iCloud photos

Will uploading photos to iCloud photos find and erase duplicate photos?


Will folders on iMac photos app be found on all devices after upload?


After iCloud photo upload, can you designate which folders or photos should be allowed on a specific device?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Aug 5, 2020 8:26 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 5, 2020 8:44 AM

re: Will uploading photos to iCloud photos find and erase duplicate photos?

No


re: Will folders on iMac photos app be found on all devices after upload?

Yes (all devices where iCloud Photos is turned on)


re: After iCloud photo upload, can you designate which folders or photos should be allowed on a specific device?

No. All photos and folders will sync to all devices where iCloud Photos is turned on. You can potentially reduce the space needed by turning on the Optimize storage option in selected or all devices. See: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 5, 2020 8:44 AM in response to rwhdpm

re: Will uploading photos to iCloud photos find and erase duplicate photos?

No


re: Will folders on iMac photos app be found on all devices after upload?

Yes (all devices where iCloud Photos is turned on)


re: After iCloud photo upload, can you designate which folders or photos should be allowed on a specific device?

No. All photos and folders will sync to all devices where iCloud Photos is turned on. You can potentially reduce the space needed by turning on the Optimize storage option in selected or all devices. See: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

Aug 5, 2020 11:20 AM in response to rwhdpm

The upload into iCloud Photos is very slow, because Photos is not just uploading the photos. It is comparing the uploaded photos and videos to the photo already in your library and saving conflicts between duplicates. It is essentially merging the new upload into the existing library.


Smart albums are also uploaded into iCloud Photos Library, but you will only see them on other Macs, not on an iPhone or iPad, because these devices do not support smart albums.

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iCloud photos

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