iCloud iCloud Photos not sync'd correctly with Mac Photos app, how to fix? How to DL full original size photos to Mac?

[Luba]

I use iCloud Photos and I logged into my iCloud.com and noticed that my Mac Photos app has missing albums (albums didn't sync). Hopefully it's just missing albums and not also missing the actual photos (photos not sync'ing to Mac Photos). Any idea on how to fix this? I shut off (unchecked) "iCloud Photos" under Preferences in Mac Photos app and also selected "Download originals to this Mac", it was "Optimize Mac Storage".

An Apple Support page said to sign into iCloud.com --> Photos to download originals, but I'm wanting iCloud Photos to replace all the "optimized" sized photos on my Mac Photos app with the original size. How do I do that?

Thanks in advance.

 

[0128672]

I don't quite follow your question. If you download your original full-size photos from iCloud, your optimized versions will be replaced. Is that what you're asking?

Hopefully you've been backing up your Mac Photos library too.

The instructions for turning off iCloud Photos, which maybe you are referring to:

"How do I remove all iCloud Photos content from iCloud and my devices?​

To turn off your iCloud Photos everywhere, follow these steps:

• On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Photos, then tap Disable & Delete.
• On your Mac, go to Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Apple ID. Choose iCloud, then click Manage. Select Photos, then click Turn Off and Delete.

If you change your mind, follow the steps above on your device then select Undo Delete.

Photos and videos are stored in your account for 30 days. To download your photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud, then select Download Originals to this Mac. You can also select the photos and videos that you want to download from iCloud.com."

(from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204570)

The download from iCloud.com method from above is:

Download your photos and videos from iCloud.com

1. On iCloud.com, click Photos.
2. Select the photos and videos that you want to download.
3. Click and hold the download button
   
   in the upper-right corner of the window. If you want to download your content as it was originally captured or imported, choose Unmodified Original. For JPEG or H.264 format — including edits, and even if it was orginally in HEIF or HEVC format — choose Most Compatible.
4. Click download.

(from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264)

If you've done these steps, do you have all of your originals on your Mac? It could take some time to get them all downloaded depending on how many you have.

 

[Luba]

I don't quite follow your question. If you download your original full-size photos from iCloud, your optimized versions will be replaced. Is that what you're asking?

Yes. I have a new iMac with more storage. I had Mac Photos set to "Optimize" on my old Mac. I thought incorrectly using iCloud Photos is also a backup solution besides syncing my photos to all my devices. My goal is not to use iCloud Photos anymore and downgrade my iCloud storage plan. Before turning off iCloud Photos on my Mac, I selected "Download Originals". There's no progress bar or anything, but Mac Photos will eventually (a day or two) be populated with the original full-size photos and automatically deleting the "thumbnails"? I haven't yet turned off iCloud Photos on my iPhone or my iPad. I was in the process of turning off iCloud Photos on my iPhone, selected Keep Originals but my iPhone doesn't have nearly enough storage so I couldn't Keep Originals.

Hopefully you've been backing up your Mac Photos library too.

The instructions for turning off iCloud Photos, which maybe you are referring to:

"How do I remove all iCloud Photos content from iCloud and my devices?​

To turn off your iCloud Photos everywhere, follow these steps:

• On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Photos, then tap Disable & Delete.
• On your Mac, go to Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Apple ID. Choose iCloud, then click Manage. Select Photos, then click Turn Off and Delete.

If you change your mind, follow the steps above on your device then select Undo Delete.

Photos and videos are stored in your account for 30 days. To download your photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud, then select Download Originals to this Mac. You can also select the photos and videos that you want to download from iCloud.com."

(from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204570)

The download from iCloud.com method from above is:

Download your photos and videos from iCloud.com

1. On iCloud.com, click Photos.
2. Select the photos and videos that you want to download.
3. Click and hold the download button
   
   in the upper-right corner of the window. If you want to download your content as it was originally captured or imported, choose Unmodified Original. For JPEG or H.264 format — including edits, and even if it was orginally in HEIF or HEVC format — choose Most Compatible.
4. Click download.

(from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264)

If you've done these steps, do you have all of your originals on your Mac? It could take some time to get them all downloaded depending on how many you have.

I logged into iCloud.com and selected Photos and it looks like all my photos and videos are there, so that's good news. Is there an easier way to download all my photos and videos in Unmodified Original without manually selecting all my stuff individually? I selected a few of my pics as test and iCloud.com download them as a zip file. The pics I selected were Live Photos and in the processing of being downloaded lost the Live preview feature (the pic acts like a 2 second video), but not a big deal.

 

[0128672]

I logged into iCloud.com and selected Photos and it looks like all my photos and videos are there, so that's good news. Is there an easier way to download all my photos and videos in Unmodified Original without manually selecting all my stuff individually? I selected a few of my pics as test and iCloud.com download them as a zip file. The pics I selected were Live Photos and in the processing of being downloaded lost the Live preview feature (the pic acts like a 2 second video), but not a big deal.

I haven't tried the iCloud.com download method, so maybe someone else will chime in about that. Once you've got them downloaded to your Mac, you can delete all the photos on your phone, and sync specific photos or albums (versus the whole library) from your Mac to your iPhone to save space.

 

[Luba]

I haven't tried the iCloud.com download method, so maybe someone else will chime in about that. Once you've got them downloaded to your Mac, you can delete all the photos on your phone, and sync specific photos or albums (versus the whole library) from your Mac to your iPhone to save space.

Thanks!

How will I know all the originals have downloaded to my Mac Photos app? I've looked around, but no progress bar or status?