5 Ways To Download All Of Your iCloud Photos

[@MiguelTonetJr]

Still more than 15 years... the most helpful Mac/Apple guide.

[@WhitneyMiller-r7o]

I have been downloading pics a few hundred at a time! it takes forever! the request copy of your data is going to change my life, thank you!

[@lisadean440]

That's what I have been doing! (uggh!)

[@hattix73]

Amazingly comprehensive and easy to follow. This took so much legwork or guesswork out of what I need to do. I have 1.6 TB of photos and videos and I wonder which option would be the least painful or "fast".

[@morganj1997]

I also have 1.6TB--let me know if you have an answer by now! Thinking of downloading the entire Library as a backup (like option 3) and then deleting all the files I don't absolutely want to keep, hopefully down to just about 5000 files instead of 65000+

[@mauriciomeyer4615]

@@morganj1997 Any answer now? Privacy site download without metadata... bought an Mac just for this... sigh.

[@mikepanable]

I would put them on an external hard drive if that's one of the options that you're considering... iCloud is an awful choice. I was blown away at how horrible it is. I give it a 1/10 - I still use it because I paid for the storage but it truly sucks haha

[@GowriShankerBellu]

The last 2 ways are very useful for non MAC users. Thank you so much.

[@ruechel]

Nicely done, sir! Best one is the last one. Apple makes it notoriously hard to do this because they don't want to lose their icloud business. As a photographer, it's super cumbersome to work with anything iCloud so I'd rather have copies of the originals on an external hard drive. Thanks again!

[@macmost]

If you simply have the "Optimize" option off then you have the best of both worlds: Everything in iCloud so you can see your photos on all devices, plus all photos (originals) on your local drive too.

[@harrycampbell2668]

Gary at last I have found a simple way to get originals on to an external drive Thank you,just one question after downloading my photo library to my external drive and returning to my Mac library how do I get new sets of photos and videos originals into my external photo library

[@iFlamezZzHD]

which method to download 30,000 pictures + videos of over 110GB in one go?

[@iFlamezZzHD]

@@harrycampbell2668 which method to download 30,000 pictures + videos of over 110GB in one go?

[@AndrewDarlow]

Excellent overview! Another option that works well is to use a different Mac or Windows computer (if you or a family member has an extra one to use, possibly with an external drive attached) so that you don't have to jump through as many hoops, and you can keep it going without having to think about it.

[@gosich]

I didn't realize you can have separate settings for each library, thanks! Managing iCloud Photos beyond basic scenarios is tricky IMO, since it stores the photos separately from other files iCloud (unlike some other cloud providers), so the video is really useful.

[@jkerrin]

Gary, all of your videos are awesome. Thank you for this one. I especially like how you explained the advantages of each option.

[@joygayanes6764]

Thanks for the info how about if you will just download limited photos and videos from iCloud becase your phone is running out of space

[@cherylf2133]

Tremendously helpful video, and the timing is perfect for several projects I'm working on. Thanks, Gary.

[@jgilly6511]

The BEST video I have found for downloading my 33,000+ photos to a backup drive! My question is, how do I redirect my photo library after I have completed this (I used the option to create a new photo library in the external hard drive) But I am not sure how to get the photo library back to the way it was on my mac. Thank you for help!!

[@macmost]

In Photos, Settings.

[@kakitchan6950]

I've tried the option 3 that creates a second library to duplicate iCloud photos. However, what wasn't mentioned in the video is that this option requires external drives with the filesystems of APFS or MacOS extended. My Mac is running Sonoma 14.1.2 and it seems like older MacOS was used in the video?

[@macmost]

This video was from "10 months ago" as you can see. So that was before Sonoma, yes.

[@janpravica5346]

Thanks for this. I have two of/on topic question. I had an Iphone 11 pro and recently got a 15 pro. Before it was not an issue but now when an iCloud syncs the photos to my comp my portrait photos on the computer show as normal photos. No blur behind. I think I managed to solve this by going to iCloud and click "More download options" and select "Unmodified originals". I don't like this because it is not automated in a way it was with the previous phone. Now comes the second question. What about the function where the phone recognises a person or a cat or a dog and makes a portrait option. How do I activate that and then download it accordingly?

[@macmost]

Not sure what you are doing here. You talk about iCloud sync and then switch to taking about exporting photos (Unmodified originals). Those are two different things. When you sync to your Mac it should look the same on your Mac as on your iPhone while in the Photos app. Maybe you are using a much older version of macOS as compared to iOS? So you don't have the portrait photos options on macOS? For instance, for the People function to see pets, you'd need macOS Sonoma on your Mac just as you'd need iOS 17 on your iPhone. That feature is new to those 2023 versions of the operating systems.

[@Jimgoodwin846]

Very timely Gary. My new computer will be here next week. My new hard drive came yesterday and I was contemplating how I’m going to get all my info from my MacBook Air to go in my new one. Thanks again for a great video.

[@PaigeEscapes]

Thank you! With files/ documents, I simply dragged a files that contained documents and some photos from the iCloud region & into the home region of my Mac ( I mentioned that on another video). All documents and pics that were in those files will definitely have downloaded & be on my actual hard drive? I’m worried now lol! I also dragged a bunch of files directly from iCloud to an external drive and assumed they would be on the hard drive to now. But based on this, it sounds like they may not be?

[@Pythonzzz]

If you go with the last option to get your pictures through the privacy request, do you get the full resolution versions of everything? I think I’m going to try this route since I’m not in a rush and downloading in batches of 1000 is a hassle. I just want to make sure I won’t get compressed or lower quality images. Thanks!

[@rebeccahand6847]

would also love to know the answer to this!

[@RonLego]

Thank you. A very informative video. Leads me to one question. If I follow the route of creating an empty library and populating it (it's taking forever, 35,000 photos), can I then, later, switch back and forth between this new library on the external device and my "natural' library on my Mac hard drive, where I have Optimize Mac Storage enabled. This seems the best of both worlds. Use the on Mac library for normal use, THEN, periodically switch to the library on the external drive and allow it to sync and catch up putting any new originals on that library. Would that work?

[@macmost]

Problem there is if you delete a photo when using your normal library, then sync to your external one, that photo will come back.

[@RonLego]

@@macmost Thanks. I see now. Would have to create a totally new external library every time you wanted to backup, then go back to the normal library and never sync the backup again. Makes sense.

[@CSPatel90]

Glad I watched till the end of the video. I am merging my old photos library into an already existing iCloud library on a new Macbook I got. I am now downloading my (already existing) iCloud library to my local drive before attempting to load my old library to iCloud.

[@kingfisch]

Excellent information! I've been looking for this information for a long time. Number 5 was completely unknown to me. I'm saving this video. Thanks!

[@michaelhaggerty1790]

Gary, any idea which of these methods (if any) preserves the create date? When I download pics/videos off of iCloud the create date is the download date, not the date the pic/video was taken.

[@macmost]

Don't confuse the FILE creation date with the metadata creation date of the photo inside the file. If you open the file in Preview, you get look at the EXIF info and see the metadata date. Importing it into an app like Photos again will use that metadata as well.

[@michaelhaggerty1790]

Yes, I understand that difference. I want to file create date to match the metadata create date as this makes it much easier to sort and review photos in Finder. When you take them directly from your phone they maintain this correlation. Do you know if there is a way to get them off of iCloud while maintaining file create date matching the metadata create date?@@macmost

[@TuriyaMoka]

hi! I had a question, for option 5, does it remember the created date of each of the photo? when I downloaded from iCloud directly all of the dates were changed to the date I downloaded the photos.

[@loisskiathitis8926]

Excellent! A very useful and informative video tutorial today! I’m saving this one! Thank you, Gary! 👏🏻❤️

[@natalieburns]

With the last option, can you download it directly to an external hard drive, without it being on your computer temporarily?

[@jdennisarceo]

Thank you. I have been struggling to find an effective way to download all my photos in iCloud and have been failing. This solves it.

[@polyvg]

An extremely clear and well done explanation. If you use the approach of creating a new library (e.g. on an external drive), what is the best approach to updating that every few months? Hopefully only adding new items/changes. I'm guessing that you can switch the library that Photos uses by pressing the option key and choosing the library you created months ago, and it will automatically sync with iCloud. Asking in case I'm getting the wrong end of a stick - or there is another approach which has any advantages.

[@macmost]

Yes, you can do that. It depends on WHY you have this other library in the first place.

[@polyvg]

@@macmost I'm still thinking about the options!

[@iFlamezZzHD]

which method to download 30,000 pictures + videos of over 110GB in one go?

[@macmost]

@@iFlamezZzHD Depends on other factors. Do you have the space on your drive to simply turn off "Optimize?"

[@zchovan]

It’s like you’re reading my mind on topics I need to do!!! Do albums I create in my library sync with iCloud??? I want to make new albums and if I make a new blank library in the future and sync that one, I’m curious if it will remember my albums.

[@macmost]

Yes.

[@roelkuiper9919]

Thank you for this in depth tutorial. I have a question though; I tried using the direct iCloud method, where you sign in and select the photos to download. I have an external drive I want to use on my Mac, but when I did a test photo and hit the download button, no choices come up for where to download to. It just downloaded it to my Mac straight away. I do not have enough space to store that many photos on my Mac. How do I enable using my external drive?

[@macmost]

Do you mean in the browser? It would go to your Downloads folder, but you can change that in Safari Settings.

[@SarahWashington-s9j]

Thank you so much! I'm so fed up with iCloud. I could not for the life of me figure out how to get my photos out. I'm looking forward to trying these steps

[@shadishay]

thank you so much for this extremely informative and helpful video. I did option 3 (new library on external hard drive) and it is currently downloading all my photos/videos. However my next step is where I am a bit confused on how to proceed. I would like to delete older photos/videos from my icloud to free up some space. What is the best way to do this? If i delete directly off the site, I will no longer be able to sync with this new library as it will then delete the same older photos/videos due to syncing. If I keep making new libraries, I'll be duplicating files over and over. What's your advice on clearing up space on icloud without affecting the new library backup/avoiding duplicates?

[@alumenyame8351]

how did you solve this? thanks

[@skyboy7794]

I'm curious to know what you did as well. Thanks

[@haythembenelghali3067]

Thank you for this useful tutorial, as usual it is very helpful. just few questions: - if I use the option 3 with Second Library, what happens if I want to resync this library after few months, and e.g I have deleted few items in the ICloud library, we'll it sync based on Icould ( one way ICloud --> Library) or it will upload the deleted photos from the library on my external hard drive to ICloud too ( 2 way sync ICloud Second Library). - Using the option 3 with Second Library, I can only open this library in my mac using the Photos App right? so it would not be possible to open it in another PC or with Finder as an image or video file? - I always struggle to export a live photo, it is either exported as a still photo or as a folder containing both a photo and a video, if I do so and I want to import the live image to the library, shall I import the whole folder of the Live photos? Will be combined them together into a live photo or they will be 2 items ( a still photo and a video). Thanks in advance for your feedback :)

[@macmost]

It would merge them, so you'd end up with your deleted photos back. So you don't want to do that in your situation. Instead, just repeat from the beginning with a new library. Photo libraries are opened with the Photos app. If you want to have files, then you should export as files instead. You can't re-create a Live Photo from a photo and a video.

[@michaellee7203]

@@macmost Is merging always additive? If I repeat method 3 every so often is there a chance syncing with the one on the external drive will remove photos I’ve subsequently synced to iCloud?

[@macmost]

@@michaellee7203 You wouldn't want to use method 3 using the same secondary library as you did before. Doing so would ADD photos you deleted back to your iCloud Library. It would create a mess.

[@Olavosten]

@@macmost I have seen a method where you log on as another user account in your Mac, using the same iCloud account to have one full synced library and at the same time have the optimized version with your regular user account. This sound like possible. Have you tested this?

[@macmost]

@@Olavosten Interesting, but seems overly complicated. I assume you mean the full-sync one would point to an external drive, right? Not sure of the point though. If this is a desktop Mac, and you want to have 100% of the photos there but didn't get a big enough drive, then just do the external library for your one and only account. If this is a portable Mac, then just use iCloud "optimized." Backup occasionally using one of these techniques if you like, but a second account will just make things complicated.

[@mosesandamendaflores9169]

Thank you for this video, you’re awesome!! I have way too many photos/videos to be downloading them in increments of a 1000.

[@iFlamezZzHD]

which method to download 30,000 pictures + videos of over 110GB in one go?

[@deniceferko-adams362]

Thank you for your video. I have the space to do the first option and in testing it on 10 photos, the exported photos are now in 5 different folders because they were taken on different dates. Did I do something wrong? Do any of the options avoid putting the photos into folders by dates?

[@macmost]

When you export you have the option to use folders or not.

[@adamgoulding5328]

Thanks for this, just a quick question. I have "Optimise Mac Storage" turned on. I would like to download all the photos orginals to iCloud. But I would like to know what size in term of GBs would be the additioanl download. My hard drive is a 2tb and is over half full allready. Is their anyway I can find the download size of turning off "Optimise Mac Storage".

[@user-or3ce4gt2r]

download originals to mac . does it mean any pictures located in iCloud shall be automatically downloaded into my mac local disc ? i still see many pictures located in iCloud account (2TB account) but they are not yet all available on my photos app , mac local drive . appreciated your help . many thanks

[@macmost]

It means all photos will always be cached locally on your Mac, yes. Not sure what you mean by "not yet available." So you don't see them at all? You should see them whether or not you are using Optimize or Download Originals. If you aren't seeing them then either it hasn't had time to sync, or something is not working right.

[@user-or3ce4gt2r]

@@macmost greatly appreciated your feedback and watched recently many of your videos work ✨. In the last years I used to backup my iPhone pictures with USB cable to Mac . For last months I used to do the same practice while havjng a 2TB iCloud services . I noticed now that not all pictures have been copied to my Mac ( not even with USB cable practice ) . The status today . I got still many pictures on my iCloud which have not been showing / nor copied on my Mac . In fact if I’m taking a picture on my iPhone , it doesn’t show up on my Mac . 😔 But the shared album are sync and working . Greatly appreciated your expertise and advice 🙏🏻. Thanks

[@macmost]

@@user-or3ce4gt2r Not sure what would cause this problem. Try contacting Apple Support and see what they can figure out.

[@user-or3ce4gt2r]

@@macmost thanks a lot for your time to reply . Appreciated. After switching off and on the iCloud Photos / account in my Mac i received this message : "iCloud Photos is only available on macOS Standard, macOS Extended and APFS formatted volumes." My 12TB external important drive is formatted in “ MacOS extended ( journaled ) format . Is there a way around to solve it ? Thanks 🙏🏻

[@macmost]

@@user-or3ce4gt2r That sounds like an erroneous message. I would call Apple Support again and figure out what is really going on.

[@mr.joonkwon]

This is the most helpful video I have seen in a while! THANK YOU!!

[@anubhabpattanayak2957]

Kudos for your videos, that always makes any Mac user's life a lot easier! Many thanks!

[@Markus-fk7by]

@macmostvideo I used the fifth option via the data privacy option. Now I have many photos that can not be sorted by date anymore. They could beforehand in iCloud Photos, but now I have a lot of pictures with cryptic names and rarely date information. How can I get them via the privacy option with adequate metadata? Or is there a way to sort them still? I have a lot of photos.. I appreciate your help. Thank you

[@macmost]

How are you trying to sort them? Keep in mind metadata is inside the files and is different than the file info like the file date. An image file can have a created date that is right now, but the metadata inside the file would hold the date and time the photo was taken.

[@RichRobinson]

Can you explain how to export photos with the original time info retained? Nobody seems to know! Many thanks!

[@macmost]

Most (all?) of these do. But remember that the metadata time is different than the file time. Open the photo file up in Preview, look at the Exif info there and you'll see the metadata time.

[@CraigPeterson-j7w]

I noticed that downloading files from the iCloud website (one at a time or in groups), the photos download with a "date created" of today, not the original creation date of the photo. I had the option to "download unmodified original" selected. Any ideas on why it isn't downloading with the original photo creation date?

[@macmost]

Don't confuse the FILE creation date with the metadata date of the photo inside.

[@Vanilla.Thunder]

I confirm! From the icloud website, photos are downloaded with an updated date, that is, the original date of creation of the photo is erased

[@macmost]

@@Vanilla.Thunder Where are you looking to see that date, exactly? Did you open it in Preview, for instance, and examine the EXIF data?

[@Vanilla.Thunder]

@@macmost I'm sorry, I was wrong. The date is correct.

[@stephensmith8474]

Great information. Tried the last item getting info from privacy apple site. I choose 25gb file size and eventually two zip files where created and made available. Problem is in downloading them. I have fiber internet and it is solid but when I start downloading the first file it eventually dies after several gigs have been downloaded. I almost suspect it fails on Apple's side. I am sure we all stream many gigs of data watching TV and I have downloaded 100 gb games from steam and never have a problem. Anyone have any thoughts or tips?

[@macmost]

I tested this out myself and had no issues downloading. Maybe your ISP selectively throttles? Streaming is always treated differently than downloading (otherwise Netflix, etc, wouldn't work at all for anyone). I also think Steam does some package-like system for downloads too. Steam may even pay ISPs for better downloading bandwidth (not sure, but I know some services certainly DO).

[@jazztutorial]

Excellent video. This was a joy to watch - thank you!

[@Svoboda1234]

The privacy.apple method does include your videos also under “iCloud Photos,” right?

[@macmost]

It should include everything in your library. Videos are just another type of item in your library.

[@zulu123-x2d]

Is there a way for two people in family share the library? Thanks

[@macmost]

Yes. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqG7laqgeN1mjac

[@skwergs]

Thank you for this! I used Method 3... Create a temp system library... brilliant!

[@wildernessofwaves]

Hi! Thank you so much for these awesome videos! I have a question for you. I am having a hard time getting iCloud Photos from my phone onto my MacBook. When I download them from iCloud the HEIC or Live Photos format is not downloading. It is being converted to 2 files with the same name- a JPGS and a .mov. I tried all of the advanced downloading options from highest quality to original format to just clicking the regular download and my results are always the same- the Live Photos break down into 2 files with the same name but one is a still image and the other a .mov. Do you know by chance why the original HEIC format isn’t downloading? Also curious what you think a good alternative to the PHOTOS app is?

[@macmost]

Yes, that's right. If you want them as "Live Photos" then just use iCloud Photos as normal. Is there a reason you aren't doing that since it seems to be what you want.

[@wildernessofwaves]

What do you mean by as normal? Is there a way to email you? Basically I am wanting to get the “Live Photos” to download to my desktop in their normal format, but they are converting to jpg / movs with all the download and advanced download options, I am on a MacBook I know this is an issue with PCs can’t figure out why it’s happening on a MacBook

[@macmost]

@@wildernessofwaves I mean just turn on iCloud Photos and view the same photos on your iPhone and Mac. Then you'll see your Live Photos in the Photos app and not have to download them. At least that's what I got from your initial comment. But if you are already doing that, and just want to export your photos from your Mac Photos app to files, then there's no way to do that with Live Photos. You get the two files. Live Photos requires an app like the Photos app to be able to handle them, so an export splits them up.

[@kellib5291]

About the last method of requesting a copy of my photos, are those photos in unmodified originals? Thanks!

[@macmost]

If you request your files from Apple you should get the originals, yes.

[@strallent]

Great tutorial…Thank you! I just maxed out the 2 terabytes, it’s time to move everything on an external hard drive.

[@macmost]

Maybe just move your videos? The way I handle it is pictures are in Photos, videos are kept as files elsewhere. That keeps the size of my Photos library way down.

[@MrEarthTravels]

The last method was the best!! Really great video. I spent so much time finding a way to move my huge photo library from icloud, but this video will likely solve my problem!! I will try it out. Thank you!!

[@mjpt57]

Great video. One. question - when you copy the photos library file (the container of all your photos and videos) to an external drive, how can you access the images/videos inside of that container? Thanks

[@macmost]

In the Photos app like before. Don't try to access them directly in the Finder.

[@mjpt57]

@@macmost thanks. I've decided to use the method of downloading originals to the Mac then the CMD-A (copy all) and have exported them to my NAS. I used to do that with the iPhone connected to a Windows PC and accessed the photos folder via Windows Explorer. But this method that you've shown us doing it from the Mac is much quicker (and easier to do). Thanks again for the videos. It's appreciated.

[@elliottgetz8782]

Is there a way to save the dates when I'm moving from i-cloud?.. The format saves the pics/vids with random names & no metadata..

[@macmost]

Are you sure there's no metadata? When you use an app like Preview to check the EXIF data, it isn't there? If not, then check carefully to make sure you aren't chasing to remove that when you export.

[@estherkwok6492]

Hey Gary, if I just want to download one or two specified videos from icloud, what way I should use to do it? great Thanks

[@macmost]

So from your iCloud Photos library? Just view them in your Photos app. If you want to export them, export from there.

[@estherkwok6492]

@@macmost Great great Thanks!!!

[@heller_nick]

Does the download from the privacy page include original metadata like date, time and location?

[@macmost]

Yes. I would be the original file.

[@heller_nick]

@@macmost thank you very much for the fast reply. That’s good to hear. I once downloaded a copy from google photos and all the metadata was in separate JSON files.

[@jvolz283]

Another great video! Thank you for helping me become the Mac Specialist in my family!

[@allaboutferrets]

Serious Question: Hi Gary, appreciate the video. I've downloaded my library to my Mac, I've located the most space taking files from my Photos Library on my computer ("Show Package Content..."). Here's the question: Knowing the MacOS file name, how do I find these in my Photos App to permanently delete them?

[@paulwoaert]

Hello. My situation is this : I only have one Apple ID and unique and I take photos and videos only with my iPhone. So if I disable the synchronization iCloud in my MacBook Air (256g) settings, iPhone photos and videos (synchronized in iCloud) will stop being exported to my Macbook? I did something a few months ago: I moved the photo library of my MacBook to my external 2T ssd (following the instructions in the video whose title is "How to Move Your Apple Photos Library to an External Drive»). Obviously, when I connect this external ssd to the MacBook, synchronization with the iPhone still takes place, except that these photos and videos are now in my external ssd and no longer in my Macbook, which therefore protects the storage space on the Mac's hard drive. The only drawback with this moving of the Photo Library of Macbook to external ssd is that when my external ssd is not connected to the Mac (which often happens because any device connected to a usb-c port -- active or not -- consumes the Macbook's battery), it deprives me of being able to watch or use these photos and videos. I have an important question: extracting videos and photos from the Photo Library to an external ssd(but WITHOUT the Photo Library) seems impossible. This explains why I chose to move the Photo Library itself. The other solution, I guess, would be to send by Air Drop the photos and videos of the iPhone to one of the folders of the Mac or the external ssd connected to the Mac (?). Last thing : you say that the photos and videos hosted by iCloud are not in the resolution or quality originally produced in the iPhone. So if I send, for example, by email, from my Macbook, a photo from its photo library (obtained by iCloud synchronization with the iPhone), it will not be the original optimal quality? But then how can we have the original resolution video in the Mac ?

[@macmost]

There's a lot to take in here. I won't be able to digest and answer it all, sorry. For your first question though, if you disable iCloud then yes, when you take a picture on your iPhone then your MacBook Air won't see those photos and you have told it not to look for them.

[@AgWhatsUp]

Do these methods preserve metadata for the photos and videos? Such as device taken on, date taken, Live Photos, portrait photos and so on?

[@macmost]

Metadata, yes. Test it and see (you can view metadata in the Preview app for instance). Not sure about Live Photos though or portrait layers though. Those can't be easily represented in normal formats. HEIC works. Test the method you want to use on some to see. Of course any method that keeps it in a Photos library would keep everything.

[@seansull]

You are amazing for this. Capturing all the nuance and details of apple’s software. You are the very definition of an expert!! Thanks so much

[@rookiestoychev4824]

Hi! I followed your option 3… and it worked but up to a point. It’s been a few hours and it’s telling me “syncing with iCloud”. I mean, I have thousands of photos so I can imagine it should take time but is there a way to check if it’s actually downloading my photos from iCloud to the new library I created on my external drive? I’m checking the size of the library file on the external disc and keeps being exactly the same size 3.8 mega bites… is t it supposed to grow?! Any ideas? My external drive is LaCie 5TB but it’s A and C cable / to MacBook Pro. Basically, how long do you think I should wait? :-) Otherwise really wish this works!

[@rookiestoychev4824]

PS: It works now!!! There was something in settings/icoud saying “sync this Mac” which I unticked. Then the photo syncing stopped but I started it again and now I can see it is actually syncing. 46 000 photos… way to go ;-) Thank you for this video, for me option 3 really is magical if hopefully does the magic. Even if I requested a download from Apple, if all 46 000 photos arrive in zip files… when would I ever be able to figure out who is who… Thanks!

[@MarkHolmes]

Great video gary! On that very last part of transferring to Google, does it really transfer full resolution to Google or slightly compressed versions, as I believe Google charges for full resolution.

[@macmost]

It should be the full resolution photos. Anything less wouldn't make sense. Not sure how Google charges for things or how it could know if they are full resolution or not (compared to the original).

[@lauraaqui219]

i love your videos they are so helpful and useful, ever since i got a macbook, i started to follow your channel because ive never used a macbook before so i had to learn it all from your youtube channel thank god for that you really saved me so much hassel. thank you so much. Laura in uk

[@B-Ryee]

Hey I’m planning on doing this soon. Do any of these methods take away the original files from iCloud? Or are they all like a copy paste type deal? Thanks for the video by the way, very helpful.

[@macmost]

Not really. But you should watch carefully and understand how your chosen method works before doing it.

[@B-Ryee]

@@macmostso I actually ended up doing option 4 and it for some reason downloaded more than what was said to be on the iCloud. Even after precisely doing 1000 at a time. They are also all over the place & not organized. Is there a way to organize them in order.

[@macmost]

@@B-Ryee If all you have are files, then there's no sort of automatic organization you can do, probably. If you want them to be organized then the other methods could be better. It really depends on the REASON why you are downloading all of your photos.

[@darcia9316]

How can we keep switching our Systems Library between our internal and external drive? How does that work? Bc it also says it deletes the photos that are stored in the Mac if we with to the external drive as our System Library?

[@macmost]

You don't. You have ONE system library for Photos and that is the one that syncs with iCloud. It doesn't make any sense to change its location. Tell me what you are trying to accomplish and maybe I can point you in the right direction...

[@danyvignola]

Given my Mac mini has only 256Gb of internal storage, my photo library (700Gb+) is sitting on an external 1TB SSD and I'm also backing it up through Time Machine on a separate external 2TB SSD. This way, I always have 3 copies of my photo library, including iCloud and it works well.

[@macmost]

Next time, go with a much bigger Time Machine drive. SSD gives you speed, but you don't need speed for a backup. You need size. Go with a 12TB (or thereabouts) HDD instead.

[@danyvignola]

@@macmost Thanks for your advice, this is appreciated. Keep up your good work, I'm a big fan of your channel!

[@f2mel2]

All cloud storage have degraded photos in the megabytes to kilobytes. What happened?

[@macmost]

Not sure what you mean. Degraded? Were you exporting them, and if so using what method exactly?

[@LanySofia-u6y]

On a Mac, is the xxxx.photoslibrary package file size supposed to be similar to the icloud size used up? I've about 1TB of icloud used for photos but after I spent 3 days download the "originals", the xxxx.photoslibrary folder size is only about 5GB as reported by finder. Where exactly are the originals found? I'm sure I selected the "Download Originals to this Mac" and waited 3 days, but 5GB file size doesn't looks right. However, when checking the disc info of the 4TB drive, I did see about 1.1TB of disc space being "used". I've formatted this 4TB drive just for this purpose. Any comments will be appreciated - I just want to be sure I've indeed got all originals downloaded for sure ;)

[@macmost]

Hard to know what could be wrong there, sorry. But I wouldn't worry about the size. Just look and see what's inside.

[@suepalmer2049]

Hi Gary, great video thank. I am using your information to download my 97,000 photos and videos to an external drive. Long process I know. I have one issue and hope you can assist. I have requested and received Download your data from Apple. I have 28 files of 25GB each. So far so good! I have found I need to set my watch to 14 minutes as the session keeps expiring - if I aren’t within the given 60 seconds I loose everything I have downloaded. Is there a way around this please.

[@macmost]

What are you doing at 14 minutes? Just some action in iCloud.com? I don't know why it would stop the download at that point, sorry.

[@GigioRmz]

Thanks for this video! I've been looking for a way to download and back up my photos, and your video has been super helpful.

[@gregclaydon6727]

Brilliant advice, thanks. The first option worked perfectly..😊

[@thecanadianhobbyist]

Thank you for the last method. I have over 20000 photos and downloading 1000 at time doesn't seem like much fun to me.

[@rookie3961]

Hi, I followed your advice and set up an external disk to become my photo library which is quite huge- and it worked, absolutely amazingly - until last month. Sadly, now has stooped - asking me to repair it but it doesn’t really work anymore. Are you aware of any trick please to make it work again… it was so cool not to depend on Apple for a little while… hope there is a way back! Really looking forward to your help again. Best!

[@macmost]

The idea was to use the external drive to download a COPY of your photos. For backup, for instance. Then switch back to your normal library after that. Maybe do that now?

[@rookie3961]

@@macmost thanks for your reply. Basically I just left the photos to sync every time I plug the external disk (La cie pro) - and it worked amazing because I need to have access to them where I work which has poor internet connection and downloading them from i cloud is a nightmare. I just don’t know why it stopped working and trying to figure out if there is a problem with my disk or apply saw the door open and shut it… Obviously will have to back up again - try your other suggestions which for 40000 photoes is quite a pain. But thanks a lot!

[@macmost]

@@rookie3961 Apple didn't "shut it" or anything like that. So maybe a problem with that drive? It is a shame that a poor Internet connection is stopping you from using iCloud Photos because that's exactly the problem that it solves.

[@tomfitzgerald6666]

Good video! Wondering if there is a way to setup Apple Cloud to be able to see selected photos to all your devices? My issue is I have have one Photos Library with over 40.000 pictures I have enough space on both devices. I want to keep all 40,000 on my mac Laptop, I just don't want to see all of them on my Iphone. Is there a way fix this issue?

[@macmost]

You can't pick and choose which ones you "see" but you can accomplish your goal of saving space. Just turn on the "Optimize" feature. This is exactly what it does. See support.apple.com/guide/photos/optimize-storage-in-photos-on-mac-phta9b4673b4

[@emperornugz89]

Thanks for the help! with the prices apple is charging for local storage i've been trying to find a way to get my icloud to sync to my eternal drive rather then the tiny ssd. Your tutorial hit it on the nose.

[@Caminoguys]

Hi you make excellent and easy to follow videos. Following this one I created a new Library on an external drive of my new Mac but as soon as I selected “Make this the system Library”. I get the rotating color ball and it goes on forever not allowing me to go and turn on iCloud. Any suggestions ?

[@macmost]

Maybe try a restart? If the drive is slow, it should just take a very long time to sync your photos there.

[@Caminoguys]

@@macmostThanks for the amazingly fast response. Can I be sure that it’s syncing as I was unable to go to the next step and turn on iCloud ? It’s a new Mac mini with an internal and external SSD, so pretty fast I would think.

[@macmost]

@@Caminoguys Sorry, I can't tell without being there. Try the restart idea and see if that works.

[@Caminoguys]

@@macmost Many thanks, I’ll give it a try.

[@Caminoguys]

The restart worked, thanks a million. I’ve had a frustrating time trying to figure this out, so much contradictory information out there.

[@andreasmusic1222]

does that last option preserve the photo's Date Modified to remain the date the photo was taken? almost every other way Apple gives you overwrites this.

[@macmost]

Two different things: FILE date modified and METADATA date taken. The metadata inside the photo is intact. But if a new file is being created in the process you choose, then the file modified date is set appropriately for the file, not the contents (photo) in the file.

[@andreasmusic1222]

@@macmost I found your video about how dragging photos out of Photos app changes the Date Modified to today, but the Date Taken EXIF data is still intact. Learning that resolved my issue, thanks!

[@littlestar830]

I have been trying to use the export method, however, I actually already have a backup folder set up on my hard drive from another time when I had backed up my library. I used to be able to view all the photos and videos on Finder without opening the Photos app and then selecting and dragging them to my external drive folder. The advantage of this was that when it found that the pictures were already in the folder, it would ask if I just wanted to skip or replace them so they wouldn't be duplicated. For some reason, I can't do that anymore and when I just try to select the Photos app and drag it to the external drive it just starts transferring and making copies of what I already have stored in there. How can I transfer and make sure there aren't any duplicates of what I already saved in previous backups?

[@macmost]

First, don't drag and drop as you get exports not the originals. Use the Export Unmodified Originals command I show in the video. Maybe that will work the way to want too (worth a try). Otherwise, I would just start a fresh new backup to make sure you have one copy of everything.

[@anderpalma]

tried the method 3, but my ssd was not ready to be used like that for a mac, so make sure you have prepared and formated your new instance beforehand, so you don't actually loose some photos.

[@geralynkamahaocamarillo1818]

MAHALO soo much, Gary! Youʻre always spot on with your information! By any chance, would you have any information on why my iPhone photos are not syncing to my iCloud even though I have enough storage on both my phone and iCloud? THANK YOU again for creating ease in grace with all of your wisdom!

[@macmost]

Just check your iCloud Photos settings on both devices. Use iCloud.com to determine if the problem is the photos getting uploaded (they would be at iCloud.com if they are) or downloaded to the other Mac. If you can't see anything wrong in the settings, then call Apple Support so they can walk you through things.

[@sethlockard9802]

Killer vid. I always learn watching you explain!

[@muffsmerino]

Also, my old library disappeared when I did the library option. Have no idea how to get it back or where to find it. I am now back at this video trying to see if I can back track but no luck

[@macmost]

Did you simply switch libraries? Just choose your original library to go back to it.

[@muffsmerino]

Oh hi thanks. I went back into photos to switch libraries but there were no library options. I also tried searching for the library but couldn’t find. Will try looking again. Thanks for responding! I’m not freaking out because I think they may have been backed up - somewhere…

[@jesintajesinta]

If we ask for a copy of our photos will the original time stamps be in the photos in the files they send? Keeping all the dates sequential is my goal.

[@macmost]

Yes. The metadata like camera info and the time the photo was taken is always in the file. But note that this is different than the file date.

[@jesintajesinta]

@@macmost oh good to know. Well I can always change the file date as per your other video :) thanks!

[@wmarkj]

Gary, if I pay for the iCloud service to store all my photos from my devices, and then decide to say in a few years to stop using the cloud and download all the photos to my iMac, will it retain the metadata, such as the date the photo was taken?

[@macmost]

As long as you keep them in the Photos App Library, the metadata will stay.

[@wmarkj]

If I am daily taking pics with the devices and thereby have them in the cloud, are they then also in the photo library, or is there something I need to do to ensure they are?

[@macmost]

​@@wmarkj Simply turn off the Optimize option in Photos, Settings.

[@wmarkj]

Thanks so much Gary. I have turned off the optimize action. I have also subscribed to the $9.99 iCloud plan due to the number of photos. Previously, I had manually synced all of my photos on my MacBook to my iPhone. I am wondering if I should somehow remove all photos from the iPhone prior to turning on the cloud on the iPhone for fear that the iPhone will sync all of the photos into the cloud that are on the iPhone, thereby creating duplicates in the MacBook and cloud? Or maybe the cloud will overwrite all of the photos that were manually put on the iPhone from the MacBook?

[@macmost]

@@wmarkj Hard to tell what you've got going on there, but if it doesn't handle it automatically you can always use the Duplicates folder later and go through them.

[@Twolff100]

Gary, you are the real guru. Thank you

[@joshmoxey.]

Last option is so clutch. Thanks Gary

[@KimMunday]

Thanks so much Gary. This has been mega helpful today. I wish i'd seen it sooner. Would you know if there is free software that would check for duplicate photos on my external hard drive? - The time and effort you put into all your videos is greatly appreciated. I'm always checking for new ones.

[@macmost]

Do you mean in a Photos library on your external, or as just files sitting in folders?

[@KimMunday]

Ah, just in folders sitting in files.

[@macmost]

@@KimMunday No good way to do that. You just have to look through what you've got and clean things up manually. Organize the files while you are at it.

[@StacyParrish1]

Literally AMAZING! So very helpful - Thank you!

[@harrisongerry1307]

You create very useful tutorials. I have a poor memory, is it possible to down load a transcript of your tutorials? I am thinking of Pages, Photos & iMovie . Thanks for your work. G.

[@macmost]

You can copy it from KZbin if you know how. But I also put it right on the page at my site. Click on the link at the very top of the description to go there and see the transcript.

[@kennjoyce]

Which method will provide all the meta data? Date taken and where etc.

[@macmost]

All of these should. Metadata is stored inside the file with the photo (not to be confused with the File date). Try it with the method you want and see.

[@bayze6584]

Thank you so much for your video. It helped out so much.

[@shakilmirza4368]

Is there a way from this downloads where you don't lose the date (day and time) of the original photos taken when downloading to the computer?

[@macmost]

In all of them you should still have the original date. But remember that is "metadata" INSIDE the file. You see it in the Photos app or if you look at the metadata inside an app like Preview. Don't confuse that with the FILE DATE which is the creation or modified date of the file, not the photo inside it.

[@normaperez6871]

Gary, HELP! How do I set my Photo Library to the Original one on my Mac? I was able to put the icloud photos back to Optimize, but I was not able to change library location. It was blocked / grayed out. HELP please.

[@macmost]

Not sure what you are experiencing. Switching to Optimize doesn't change your photo library. What do you see, exactly, that is grayed out?

[@SneakyCaleb]

First method isn't working fully for me it says downloading 6 thousand originals but I have 15 thousand photos and videos in my library...

[@courtneyfan9]

I just got the 2nd method you used to work for me. The only question I have is. When I export a file it says 0% the whole time but still exports successfully is that okay that it says 0%?!

[@macmost]

If the export works then I wouldn't worry about it.

[@tracypage8]

Is this just for Mac computers or can it be used with any other computer?

[@macmost]

This is meant for Mac. The Photos app is for Mac.

[@chelseacuk8906]

I created a folder on my external hard drive can I now delete the photos off my icloud and will they still remain on the hard drive or be deleted next time I plug my hard drive in?

[@macmost]

So you created a folder on an external drive using the Finder. Did you copy or export photos to that folder? Are there photos in there? If you exported, did you export "unmodified originals?" By "delete the photos off my iCloud" do you mean remove the photos from your iCloud Photos Library? I'm very confused by your last part: "or be deleted next time I plug my hard drive in." I don't understand what you mean by that. If you made copies of photos to a Finder folder on an external drive, why would connecting the drive delete them from your iCloud Photos Library? Sorry, I wish I had a straight answer for you, but you are asking a technical question missing a lot of important details.

[@hyunwooshinyt]

this guy is the GOAT

[@taloire43]

Many thanks Gary. That is very useful but, if I understand you correctly, the internal library is also stored on iCloud. If that it right, can I safely use iCloud as my photo back up?

[@macmost]

iCloud provides some safety as if you lose your Mac or it is destroyed, then you still have your photos in iCloud. But it doesn't protect you from things like you accidentally deleting some photos. So most people want a real backup other than just having your photos in two places. For the general concept: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r36QmZWjpbmZnas

[@twistedrodgarage8712]

I just bought a $2k MacBook Pro and I’m surprised on how not easy a lot of things are. Will this action bring photos and videos over. That’s what I’m trying to do. Get all my pics and vids to a file on the MacBook

[@macmost]

That is not what this video is about. For what you want you can just use iCloud Photos on all devices and everything syncs automatically.

[@twistedrodgarage8712]

@@macmost hi thanks for the reply. I understand that but what I wanna do is also keep copies of my photos and videos on the hard drive of the computer.

[@macmost]

@@twistedrodgarage8712 Yes. Use iCloud Photos. It does that. You'd have them on your Mac and in iCloud.

[@twistedrodgarage8712]

@@macmost ok Ty. I think I saw iCloud as a file name somewhere. I’ll check

[@MowgliX]

Thanks man, I think you must be an angel. You have an amazing ability to explain things in the easiest way possible and in a way that actually works. How did you figure out all this? I am very impressed with that and grateful for this excellent guide! The problem I have is that if I do a complete reset of my Mac, a clean install and then restore the data from a current Time Machine backup, everything works smoothly. Except the Photos app. Photos will ignore the restored copy of the Photos Library package and will re-download absolutely everything, and since I have around 40,000 photos and 200 videos, that will take forever… All night. Why is it so dog slow? It’s not the 56k modem era any longer. I have a lightning fast fiber connection but iCloud sync is as slow as molasses.

[@Nazus7887]

Hello, If I request my data from apple can I move the download to an external drive later?

[@macmost]

You can put the download anywhere you want.

[@BigA_13]

I have a windows laptop. I bought an external HD to download my iCloud content. I am trying to figure out how to change the default storage location from the laptop HD to the external HD. Basically, I want to be able to log in to iCloud and download directly to the external HD.

[@macmost]

Not sure what is available in the Windows iCloud app for that, sorry.