Best way to upload 15,000 photos to iCloud Photos

[mrochester]

Hi all

I've been tasked with uploading 15,000 of my dad's photos to iCloud Photos and I'm trying to find the best way to do this. The photos are all stored in different folders based on date, location, event, etc.

I know I can upload photos using the iCloud website but I would have to select each folder containing photos one after another and this would take a lifetime to do, so that option isn't really feasible.

The other option I have thought of is to create a new user account on my MBP, login to my dad's Apple ID on that account, add all of the photos to the Photos app on my Mac and let it sync them that way. That way I should be able to add all of the photos in one go. I would then delete the account again once all of the photos had been uploaded.

Can anyone think of any issues with my second option, or an even better way of syncing this large volume of photos?

Many thanks

M.

 

[Fishrrman]

This doesn't answer your original question, but I have a suggestion.

If those 15,000 photos are important to you, I suggest you ALSO buy an external hard drive, and create "an archive" of them on that drive. Then store it somewhere safe. Also, connect it and check it once in a while.

I would not "trust the cloud" with anything if it's important to me.
ALWAYS keep your own "physically accessible" backup that you maintain under YOUR control.
Just in case.

"Clouds" have been known to simply "disappear"...

 

[mrochester]

This doesn't answer your original question, but I have a suggestion.

If those 15,000 photos are important to you, I suggest you ALSO buy an external hard drive, and create "an archive" of them on that drive. Then store it somewhere safe. Also, connect it and check it once in a while.

I would not "trust the cloud" with anything if it's important to me.
ALWAYS keep your own "physically accessible" backup that you maintain under YOUR control.
Just in case.

"Clouds" have been known to simply "disappear"...

They’ll be on a hard drive, iCloud Photos and Google Photos.

 

[komatsu]

They’ll be on a hard drive, iCloud Photos and Google Photos.

You could just zipping them and then uploading the file to iCloud?

I really doubt if 15,000 photos would seamlessly upload to iCloud without problems.

 

[spaceballl]

There are plenty of responses telling you to not trust the cloud, have a local backup, etc etc. Those are all correct, and you should follow them, but those aren't answering your question.

The option of adding an account is probably the best. If he has two factor auth enabled, just make sure he's on call when you do the setup so he can give you the two factor codes. I'm not sure how fast your internet connection is and/or if you have a transfer cap on your connection. If it's not super fast and/or you have a cap, you might think about going someplace that is known for having an ultra fast connection that isn't metered. Maybe take it to work with you, depending on where you work.

 

[komatsu]

Maybe take it to work with you, depending on where you work.

Hell no! Depending on the workplace they might think the OP is performing a massive data ex-filtration of Snowdon-esque proportions...

Remember most corporate and government networks use controls like egress filtering to monitor unusual levels of data leaving their network...so you have been warned!