Your Photos library holds all your photos, albums, slideshows, and print projects. If your library is large, and you want to free up storage space on your Mac, turn on iCloud Photo Library and use Optimize Mac Storage, or move your library to an external drive.

Before you start, be sure to back up your library.

Jul 12, 2017 You can also just never convert your new photos library into a system library and just store all your photos locally (or on Dropbox or OneDrive or any other cloud drive). If you’re a Mac owner who’s used iPhoto or another third-party application, Apple’s new app and its iCloud integration will likely appeal to you because it is now OS X’s default, native photo application. May 22, 2019  How to Share Pictures from OS X Photos App to OneDrive. You can easily sync your files and photos between your Mac and iPhone or iPad. The thing about Photos, though, is.

Prepare your drive

You can store your library on an external storage device, such as a USB or Thunderbolt drive formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled).¹ Find out how to check the format of your external storage device.

To prevent data loss, Apple doesn't recommend storing photo libraries on external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives, or drives that are shared on a network.

Move your Photos library to an external storage device

1. Quit Photos.
2. In the Finder, go to the external drive where you want to store your library.
3. In another Finder window, find your library. The default location is Users > [username] > Pictures, and it's named Photos Library.
4. Drag your library to its new location on the external drive. If you see an error, select your external drive's icon in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info. If the information under Sharing & Permissions isn't visible, click , then make sure the 'Ignore ownership on this volume' checkbox is selected. If it's not selected, click to unlock it, enter an administrator name and password, then select the checkbox.²
   
   
5. After the move is finished, double-click Photos Library in its new location to open it.
6. If you use iCloud Photo Library, designate this library as the System Photo Library.

Delete original library to save space

After you open your library from its new location and make sure that it works as expected, you can delete the library from its original location.

In a Finder window, go back to your Pictures folder (or whichever folder you copied your library from) and move Photos Library to the trash. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash to delete the library and reclaim disk space.

Open another Photos library

If you have multiple libraries, here's how to open a different one:

1. Quit Photos.
2. Press and hold the Option key while you open Photos.
3. Select the library that you want to open, then click Choose Library.

Photos uses this library until you open a different one.

Learn more

If you have a permissions issue with your library, you might be able to resolve the issue by using the Photos library repair tool.

1. You can't move your library to a disk that's used for Time Machine backups.

2. If the volume isn't formatted APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled), or has been used for Time Machine backups but hasn't been erased, this checkbox will either not be present, or won't be selectable after unlocking. Erase and reformat the drive for this option to be available.

How to transfer photos from iCloud to Mac? Here in this post, we introduce you four simple ways to transfer photos from iCloud to your Mac.

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We love taking photos with our iPhones and store them on Mac and iCloud for preservation. However, if our cherished photos on Mac are lost due to the wrong operation or system crash, how to get them back by exporting from iCloud?

When it comes to transferring photos from iCloud to Mac, normally, we have two choices – one is transferring photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac, and the other is transferring photos from My Photo Stream to Mac. However, for most of us, we don’t clearly know what iCloud Photo Library or My Photo Stream is, and photos waiting to be transferred are iCloud Photo Library photos or My Photo Stream photos.

To decide which way to go, all you need to do is checking on your device with the following steps:

Go to Settings > iCloud > Photos > Check whether iCloud Photo Library is on.

If iCloud Photo Library is enabled, you can transfer photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac, if it is off, you can transfer photos from My Photo Stream. No matter what kind of iCloud photos you want to transfer to Mac, here in this guide you can find what you want.

Also Read: Differences Between My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Library >

Part 1. Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac

Photo Library uploads all photos to iCloud and keeps them up to date across devices and you also can get access to them through iCloud.com. To transfer photos from the iCloud Photo Library to Mac, please refer to the two methods below.

Method 1. Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac Through iCloud Preference Panel

Step 1. Go to iCloud Preference Panel > Click Options next to Photos.

Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac Through iCloud Preference Panel – Step 1

Step 2. Choose Photo Library > Click Done.

How To Save Photos From Photo Library Mac Torrent

Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac Through iCloud Preference Panel – Step 2

Method 2. Transfer Photos from iCloud to Mac with AnyTrans

Though convenient transferring photos from iCloud to Mac by enabling Photo Library is, this method does have its limitations. What if we just want to save some instead of all iCloud photos to your iMac/MacBook? There, AnyTrans is needed.

AnyTrans is specialized in managing iCloud data. AnyTrans supports transferring iCloud contents to Mac or PC and it is easy to transfer photos from iCloud to Mac with AnyTrans. Second, to that, AnyTrans could also help you delete and edit iCloud contents, like contacts, notes. Last but not least, AnyTrans even allows you to sync iCloud contents to another iCloud account. Here are steps to transfer photos from Photo Library to Mac with AnyTrans.

Backup Photo Library Mac

Step 1. Free Download AnyTrans and launch it on Mac > Click iCloud icon and login an iCloud account.

Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac with AnyTrans – Step 1

Step 2. iCloud Category Management > Photos.

Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac with AnyTrans – Step 2

Step 3. Hold Command key and choose pictures you want to backup > Click Download.

Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac with AnyTrans – Step 3

Part 2. Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to Mac

My Photo Stream uploads and imports photos automatically to all devices, but only photos were taken recent 3 months, 1000 maximum. Here are two methods for transferring photos from My Photo Stream to your iMac or MacBook.

Method 1. Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to Mac by Setting Up iPhoto

Step 1. Click iPhoto > log in iCloud Account.

Step 2. Click iPhoto on the upper left corner > Choose Preferences.

Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to Mac via iPhoto – Step 2

Step 3. Choose iCloud > Check the box of My Photo Stream.

Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to Mac via iPhoto – Step 3

Method 2. Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to Mac with AnyTrans

Step 1. Download AnyTrans and connect your iPhone to computer.

Step 2. Click Device icon, choose Photos and click Photo Stream.

Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to Mac with AnyTrans – Step 2

Step 3. Hold Command key and choose photos you want to transfer, then click the To PC tab.

The Bottom Line

Mac Photo Library Management

AnyTrans also does a good job of managing data on your iDevices and iTunes. Know more about AnyTrans. For any problems, please let us know via e-mail.

Create New Photo Library Mac

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