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User profile for user: bitic9
bitic9 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

How to take icloud photos and put on external hard drive?

I have ~110 GB of photos on icloud Photos and want to back them up onto an external hard drive and then remove them from icloud entirely to make more space.

I have been able to make more space on icloud Drive by shuffling files over on the Finder window but because all my photos are on the cloud, if I visit my Photo Library on the Finder window, it says there's is only 5 GB there (I'm guessing because they're being stored on the could). If I manage my storage, and click "Disable and Delete" my Photos Library from icloud, I'm concerned there won't be sufficient space on my Macbook Air, or I will lose all these photos/videos. Please help!

MacBook Air 11", macOS 10.13

Posted on May 5, 2019 1:54 AM

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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
197,705 points

Posted on May 5, 2019 2:56 AM

Yes, the library you are currently using seems to be highly optimized and only contain thumbnails of your photos. You have to download the photos from iCloud before you turn off iCloud Photos.


Try the following:

If you want to save all photos, but not the library organization,

  • Open Photos on your Mac.
  • Create a new folder on your external drive.
  • Select all photos in Photos, then use the command "File > Export > Export unmodified Originals". Click Export IPTC as XPM. This will create sidecar files with the metadata (Titles, keywords, locations). Also enables "Subfolder format 'Moment Name'. Then the photos will behaved to folders named by the date and the location.
  • Select the new folder on your external drive as the destination.
  • If you want to save the edited versions as well, repeat the export with"File > Export > Export ... Photos" to save copies of the edited versions. Click the "v" to the right of "Photo Kind: JPEG" to select the original size and a high quality. Otherwise you will get only downsized versions.


Alternately, to save a complete photos library with all albums:

  • Copy your Photos Library to the external drive. The optimized photos will be incomplete. So you will have to enable the copy of the library as your iCloud Photos Library and let it sync with iCloud, with the "Optimize Storage" option off.
  • Double click the copy to open it in Photos. Enable "Photos > Preferences > General: Use as System Photo Library.
  • Enable "Photos > Preferences > iCloud: iCloud Photos"; disable "Optimize Storage"
  • Let it sync with iCloud and download all photos. It may take a week or so for a full sync. Once you have a full version of your library on your external drive, you can switch back to the version on the internal drive and use the library on your system drive again as your iCloud Photos Library. Or continue to work with Photos from the external drive.


This document explains how to prepare an external drive to be used with Photos for Mac. It needs to be locally mounted and formatted correctly:

See: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
197,705 points

May 5, 2019 2:56 AM in response to bitic9

Yes, the library you are currently using seems to be highly optimized and only contain thumbnails of your photos. You have to download the photos from iCloud before you turn off iCloud Photos.


Try the following:

If you want to save all photos, but not the library organization,

  • Open Photos on your Mac.
  • Create a new folder on your external drive.
  • Select all photos in Photos, then use the command "File > Export > Export unmodified Originals". Click Export IPTC as XPM. This will create sidecar files with the metadata (Titles, keywords, locations). Also enables "Subfolder format 'Moment Name'. Then the photos will behaved to folders named by the date and the location.
  • Select the new folder on your external drive as the destination.
  • If you want to save the edited versions as well, repeat the export with"File > Export > Export ... Photos" to save copies of the edited versions. Click the "v" to the right of "Photo Kind: JPEG" to select the original size and a high quality. Otherwise you will get only downsized versions.


Alternately, to save a complete photos library with all albums:

  • Copy your Photos Library to the external drive. The optimized photos will be incomplete. So you will have to enable the copy of the library as your iCloud Photos Library and let it sync with iCloud, with the "Optimize Storage" option off.
  • Double click the copy to open it in Photos. Enable "Photos > Preferences > General: Use as System Photo Library.
  • Enable "Photos > Preferences > iCloud: iCloud Photos"; disable "Optimize Storage"
  • Let it sync with iCloud and download all photos. It may take a week or so for a full sync. Once you have a full version of your library on your external drive, you can switch back to the version on the internal drive and use the library on your system drive again as your iCloud Photos Library. Or continue to work with Photos from the external drive.


This document explains how to prepare an external drive to be used with Photos for Mac. It needs to be locally mounted and formatted correctly:

See: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

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How to take icloud photos and put on external hard drive?

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