even what’s in the cupboard

Find photos on an external hard drive – even when it isn’t connected

The holiday photos from back then are on some external hard drive in the cupboard, together with USB sticks and SD cards. Which one was it? Album 42 knows: every scanned drive stays in the catalogue – with all its thumbnails, even when it is unplugged.

Try it free for 28 daysHow it works

How it works

1

Connect and scan

When you connect a new drive, Album 42 asks whether it should look for pictures on it.

2

Unplug

The drive stays in the folder tree, just greyed out. Search, tags, colours and similar images keep working.

3

Find and connect

Album 42 tells you which drive to connect and opens the file as soon as it is there.

Every stick keeps its own entry

Album 42 recognises every drive again, even if Windows gives it a different drive letter the next time you plug it in. Ten USB sticks stay ten separate entries.

Album 42 notices changes by itself

When you reconnect a known drive, Album 42 quietly checks whether anything has changed and marks changed folders. “Rescan changes only” brings the catalogue up to date. The plug button above the folder tree limits search and filters to connected drives.

Frequently asked questions

Can I see pictures when the hard drive is not connected?

The thumbnails, yes – in the overview and in the detail panel. To open the original file, the drive has to be connected again; Album 42 tells you which one.

Does this work with SD cards and CDs too?

Yes, with every medium that Windows or macOS mounts as a drive – external hard drives, SSDs, USB sticks, memory cards, CDs and DVDs.

And with network drives?

Yes. Network drives are just slower, because every new picture is fetched over the network.

Does it run on Windows 11 and on the Mac?

Yes – on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) and on macOS 12 or later, on Macs with Apple silicon and with Intel processors.

don’t panic – just try it:

Try it free for 28 days

No sign-up, no subscription. If you like Album 42, you pay €29 once – including all updates of version 1.

Download Album 42More about Album 42

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