Icloud Photo Library Download Originals To Mac

  1. Icloud Photos Download Originals To This Mac
  2. Icloud Photo Library Download Originals To This Mac
  3. Icloud Photo Library Download Originals To Mac 2017
  4. How To Download All Photos From Icloud

Open the Photos application on the Mac. On the top toolbar, follow the path Photos Preferences. Go to the iCloud tab and check if the option “Photos in iCloud” is activated. Other options such as “Download originals on this Mac” also appear on this tab, which will. Make sure the iCloud Photo Library and the Download Originals to this Mac are selected, then all your photos will appear on your Mac. Alternatively, if you previously had Optimize Mac Store selected, you'll need to make changes: Uncheck Optimize Mac Store, and select Download Originals to this Mac, then wait for the procedure to complete. How to cope with a Photos library too big to fit on an internal Mac drive Apple doesn’t offer the perfect mix of choices with iCloud Photos, and the right answer isn’t obvious.

I've had a multi-Mac household pretty much since college, rocking a laptop and desktop in addition to miscellaneous iOS devices throughout the years. Dropbox and iCloud sync made most of the pains of using several Macs disappear, but iPhoto was always a problem. My laptop is tiny! My iPhoto library, not so much.

Thankfully, Photos for Mac — paired with iCloud Photo Library's Optimize Storage feature — makes working with and syncing multiple Macs a breeze. Here's how you can do it.

How to use Photos and iCloud Photo Library with multiple Macs

Here's a quick, simple breakdown on setting up your Macs to support Photos and iCloud Photo Library.

I recommend starting with your biggest iPhoto library; it'll usually be on your desktop Mac. When you open Photos for the first time, your library should import automatically; if it prompts you to create a new library, your Photos library may be stored in another location on your Mac, and you may need to manually open it.

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Once you've imported your biggest library on your Mac, make sure iCloud Photo Library is turned on and syncing. You can do this by following these steps:

  1. Launch Photos on your Mac.
  2. Click Photos in the menu bar.
  3. Select Preferences (or do this quicker by pressing ⌘,).

    Source: iMore

  4. Click on the iCloud tab.

    Source: iMore

  5. Check off the box for iCloud Photos.

    • You can also check off the box for Download Originals to this Mac if you have the space.
    • You can check off Optimize Mac Storage to save space on your Mac by only saving a percentage of images and video locally — the rest will be thumbnails that you can click on to download when you want to.

    Source: iMore

Now, open your other Mac, and launch Photos. If you have an iPhoto library on that secondary Mac, follow the same steps as above — import your library, then turn on iCloud Photo Library. If you have duplicates of the same photo on each computer, iCloud should automatically resolve those conflicts when it syncs, providing you with just one version of your photos when the sync process finishes.

Icloud Photos Download Originals To This Mac

If you don't have an iPhoto library on your secondary Mac, create a new library in Photos and turn on iCloud Photo Library. If you want to save storage space on this secondary Mac, make sure Optimize Mac Storage is selected: This will save a certain percentage of images and video locally to your device, while providing thumbnails of all the others for you to download at your leisure.

After you've set up all your Macs with Photos and the sync process has finished, you're now good to go. From here on out, any time you add photos, they'll sync to every computer you've set up with Photos.

What syncs, what doesn't sync

Icloud Photo Library Download Originals To Mac

Photos for Mac syncs a lot more than just your original photos and videos. According to a support document on Apple.com, here's what else you should expect to see sync:

  • All folders and albums
  • Smart Albums
  • Keywords
  • Memories
  • Searchable keywords
  • Key photo selections

There are a few things iCloud Photo Library won't sync, however. Here's Apple's list:

  • Books, cards, calendars, and slideshows
  • Keyword shortcuts
  • Unused keywords
  • Last imported album on the Mac in question
  • Names and faces in the People album

For those not using iCloud Photo Library

If you've chosen not to enable iCloud Photo Library, Apple still offers you free syncing of your last 1000 photos via My Photo Stream, which doesn't count toward your iCloud disk space.

This will sync and download images you've imported or taken on other devices, but you won't have the option to optimize your storage or sync your albums.

Octoober 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina.

Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.

macOS Catalina

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I am running a Mac with OS X 10.11.4 loaded. I also have Photos v 1.5


Within Photos I have iCloud Photo Library enabled, as well as 'Download Originals to this Mac'. I then also have an iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2, both operating iOS 9.3 and both with iCloud Photo Library turned on.


Jan 30, 2018  As an iOS file manager, this tool can easily export all media files, including songs, movies, TV shows, ringtones, podcasts, etc. From the iTunes Library on PC and Mac to an external hard drive. Conversely, it can restore iTunes library by transferring music, movies, playlists and more from iPhone to. Nov 10, 2019  iTunes will load that library and automatically adjust its settings to make that the default iTunes folder while you're using it. Assuming you followed all the steps in the backup process (most importantly consolidating and organizing your library), you'll be able to use your iTunes library on the external hard drive just like it was on your main hard drive. How to export itunes library to external hard drive mac setup. Jan 18, 2011  This is how to transfer your itunes library to an external hard drive. This is just a simple mac tip. It is always good to back up your music, or anything on your computer really. Step 17: Drag and drop or copy and paste the iTunes from the parent folder to your external hard drive to backup your library. Backup iTunes to External Hard Drive on Mac. Having used your Mac for some time, you are likely to have several music files on your computer backing up your data is advisable.

My issue is this: when I first set up Photo Library, everything synchronised across all three devices without any issues. However I now find that photos taken on the iPhone upload to iCloud library (at least the phone says it has 'updated just now') but they do not download to the Mac. Instead Photos on the Mac just says 'Downloading x items' and it remains like this.


If I delete the photos from the phone then the Mac will return to normal. The only other solution I've come across is to either turn off Photo Library and turn it on again, or completely sign out of iCloud and then sign back in again. But both demand a new synchronisation.

Icloud Photo Library Download Originals To This Mac


Icloud Photo Library Download Originals To Mac 2017

Does anyone have any thoughts?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X El Capitan (10.11)

How To Download All Photos From Icloud

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If the NAS isn’t mounted (or iTunes believes it isn’t) not only is my library full of exclamation marks (indicating iTunes can’t find the files) but in iTunes’ Advanced preference, the iTunes Media folder location switches back to the default, which is the Music folder in your user account.Having suffered with this behavior for years, I finally did something about it. I then held down the Option key and launched iTunes. Default web site I then copied the iTunes folder from its default location (chris/Music/iTunes) to the folder on my NAS where I store iTunes media (music, TV shows, movies, audiobooks, podcasts, etc). Unlike you, I (Network Attached Storage) so all my devices can use the same media library. What I did is this:First, I quit iTunes.