One of the things that many people have asked me in recent months is everything related to the concept of Photo Library on macOS and iOS. The operation of the iCloud Photo Library has not been very clear to apple users and there are many who run out of space in the iCloud cloud and do not know what to do to solve this issue.
The first thing you have to be clear about is that ICloud Photo Library When it is activated on iOS and macOS devices, what it does is synchronize all the content of the Photos application with all the devices that have the iCloud Photo Library activated. All photos and videos are copied to the iCloud cloud and then sent to devices.
The space that Apple gives you for free in iCloud is 5GB, so if you are not careful, in a short time you fill that space and the devices begin to say that you have filled the space. The first thing you can do to solve that, and it is what Apple wants you to do, and is to buy more space in iCloud for which you must go to checkout with a minimum of € 0,99 per month. If you do that, it starts the photo and video storage cycle again until you fill the new stretch of space again, which although you think it is difficult to fill 50 GB, you are wrong.
I have a colleague who has filled the 50GB between the files that he uploads to iCloud plus the iCloud Photo Library topic. You have told me that you want to free up space because you do not want to increase the storage area again, for which you will have to deactivate the iCloud Photo Library. What is the problem now? That when you go to iCloud> Photos on iOS and click on deactivate the Photo Library, it asks you if you want to delete the files from the device or if you want to download the files from the library to the device. In your case, when you press down to the device comes the surprise; the system informs that there is no space in it to save them locally.
That is why I have had to explain how to make a backup copy of the entire Photo Library on the Mac and then be able to deactivate the Photo Library of the devices and thus not lose the photos and videos that have been hosted on the service so far.
To be able to make a copy of the files of the iCloud Photo Library it is not enough that we enter and select the items since the iCloud Apple website does not let you select the files in batches or in bulk having to download each one individually, which if you have 10000 files in iCloud is unthinkable.
Well, this is where the information I want to share with you today comes from. What we have to do so that the iCloud Photo Library is copied locally in the Photos app on the Mac is the following:
- Press the alt key + click on the Photos icon.
- We created a new library for the Photos app that we will call Photo Library Copy
- Now let's Preferences> General in the Photos app and click on Use as system photo library
- In the iCloud tab we have to have the iCloud Photo Library activated and selected Download originals on this Mac
The system automatically begins to download the iCloud Photo Library to the Mac and when the process is finished you already have all its content on your computer. Then you just have to save that library in a safe place on the Mac and select the previous library again.
Finally, you go to the iOS devices and deactivate the iCloud Photo Library and when it asks you what to do, you tell it to delete it from the iPhone or iPad. From that moment you will already have the free space you need in the Apple cloud.
I ask a question is there any way to use the library without downloading it on all devices, that is, only to see it in the cloud.
I currently have a google drive in which I have 80 gb of photos, but I really liked the way the library was sorted by date and location.
I mean, I don't want to go around with the copy of the digitized photos of my grandparents in b / w on the iPhone ……
Thank you
from iCloud you can view them
Thank you!
You are certainly an outstanding student. I hope it solves the problem for you. 😉
Thanks, I took time looking for a clear and effective explanation ... until I came across your article: Excellent !!!