HT204264: iCloud Photo Library

Learn about iCloud Photo Library
algor

Q: my iCloud photo storage is half the size of my Photo Library.  Why?

my iCloud photo storage is half the size of my Photo Library (on my MacMini).  Why?

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jul 21, 2016 10:18 AM

Close

Q: my iCloud photo storage is half the size of my Photo Library.  Why?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Jul 21, 2016 10:40 AM in response to algor
    Level 7 (25,645 points)
    iCloud
    Jul 21, 2016 10:40 AM in response to algor

    We would need more information to be able to even start an answer.

     

    Where are you seeing this discrepancy?

    What are the actual values that you are comparing and the names of the fields that are showing those values?

    Are you using iCloud Photo Library?

     

    GB

  • by algor,

    algor algor Jul 23, 2016 3:58 PM in response to gail from maine
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 23, 2016 3:58 PM in response to gail from maine

    Hi Gail,

     

    My desktop machine is a MacMini from late 2014, running the latest version

    10.11.6 of OS X El Capitan.  I have 8Gb of memory and a 1 Terabyte internal

    hard drive.

     

    I am running the latest version of Photos, 1.5 (370.42.0).

    I have ~13K photos.  Finder tells me that my Photo library

    (on my mac mini) has size 36.94GB.

     

    Last week I signed up for 50 GB of iCloud storage.  I set the preferences

    in Photo to

    1)  iCloud photo library:  checked, automatically upload my entire library

      to iCloud and

    2)  Download all originals to this Mac.

     

    It uploaded nicely overnight, and is accessible from my iPhone.

    When I log into iCloud through Safari, the Photo library has

    the same number of photos, ~13K.

     

    When I go to System Preferences -> iCloud -> manage ,

    it tells me that my photo library is 22.9GB.   Misc other items such as

    Backups are a few hundred MB, negligible. 

     

    So, the iCloud storage used for my photo library is ~23/37=62% compared

    to on my Mac.

     

    That seems like a big difference, so I was wondering if ‘something is wrong’?

     

    Thank you,

     

    == Allen

  • by Eric Root,Helpful

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 24, 2016 3:18 PM in response to algor
    Level 9 (69,850 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 24, 2016 3:18 PM in response to algor

    No. Not all data from Photos is uploaded. My Photos Library is 95.5 mb. iCloud shows the size as 52.4 mb.