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Photos User Guide
Jul 12, 2017 Click “Use as System Photo Library” to convert the new library and enable the iCloud features. Now, if you click on the iCloud tab, you should see that your stuff is syncing and will be restored to your new Photo Library as soon as it’s downloaded, while anything you add will be uploaded. Jan 05, 2020 If you want your Mac's photos to wirelessly sync to all your other iOS devices and computers, you want to set up iCloud Photo Library: Apple's photo sync service lets you back up your images on all your devices, as well as access them — online or offline — on said devices.If you're willing to pay for the extra iCloud storage space, you can store an incredible amount of photos and videos. Nov 20, 2016 In this video, I'll show you how to safely move your Photos library to an external hard disk and free up an amazing amount of space in the process.
Even if you use iCloud Photos, it’s important that you always back up your library locally using one of the following methods:
- Use Time Machine: After you set up Time Machine, it automatically backs up the files on your Mac. If you ever lose the files in your Photos library, you can restore them from the Time Machine backup. For more information about setting up Time Machine, see Back up your files with Time Machine.WARNING: If a Photos library is located on an external drive, don’t use Time Machine to store a backup on that external drive. The permissions for your Photos library may conflict with those for the Time Machine backup.
- Manually copy your library to an external storage device: Drag the Photos library (by default in the Pictures folder on your Mac) to your storage device to create a copy.
![Saving Photos Library Mac Saving Photos Library Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/1/126133408/127162260.jpg)
If you have more than one photo library, be sure to back them all up.
Important: If any of your image files are stored outside your photo library, those files (known as referenced files) aren’t backed up when you back up your library. Be sure to back up those files separately. To make it easier to back up all your image files at once, you can consolidate referenced files into your library. See Change where Photos stores your files.
See alsoCreate additional photo libraries in Photos on MacRepair your library in Photos on Mac
If you want your Mac's photos to wirelessly sync to all your other iOS devices and computers, you want to set up iCloud Photo Library: Apple's photo sync service lets you back up your images on all your devices, as well as access them — online or offline — on said devices. If you're willing to pay for the extra iCloud storage space, you can store an incredible amount of photos and videos, all accessible at the touch of a button or multi-touch screen.
Here's how to set it up on your Mac and get everything configured to your liking!
How to set up iCloud Photo Library on your Mac
- Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
- Select the Photos menu in the upper left corner of your screen.
- Go to Preferences.
- Click on the iCloud tab.Source: iMore
- Check 'iCloud Photos.' This will begin uploading any and all images you have stored in the Photos app to iCloud.Source: iMore
How to optimize your photo and video storage
Saving Photos Library Mac Os
If you routinely shoot 4K video or high-quality images on your iPhone, iPad, or DSLR, you may run out of storage space fast. (I have a 1TB iMac, but also have almost a terabyte of 4K video stored in iCloud — it gets unwieldy, fast!) This is especially true if you have a Mac laptop with limited hard drive space: It's nice to look at your iPhone's gorgeous Portrait mode photos, but not necessarily always practical to store all of them locally.
Thankfully, Apple offers an Optimize Storage option, which lets you store full-resolution photos and videos of only your most recently shot and accessed imagery; all older photos and videos are available to download via iCloud and are stored as low-resolution previews on your device to save space. You can switch between optimizing your Mac's photos storage or storing your full library locally: Here's how!
![Saving photos library mac os Saving photos library mac os](/uploads/1/2/6/1/126133408/201742138.jpg)
Note: If you plan on using Optimize Storage, we suggest having at least one device that stores your entire library locally (usually a Mac with a large local or external hard drive), so you have multiple backups of your photographs and video.
- Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
- Click Photos in the App menu in the upper left corner of your screen.
- Select Preferences from the drop-down menu.Source: iMore
- Click the iCloud tab.
- Click Optimize Mac Storage.Source: iMore
Full-resolution versions of your photos and videos will be uploaded to iCloud.
Saving Photos Library Mac Download
How to share photos with iCloud Photo Library
Apple's photo service doesn't just provide online backups and sync for your images and video: The company also offers a free sharing service that allows you to send shared albums to friends and family (or create a publicly-shared website). Here's how to turn it on for your Mac.
Questions?
Let us know in the comments below.
Updated January 2020: Updated for macOS Catalina. Serenity Caldwell worked on a previous version of this post
iCloud Photo Library: The Ultimate Guide
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