resolutions.
3. Tap Save Video to save your movie in the Photos library on your device.
4. Open an app, such as YouTube or Facebook, on your device or visit the website for the service you want to use, then upload your video.

Email your movie, add the movie to your Photos library or prepare your movie to share on the web. If you want to edit your movie after you’ve shared it, open the saved project in iMovie, make your changes and then share it again when you’re ready.

You can email your movie to others with the Mail app.

1. From the Projects browser, select the iMovie project you want to send, click the More button and then choose Share Project. If you’re editing a project, click the Share button
   
   .
2. Click Email.
3. Click Share. If your file exceeds the recommended limit (usually 10 MB), you’ll see a warning on the share screen.
   
   
   Click the Resolution pop-up menu, then choose a resolution that will reduce the size of the file to a size supported by most email servers.
4. Click Share. After iMovie has finished exporting the movie to email, you’ll receive a notification.
5. Add your message to the email that has been created, then click Send.

After you’ve saved the movie as a file, you can add the movie to your Photos library, store it in iCloud Drive or save it in another location. If you want to email the movie using another email client or other service, you should also save the movie as a file.

1. From the Projects browser, select the iMovie project you want to send, click the More button and then choose Share Project. If you’re editing a project, click the Share button
   
   . 
2. Click File.
3. Click the Resolution pop-up menu and choose a size for your video. The default resolution will be based on the content of your movie. Choosing a lower resolution will produce a smaller file that can be uploaded to the web faster. Choosing a higher resolution will produce a larger file that’s great for viewing on a Mac or on a high-definition television (HDTV) using Apple TV.
4. Choose a location to save the video file, then click Save.
5. Drag the exported file into the Photos app to add the movie to your Photos library. If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you can access the video from all Apple devices signed in to the same iCloud account.

iMovie provides optimised settings for sharing your movie on YouTube and Facebook. This special setting also works well when you want to share it to other websites, such as Vimeo and Twitter.

1. With your project open in iMovie, click the Share button 
   
   .
2. Click YouTube & Facebook. 
3. Choose a location to save the video file, then click Save.
4. In a web browser, visit the website that you want to share your video to and then upload the video file.

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