How to store images in SwiftData
Learn how to efficiently store larger amounts of data in SwiftData.
updated on 13 Jul 2026 · 1 min read
SwiftData allows us to store images by using the Data type, for example:
@Modelclass Recipe {var imageData: Data}
When working with larger or many images, it might be a good idea to separate them from the model storage and store them in an external file. For that, SwiftData provides the .externalStorage attribute:
@Attribute(.externalStorage)var imageData: Data?
With that in place, we tell SwiftData to store the image data in external storage managed by SwiftData, which may lead to improved performance when working with larger amounts of data.
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