5 Ways To Download All Of Your iCloud Photos

[@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!)

[@MiguelTonetJr]

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

[@GowriShankerBellu]

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

[@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

[@cherylf2133]

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

[@jkerrin]

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

[@tonywessels1952]

Finally! The confusing mystery of exporting apple photos is solved! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

[@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?

[@jazztutorial]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@mr.joonkwon]

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

[@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.

[@loisskiathitis8926]

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

[@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.

[@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?

[@zulu123-x2d]

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

[@macmost]

Yes. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqG7laqgeN1mjac

[@anubhabpattanayak2957]

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

[@ovlivion81]

Not sure why this was burried so low in the search results. Thanks for making this video.

[@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.

[@skwergs]

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

[@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

[@sethlockard9802]

Killer vid. I always learn watching you explain!

[@jvolz283]

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

[@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

[@gregclaydon6727]

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

[@StacyParrish1]

Literally AMAZING! So very helpful - Thank you!

[@Twolff100]

Gary, you are the real guru. Thank you

[@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!!

[@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

[@georgee3401]

Very useful tutorial. Many thanks!

[@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.

[@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.

[@stuarthartley7428]

Excellent. Nice job Gary

[@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?

[@flocela]

What a timely video! Thanks!

[@bayze6584]

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

[@joshmoxey.]

Last option is so clutch. Thanks Gary

[@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!

[@natalieburns]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@AiKai28]

Privacy data solution was very good. Thank you!

[@carolinebarlow4795]

Thanks very much, Gary, for this incredibly helpful video! Our photos should be safe now.

[@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

[@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.

[@dianav.d.h.6956]

Thank you very much! Very helpful. Friendly greetings, Diana

[@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.

[@ladyru63]

Getting acquainted with my mac, this is perfect!

[@skisunshine]

very helpful & well explained thanks

[@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.

[@nuwannilanka]

I was thinking about this. Very useful video.

[@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.

[@anandcs-andy4228]

Thank you so much for your guidance.

[@hyunwooshinyt]

this guy is the GOAT

[@sarahmacjones]

super helpful, thank you so much!

[@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

[@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

[@dharmateja623]

Excellent Explanation 👏.. Really Helpful

[@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.

[@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.

[@H.O.M.I.]

Dude! You are awesome! Thank you!

[@Answering123]

Good video and thanks a lot!

[@fabiokotinda]

Thanks!!!! Really helpful

[@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).

[@sharonreder1249]

Enormously helpful. Thank you so much.

[@lil_yaca25]

New subscreber Form Lawrence Massachusetts god bless all of us amen 🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 0:15

[@randallyons8745]

I will be coming back to this video. Thank you Gary

[@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.

[@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.

[@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".

[@compassionatepeercounseling]

Awesome! Thank you Gary.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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).

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@aqibusman5413]

Really helpful

[@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.

[@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?

[@kbstabs5982]

Really useful. Many thanks!

[@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?"

[@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!!!

[@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.

[@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.

[@jesusizquierdo]

Great, thanks a lot.

[@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.

[@dr.limouni]

Thanks Gary 👍

[@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.

[@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.

[@troyladoux1953]

Excellent. Very helpful.

[@avirupmukherjee7642]

Amazing video, immediately subbed. A 5 year old could follow these instructions. Another issue that almost everyone who tries this will face is the date on the photo. I have seen your reply on a question in comments saying not to confuse the file creation date with the metadata date. Could you please explain in more detail or even make a video on it? Cos i have scoured the net and youtube and couldn’t find anything satisfactory. Also may be that its a very straightfwd thing that everyone is just supposed to know and may be Im just dumb.😂 But there are probably other thousands of such ppl searching for this same answer right now. 😊

[@macmost]

A file contains data. When you create a new file, it has a date, name and the data inside. The date is the file creation date. Inside the file is the data. In the case of a photo, the "photo" is the pixels of the picture, but also metadata: camera type, focal length, ISO, GPS, etc. Also the date and time the picture was taken. So that would be the metadata date that is part of the photo.

[@Magnus-b9b]

So what basically happened to me when downloading 830 familypictures from Icloud webb was that when automatically creating a zipfile it does not save the date of when the picture was taken. Basically making it worthless. Since I do not care about when the file were created as a zipfile or what camera fokus, oixels yadayada it had. The ONLY data I actually care about was when the picture was taken. So to sum up this options and all others using zipfile to transfer= Dont do it!

[@carlupthegrove262]

Excellent... thank you

[@gabriella.amanda]

Question, if I download all my pics from I cloud on my Imac. Are the photos safe now? And can I delete them from I cloud now ??

[@macmost]

You have the photos. You can check them. If you see they are all there, then I suppose, yes. But why? Why would you want to do that. The idea is to have a backup, not to ONLY have a backup and not anywhere else.

[@ihymns]

Excellent!