How to Backup iMovie Videos to OneDrive on Mac?

Backing up your important iMovie videos to OneDrive on your Mac is a great way to keep them safe and accessible across devices. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to easily backup iMovie videos to OneDrive on a Mac.

An Overview of iMovie and OneDrive

Before jumping into the steps, let's briefly go over what iMovie and OneDrive are:

What is iMovie?

• iMovie is a free video editing software application made by Apple.
• It allows Mac users to edit and create their own custom videos right on their Macs.
• iMovie makes it easy to import videos from your Mac, iOS devices, DSLR cameras, etc. and edit them with various effects, titles, transitions and more.
• The edited videos can then be exported and shared.

What is OneDrive?

• OneDrive is a cloud storage service from Microsoft.
• It allows you to store your files, photos, videos etc in the cloud.
• This means your data is accessible from anywhere on any device like Mac, PC, smartphones etc.
• You get 5GB of free storage on OneDrive with your Microsoft account.
• It can be used to backup important documents, media files safely in the cloud.

So in summary, iMovie is to edit videos while OneDrive is used for cloud backup of your data.

Why Backup iMovie Videos to OneDrive?

Here are some key reasons why you should backup your iMovie videos to OneDrive cloud:

• Accessibility - The videos are accessible anytime from any device like Mac, PC, phone etc. You can access and view the videos as long as you have internet.
• Safety - With OneDrive backup, your videos remain safe even if your Mac is damaged, lost or its storage fails. So it acts as an insurance for your important videos.
• Sharing - You can easily share the videos stored on OneDrive with others via shared link. This makes collaborating easy.
• Free Storage - You get 5GB free storage with OneDrive to backup videos without any cost. You can get more storage with a paid subscription.
• File History - OneDrive stores file history and allows recovering previous versions. So you can revert to old versions if required.
• Syncing - When you backup videos to OneDrive, it automatically syncs the videos across your linked devices like Mac, PC, phone etc. The videos stay up to date everywhere.

So in summary, OneDrive ensures your iMovie videos remain safe, accessible from anywhere and you can collaborate easily.

Step-by-Step Guide to Backup iMovie Videos to OneDrive on Mac

Follow these simple steps to seamlessly backup your iMovie videos to OneDrive cloud on your Mac:

1. Make sure you have OneDrive App on Mac

• OneDrive app needs to be installed on your Mac. It is available for free from Microsoft.
• Open the App Store on your Mac and search for OneDrive. Click Get to install the OneDrive app if not already installed.
• Alternatively, you can go to https://onedrive.com and click Download to get the OneDrive app for Mac.

  

• Once installed, sign into OneDrive app using your Microsoft account credentials.

2. Locate your iMovie Library folder

• By default, iMovie saves your video projects and media in the iMovie Library folder.
• To locate it, open Finder on your Mac and select Go > Home from the top menu.
• In the Finder window sidebar, look under Movies folder. You will find the iMovie Library folder there.
• This folder contains your iMovie video projects (.iMovieProj files) and media like photos/videos imported into iMovie.

3. Copy the iMovie Library folder to OneDrive

• With the OneDrive app open, drag and drop the iMovie Library folder into the OneDrive folder in the sidebar.
• This will copy and sync the entire iMovie Library with all its content to OneDrive cloud.
• The syncing process may take some time depending on size of the library folder. Let it complete.
• Your iMovie library with all files is now safely backed up on OneDrive cloud!

4. Continuous backup with OneDrive folder sync

• Once the initial upload is complete, OneDrive will continue syncing any new changes to the iMovie Library folder automatically.
• So any new iMovie projects you create or media you import will also be backed up continuously.
• The folder remains in sync across Mac and OneDrive automatically. No need for any manual backups.
• If you delete a file from iMovie Library on Mac, it will also be deleted from the synced OneDrive folder. The sync works both ways.

And that's it! With just these simple steps, you can setup continuous backup of your iMovie library to OneDrive. Your iMovie videos now remain safe and you can access them from anywhere.

Alternative Ways to Backup iMovie Videos to OneDrive

Here are a couple alternative methods to backup iMovie videos to OneDrive, if you don't want to backup the entire library:

Export and Upload Individual Videos

• Once you finish editing a video project in iMovie, export the final video out as a file.
• You can export as MP4, MOV or other standard video format.
• Then open OneDrive app and manually upload this exported video file to backup on OneDrive.
• This way you can choose to only backup specific important videos instead of your entire library.

Share iMovie Project to OneDrive

• In iMovie, when you share a finished project, you can choose OneDrive as the share destination.
• This will upload the iMovie Project (.iMovieProj file) along with its media to OneDrive.
• You can then access the shared project from OneDrive on other devices too.
• Useful when you want to collaborate and give someone access to a specific iMovie project stored on OneDrive.

So in summary, with these alternative approaches you can selectively backup your important videos without copying your entire library.

How to Manage iMovie Videos Stored on OneDrive?

Here are some tips on managing your iMovie videos after backing them up to OneDrive cloud:

• Restore from OneDrive - If any media file gets deleted from iMovie Library on your Mac, you can easily restore it from the synced OneDrive folder. Just copy back the file from OneDrive to iMovie Library.
• Share Videos - When a video is stored on OneDrive, you can easily generate a shareable link for the video and share it with others for streaming/viewing. No need for large email attachments.
• Preview on Mac - With OneDrive app, you can preview the backed up videos directly within the app. Double click on video to launch preview player.
• View Online - Login to OneDrive.com from any web browser to access your files and videos stored in the cloud. Stream videos directly.
• Manage Access - On OneDrive, you can manage who has access to a video. Adjust sharing settings or create edit/view-only links for secure sharing.
• Recover Old Versions - Leverage OneDrive's file history capability to recover or restore previous versions of a video if required.

So with the above tips, you can easily organize, share and manage your iMovie video library on OneDrive.

Quick Tip to ensure your videos never go missing

Videos are precious memories and all of us never want to ever lose them to hard disk crashes or missing drives. PicBackMan is the easiest and simplest way to keep your videos safely backed up in one or more online accounts. 

Simply Download PicBackMan (it's free!), register your account, connect to your online store and tell PicBackMan where your videos are - PicBackMan does the rest, automatically. It bulk uploads all videos and keeps looking for new ones and uploads those too. You don't have to ever touch it.

Common Issues Faced & Troubleshooting

Here are some common issues faced when trying to backup iMovie videos to OneDrive along with their solutions:

Issue: Large video files not syncing or taking very long time to upload
Solution: OneDrive has a per-file size limit of 100GB. For large video files, manually upload them instead of sync. Or use a 3rd party sync tool that supports large files.

Issue: Certain media files not syncing from iMovie Library
Solution: Ensure no special characters or extremely long filenames. Avoid duplicate filenames. Restart sync if required.

Issue: Unable to find synced videos on OneDrive website
Solution: Your OneDrive space may be full. Check Recycle Bin. If not found, contact OneDrive support.

Issue: "Access Denied" error on OneDrive folder sync
Solution: Check OneDrive app permissions under Security & Privacy on Mac. Re-authenticate app if required.

Issue: Syncing stops or gets stuck
Solution: Check internet connection. Restart OneDrive app on Mac and restart sync. Force quit app if required.

Conclusion

Backing up iMovie video library and projects using OneDrive ensures your important videos remain safe and accessible from any device. Once set up, the automated sync in the background makes backing up completely seamless.

With the powerful search and collaboration features of OneDrive, you can easily manage the videos online, share them securely or retrieve old versions if ever needed. So safeguard your iMovie videos library with the reliable and ubiquitous OneDrive cloud backup!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I backup only some iMovie videos to OneDrive?

You can manually export individual important iMovie videos as files and then upload them to OneDrive. This way you don't have to backup the entire iMovie Library folder.

Can I edit an iMovie video stored on OneDrive?

No, you cannot directly edit a video on OneDrive. You would need to first restore the video file back to your iMovie Library on Mac. Then open and edit it within iMovie as usual before re-uploading it.

Is OneDrive backup of iMovie videos free?

Yes, you get 5GB of storage free on OneDrive to backup your videos. Beyond that you would need a paid Microsoft 365 subscription for additional storage space.

What is the maximum video size I can backup on OneDrive?

OneDrive allows uploading video files up to 100GB in size. However, it is recommended to keep individual files under 1GB for smoother online streaming from OneDrive.

Can I backup an iMovie project including all its media to OneDrive?

Yes, when sharing an iMovie project you can choose OneDrive as the destination. This will upload the project file and all associated media in a single folder to OneDrive.