HT204264: iCloud Photo Library

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lunarstandstill

Q: Will deleting the contents of "Photos Library" on the Mac effect photos in iCloud?

Will deleting the contents of "Photos Library" on the Mac effect photos in iCloud? My photos stopped uploading to iCloud because my Mac ran out of storage. "Photos Library" on the Mac is taking all the storage. I'm moving photos from an external hard drive to the Mac Photos App then uploading to iCloud.

OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), null

Posted on Aug 2, 2016 5:55 PM

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Q: Will deleting the contents of "Photos Library" on the Mac effect photos in iCloud?

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  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 2, 2016 5:59 PM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 9 (50,216 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 2, 2016 5:59 PM in response to lunarstandstill

    Deleting the contents of the Photo Library on your Mac will also delete the content of the Photo Library on iCloud, because they are the same thing

  • by lunarstandstill,

    lunarstandstill lunarstandstill Aug 2, 2016 6:12 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 2, 2016 6:12 PM in response to Csound1

    So when it comes to Photos, my MAC dictates the capacity of the iCloud?

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 2, 2016 6:15 PM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 9 (50,216 points)
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    Aug 2, 2016 6:15 PM in response to lunarstandstill

    It does if you are downloading originals but not if you choose Optimize Storage

  • by lunarstandstill,

    lunarstandstill lunarstandstill Aug 2, 2016 6:37 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 2, 2016 6:37 PM in response to Csound1

    Thank you.

     

    What do you suggest I do now? I have 2 problems.

     

    1) My MAC is full (Photos Library using 100% of my storage). I still have 10G's of photos I need to get to the iCloud from the external hard drive.

     

    2) I want my MAC storage back that Photos Library is using. But don't want to lose what I've already uploaded to the iCloud.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 2, 2016 6:40 PM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 9 (50,216 points)
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    Aug 2, 2016 6:40 PM in response to lunarstandstill

    Then stop using a synchronized library, turn it off and upload photos to the iCloud Drive using a web browser

  • by lunarstandstill,

    lunarstandstill lunarstandstill Aug 2, 2016 6:46 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 2, 2016 6:46 PM in response to Csound1

    When you refer to turning on/off "synchronized library" is that the same thing as "Download Originals to this Mac" and "Optimize Mac Storage" in iCloud preferences? "Download" being "on" and "Optimize" being "off"

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 2, 2016 6:55 PM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 9 (50,216 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 2, 2016 6:55 PM in response to lunarstandstill

    Not at all, you would be disconnecting the library from your Mac completely, no photos would be uploaded, and no deletions would be replicated. You can manually download the photos and put them wherever you want.

  • by lunarstandstill,

    lunarstandstill lunarstandstill Aug 2, 2016 7:08 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 2, 2016 7:08 PM in response to Csound1

    I'm confused.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 2, 2016 7:13 PM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 9 (50,216 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 2, 2016 7:13 PM in response to lunarstandstill

    OK, if you turn the iCloud Photo Library off it will no longer stay synchronized to your Mac. it won't repeat deletes or additions. But you will no longer be able to see it (except in a web browser at www.icloud.com). It will be independent, you will have use a browser to add or delete photos, which won't affect your Mac at all.

  • by lunarstandstill,

    lunarstandstill lunarstandstill Aug 2, 2016 7:45 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 2, 2016 7:45 PM in response to Csound1

    That I understand and I want that for my iphone and mac. I don't want to download them, just view them. I don't want to store them anywhere but the iCloud. and so far its been great!

     

    What I don't understand is, I've up loaded photos to iCloud to avoid using my MAC storage. But for some reason by doing so, my MAC is now out of storage mainly due to the Photos Library.

     

    Everything I see on my MAC PHOTOS is also visible in iCloud PHOTOS. So I should be able to free up the storage on my MAC without disrupting what I have already uploaded to iCloud PHOTOS. But you're telling me, no. If I delete the MAC Photos Library, it will delete what I have already uploaded to iCloud Photos. Which completely defeats the purpose of the iCloud.

     

    I understand that I can continue to upload via iCloud.com into iCloud Photos. But I still have to free up the space on my MAC. I'm guessing the only option is delete MAC Photo Library and get back the 75 GIGS and completely start over uploading via iCloud.com. Which blows, I've spent days uploading and organizing 20,000 photos.

     

    There's got to be another way.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 3, 2016 6:38 AM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 9 (50,216 points)
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    Aug 3, 2016 6:38 AM in response to lunarstandstill

    As the photo library is a sync service rather than storage it is doing exactly what it should. If you don't want a sync service, why are you using it.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 3, 2016 6:48 AM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 9 (50,216 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 3, 2016 6:48 AM in response to lunarstandstill

    lunarstandstill wrote:

     

     

    There's got to be another way.

    Use a different service, one that does not synchronize.

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Aug 3, 2016 8:30 AM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 5 (4,537 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 3, 2016 8:30 AM in response to lunarstandstill

    There's got to be another way.

     

    Yes there are.

     

    As noted, iCloud is primarily a service that syncs your photos between multiple devices.

     

    It sounds like you want off-device cloud storage.

     

    I suggest you Google just that...

     

    "off device cloud photo storage"

  • by Eric Root,Solvedanswer

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 3, 2016 12:37 PM in response to lunarstandstill
    Level 9 (69,850 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 3, 2016 12:37 PM in response to lunarstandstill

    Try moving your Photos Library to the external drive. Article is for iPhoto, but the procedure is the same.

     

    iPhoto: Move your iPhoto library to a new location

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