iCloud How does one get photos forever off of iCloud?

[SalisburySam]

I want to use my M4 Mac mini’s attached storage for all photos/videos and not iCloud. I sync from two iPhone13minis, one iPadAir(4thGen) and one iPadPro(4thGen) to the Mac mini so do not need iCloud syncing. The support docs and threads I’ve read do not seem to address this specific issue.

So, is there any way to get all the photos/videos exported/downloaded/whatever to my Mac, then deleted from iCloud, then configured so iCloud is not used again moving forward for photos?

 

[WarmWinterHat]

You can set the Photos app to keep a local copy of the files, then turn off Photo sync after they have all downloaded. From there, you'll need another device to delete them, or create a new synced photo library (opt-click on photos app) and use it to delete them from the server.

It's going to take a while. There is no way to just delete everything in one swoopy from iCloud.

 

[pedzsan]

On my Mac in Settings for Photos, I have "iCloud Photos" checked and "Download Originals to this Mac" checked. Thus, all of the photos in Photos are downloaded to my Mac. They are stored at ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary.

I then copy the photos somewhere else and delete the copies in Photos (i.e. delete the iCloud copies). I have my phone set to share Photos to iCloud. So... I basically use iCloud as a way to get photos from my phone to my Mac. You don't need to copy and delete photos that often -- just when the space in iCloud fills up.