How it works
iCloud Photos automatically keeps every photo and video you take in iCloud, so you can access your library from any device, anytime you want. Any changes you make to your collection on one device change on your other devices too. Your photos and videos are organized into Years, Months, Days, and All Photos.And all of your Memories and People are updated everywhere. That way you can quickly find the moment, family member, or friend you're looking for.
ICloud Photo Library is supposed to automatically sync every photo you take on your phone with your Mac and iPad. In reverse it will also sync every photo you upload to your Mac to the Photos app.
Your collection uploads to iCloud each time your device connects to Wi-Fi and your battery is charged. When you have iOS 11 or later, your library can update over cellular too. Depending on your Internet speed, the time it takes for you to see your photos and videos on all of your devices and iCloud.com might vary.
Before you begin
- Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest iOS or iPadOS, your Mac to the latest macOS, and your Apple TV to the latest tvOS.
- Set up iCloud on all of your devices.
- Make sure that you’re signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all of your devices that you want to use with iCloud Photos.
- If you have a Windows PC, update to Windows 7 or later and download iCloud for Windows.
Turn on iCloud Photos
- On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos, then turn on iCloud Photos.
- On your Mac, go to System Preferences > Apple ID. Click iCloud in the sidebar, then select Photos. If you have an earlier version of macOS, go to System Preferences > iCloud. Click Options next to Photos, then select iCloud Photos.
- On Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD, go to Settings > Users and Accounts > iCloud. Then turn on iCloud Photos.
- On your Windows PC, follow these steps.
Jun 04, 2018 Finally, your iCloud Photo Library is tied to your iCloud username and syncs your own photos and videos between all your devices. The iCloud Photo Library cannot be shared between users, even users designated as a family. However, there are a couple of major caveats here. The library on the internal drive will be labeled after its file name in parentheses with “(System Photo Library)”. Click Other Library and select the copied library on the external drive. Dec 06, 2018 Using the Mac Photos app. The Photos app on your Mac is the easiest place to download your photos from iCloud. Open Photos and then follow these steps. 1) Select the Library or Album where the photos you want are located. 2) Click one at a time while pressing Command to select several photos, or click Command + A to select them all. I trust iCloud Photos to be my one, true photo library over all other systems, and the iPhone, iPad, and Mac integration is unbeatable. 9to5Mac is brought to you by CleanMyMac X. Find hidden junk.
In earlier versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and iCloud for Windows, iCloud Photos was called iCloud Photo Library.
See your edits on all of your devices
When you make edits in the Photos app on your iOS or iPadOS device or on your Mac, the photo automatically updates across all your devices. So when you crop or enhance a photo from your iPhone, you see the changes when you access your library from your Mac. Your original photos and videos are stored in iCloud and you can go back to them at any time, and revert any changes you made.
The photos and videos that you delete on one device are deleted everywhere that you use iCloud Photos. Photos and videos stay in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days before they're deleted permanently.
Download Photo Library From Icloud
You can make edits on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, and you’ll see them on your Apple TV automatically. Your entire collection is available on Apple TV, including your Memories and shared albums.
File types that you can use with iCloud Photos
Your photos and videos are stored in iCloud exactly as you took them. All of your images are held in their original formats at full resolution — HEIF, JPEG, RAW, PNG, GIF, TIFF, HEVC, and MP4 — as well as special formats you capture with your iPhone, like slo-mo, time-lapse, 4K videos, and Live Photos.
Back up your photos and videos
When you turn on iCloud Photos, your photos and videos automatically upload to iCloud. They're not duplicated in your iCloud backup, so you should keep backup copies of your library. You can download your photos and videos from iCloud.com to your computer and store them as a separate library, transfer them to another computer with Image Capture or Photos, or store them on a separate drive.
If you're on a device with iOS 11 or later or macOS High Sierra or later, the photos and videos you take are in HEIF and HEVC format. These formats use less storage, with the same quality.
Download your photos and videos
You can download a copy of your original photos or videos on iCloud.com, iOS, iPadOS, or Mac.
- On iCloud.com, click Photos, then select the photos and videos that you want to download. Click and hold the download button in the upper-right corner of the window. If you want to download your content as it was originally captured or imported, choose Unmodified Original. For JPEG or H.264 format — including edits, and even if it was orginally in HEIF or HEVC format — choose Most Compatible. Click download.
- On iOS and iPadOS, you can use AirDrop: in the Photos app, select some photos or videos. Tap the share button , then select the device that you want to share with. Learn more about using AirDrop.
- On Mac, select one or more photos. Drag the content to your desktop, or right-click and select Share > AirDrop.
Make sure that you have enough storage
The photos and videos that you keep in iCloud Photos use your iCloud storage and your device storage. And as long as you have enough space in iCloud and on your device, you can store as many photos and videos as you like.
When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. If you need more space, you can buy more iCloud storage. Plans start at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month. If you choose 200GB or 2TB plans, you can share your storage with family.
Learn more about plans and prices in your region.
Save space on your device
iCloud Photos keeps all your photos and videos in their original, high-resolution version. You can save space on your device when you turn on Optimize Storage.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
- Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
- Tap Photos.
- Choose Optimize [device] Storage.
On your Mac:
- Open the Photos app and click Photos in the menu bar.
- Click Preferences.
- Go to the iCloud tab and choose a storage setting.
If you turn on Optimize Storage, iCloud Photos automatically manages the size of your library on your device. Your original photos and videos are stored in iCloud and space-saving versions are kept on your device. Your library is optimized only when you need space, starting with the photos and videos you access least. You can download the original photos and videos over Wi-Fi or cellular when you need them. You can use Optimize Storage on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.
If you turn on Download Originals, iCloud Photos keeps your original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and on your device.
Pause library uploads to iCloud
When you turn on iCloud Photos, the time it takes for your photos and videos to upload to iCloud depends on the size of your collection and your Internet speed. If you have a large collection of photos and videos, your upload might take more time than usual. You can see the status and pause the upload for one day.
- On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. You can also open the Photos app, go to the Photos tab, and scroll to the bottom of your screen.
- On your Mac, open the Photos app. Select Photos in the sidebar, then click All Photos in the list of tabs in the toolbar. Scroll to the bottom of your photos and click Pause.
Learn more
- Rediscover favorite and forgotten occasions from your photo library with Memories.
- Find your missing photos or delete the ones that you don't want anymore.
Check the size of your Photos Library
Open Photos and choose Photos > Preferences > General. Click the Show in Finder button to go to your Photos Library. After Finder opens, select your Photos Library, then choose File > Get Info. Look under General to find the size.
The size of your Photos Library on your Mac will usually be slightly larger than the amount of space that you need to store your photos and videos in iCloud.*
Apple Icloud Login
See how much iCloud storage you're using
Icloud Photo Library Mac Not Syncing
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences. Then select iCloud to view your total and available storage.
Add the size of your Photos Library to the amount of iCloud storage you're using
To store your current iCloud content and your Photos Library, you need an iCloud storage plan with enough space for both.
When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. If you use all of your iCloud storage, you can buy more starting at 50GB for $0.99 a month. Learn more about prices in your country or region.
You can also reduce the size of your Photos Library.
*There are several reasons the size of your Mac Photos Library might be larger than the amount of space that you need to store your photos and videos:
- Your Photos Library might contain photos or videos that have already been added to iCloud Photos from another device.
- Part of your Photos Library size includes small system files. These files aren't uploaded when you turn on iCloud Photos.
- Your Mac and iCloud count the size of a GB differently. Your Mac displays storage representation in decimal, base 10 where 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. iCloud storage tiers are counted in binary, base 2 where 1 GB = 1, 073,741,824 bytes.