Photo Library Vs iCloud Storage

[Manchester]

After some advice please.

I found yesterday that the Photo Library on my Mac has about 30GB of photos, but these are the same as what I have stored in iCloud.

I'm happy to use iCloud, and thought that I was only using this.

So the big question, can I delete Photo Library? Or is there a way to stop it from taking up my HDD storage, remove the photos which are stored there, unless I add them there manually?


Thanks in advance.

 

[Dave Braine]

From what I understand from this Apple article is that if you delete a photo from Photos on your Mac, then it's gone from iCloud as well.

Set up and use iCloud Photos – Apple Support (UK)

iCloud Photos works with the Photos app to keep your photos and videos securely stored in iCloud and up to date on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV and iCloud.com.

support.apple.com

 

[Manchester]

Thanks Dave.
Not what I wanted to hear/read. Seems ridiculous, to have a copy of the photos on my iPhone, Mac and iCloud, what's the point.

 

[Dave Braine]

Thanks Dave.
Not what I wanted to hear/read. Seems ridiculous, to have a copy of the photos on my iPhone, Mac and iCloud, what's the point.

So that you can see all your photos on all of your devices? If you don't want it, go into Sys Prefs>iCloud and deselect Photos.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

If you just want to reduce the size of the library stored on your HD but not delete photos from iCloud, then try this: Photos > Preferences > iCloud > Optimize Mac Storage.

Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch has a similar setting, too. Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos > Optimize Storage

This setting leaves all your photos in iCloud in full quality, but automatically reduces the space used for local storage by removing the full-size versions of images you haven't viewed recently (leaving only the small-size thumbnail version so you can browse through the catalog).

For example, with Optimize Storage set on my iPhone I have 103 GB in iCloud Photos storage (Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage) but just 3.43 GB storage used for Photos on my iPhone (Settings > General > iPhone Storage).

 

[appltech]

After some advice please.

I found yesterday that the Photo Library on my Mac has about 30GB of photos, but these are the same as what I have stored in iCloud.

I'm happy to use iCloud, and thought that I was only using this.

So the big question, can I delete Photo Library? Or is there a way to stop it from taking up my HDD storage, remove the photos which are stored there, unless I add them there manually?


Thanks in advance.

Great question, I came across the same issue myself not so long ago. You can delete your Photos library, but this will automatically sync with iCloud and pictures will be deleted from there as well. What you can do instead is to get an external drive and use it as system photo library. Here’s what to do:

1. Connect an external disk from your Mac and quit Photos;
2. Go to Finder → Macbook Pro (or Air if you’re using an Air) → Macintosh HD → Users → Folder with your username → Pictures;
3. Right-click on “Photos Library”. If you want to view the contents of the entire library, choose “Show package contents” - dated folders will be in the “Masters” folder;
4. Copy the entire library and paste it into your external disk;
5. Now you need to open the Photos app and go to the “Photos” settings in the top menu. Click on “Preferences” → “General” → “Use as System Photo Library”. Select your hard disk as the location;
6. Now you can go back to the “Pictures” folder and move the “Photos Library” to the trash.

The only downside to this is that you won’t be able to access your pictures unless you connect the external drive to your Mac. But it does save you a lot of space!

If you want to keep the pictures, you can make sure they don’t take up too much space on your Mac by going to Preferences in Photos and clicking on the iCloud tab. Tick the box “Optimise Mac Storage” to make sure only smaller files are stored on your computer.

Hope this helps.

 

[HDFan]

I'm happy to use iCloud, and thought that I was only using this.

Not a good idea to have only copy of your photos in iCloud/Mac. You might want to look at a 3-2-3 backup strategy.

 

[Mojo1019]

Are you sure that the photos stored on iCloud are at full definition?

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Are you sure that the photos stored on iCloud are at full definition?

Yes. Per Apple: https://support.apple.com/HT204264

File types that you can use with iCloud Photos

Your photos and videos are stored in iCloud exactly as you took them. All of your images are held in their original formats at full resolution — HEIF, JPEG, RAW, PNG, GIF, TIFF, HEVC, and MP4 — as well as special formats you capture with your iPhone, like slo-mo, time-lapse, 4K videos, and Live Photos.