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Deleting photos from iCloud but keeping in Photos library on MacBook

Hello. I currently have my iPhone, iPad and MacBook synced to iCloud for photo sharing. I am running out of space on the cloud and would like to delete pictures from there but still have them accessible through the Photos app on my MacBook. Space on my MacBook is not an issue. Is there a way to do this? Thanks!

Posted on Sep 1, 2019 8:58 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 1, 2019 10:38 AM

You could create a second Photos Library on your Mac. Only one library at a time can sync with iCloud and store the photos in iCloud. Export the photos that you want to remove from iCloud to a folder on your Mac, then import them to another library and delete them from your Cloud Photos library.

This link explains how to create additional photo libraries and to switch between them:

Create additional photo libraries in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 1, 2019 10:38 AM in response to karen_gojets

You could create a second Photos Library on your Mac. Only one library at a time can sync with iCloud and store the photos in iCloud. Export the photos that you want to remove from iCloud to a folder on your Mac, then import them to another library and delete them from your Cloud Photos library.

This link explains how to create additional photo libraries and to switch between them:

Create additional photo libraries in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

Deleting photos from iCloud but keeping in Photos library on MacBook

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