Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: Alejandrorh_1403
Alejandrorh_1403 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

How to stop the photos app from downloading my photos?

Recently I purchased a MacBook air 2020 and have loved the experience so far, so much that I am planing to switch to an iPhone in a few weeks (I had to change my phone anyway.) Since Im switching to iOS I thought that maybe it'll be best to change my cloud service as-well, idk I just thought that an IPhone and a macbook would work better with icloud than with onedrive.


I started downloading my photos from my onedrive and uploading them to apple photos through the web app, it all worked fine, my photos were uploaded to apple photos, but then I realized that my the photos app was downloading the photos and now they are available offline, how do I fix this? Im not interested on having an offline copy of the hundreds of photos in my cloud. (and if I have an offline copy, there's no reason to pay icloud then, at least for me.)


I just want to be able to see my photos when Im online, there's no real reason or convenience for me to have them in my laptop as-well.

Posted on Dec 1, 2020 11:25 PM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply
User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
195,571 points

Posted on Dec 2, 2020 1:38 AM

 Im not interested on having an offline copy of the hundreds of photos in my cloud. (and if I have an offline copy, there's no reason to pay icloud then, at least for me.)

You could keep iCloud Photos enabled on your Mac, but just disable the checkmark "Download originals" and switch to "Optimise Mac Storage" in the "Photos > Preferences > iCloud". Then iCloud will remove some of the local copies of the high resolution originals automatically and replace them by smaller, optimised versions for browsing on your Mac, if your Mac needs storage for other things. The storage management to save storage with iCloud will be fully automatic and you should not have to worry about it, but you cannot control it either.

The photos and videos will still be kept in sync across all devices with iCloud Photos, but you can save a lot of storage on your Mac.

  • It has two drawbacks, however. You will have no access to your photos, if the network is down. So I would keep a copy of all photos on an external volume, just in case.
  • And it will be very difficult to keep a backup of your Photos Library. Once you use "Optimise Mac Storage" and many originals of your photos are only stored in iCloud, your Time Machine backup can no longer include the originals of the optimised photos. The Time Machine backup of your photos cannot save the originals, if they are only in iCloud. And your iPhone stopped backing up your photos and does no longer include them in your iCloud backup, the moment you enabled iCloud Photos on the iPhone. The iCloud backup of your iPhone does not include any items that are already stored in iCloud. without downloading your photos to a computer in some way you will have no backup of your photos at all. iCloud Photos does not suffice aa a backup. When you are working with the Photos.app you are modifying the photos in iCloud. If you accidentally delete a photo in Photos on any device, it will be deleted from iCloud as well. You cannot have photos only in iCloud without a backup, that will protect you from user errors.

Unfortunately, it is much harder to backup a Photos Library, if you enable Optimise Storage, because the photos will need downloading from iCloud. Some background reading on iCloud Photos, if you like:


View in context

Similar questions

7 replies
Question marked as Best reply
User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
195,571 points

Dec 2, 2020 1:38 AM in response to Alejandrorh_1403

 Im not interested on having an offline copy of the hundreds of photos in my cloud. (and if I have an offline copy, there's no reason to pay icloud then, at least for me.)

You could keep iCloud Photos enabled on your Mac, but just disable the checkmark "Download originals" and switch to "Optimise Mac Storage" in the "Photos > Preferences > iCloud". Then iCloud will remove some of the local copies of the high resolution originals automatically and replace them by smaller, optimised versions for browsing on your Mac, if your Mac needs storage for other things. The storage management to save storage with iCloud will be fully automatic and you should not have to worry about it, but you cannot control it either.

The photos and videos will still be kept in sync across all devices with iCloud Photos, but you can save a lot of storage on your Mac.

  • It has two drawbacks, however. You will have no access to your photos, if the network is down. So I would keep a copy of all photos on an external volume, just in case.
  • And it will be very difficult to keep a backup of your Photos Library. Once you use "Optimise Mac Storage" and many originals of your photos are only stored in iCloud, your Time Machine backup can no longer include the originals of the optimised photos. The Time Machine backup of your photos cannot save the originals, if they are only in iCloud. And your iPhone stopped backing up your photos and does no longer include them in your iCloud backup, the moment you enabled iCloud Photos on the iPhone. The iCloud backup of your iPhone does not include any items that are already stored in iCloud. without downloading your photos to a computer in some way you will have no backup of your photos at all. iCloud Photos does not suffice aa a backup. When you are working with the Photos.app you are modifying the photos in iCloud. If you accidentally delete a photo in Photos on any device, it will be deleted from iCloud as well. You cannot have photos only in iCloud without a backup, that will protect you from user errors.

Unfortunately, it is much harder to backup a Photos Library, if you enable Optimise Storage, because the photos will need downloading from iCloud. Some background reading on iCloud Photos, if you like:


Reply
User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,873 points

Dec 2, 2020 1:13 AM in response to Alejandrorh_1403

In the photos app, go to preferences, then in the iCloud tab uncheck iCloud photos


But if you do you are missing out on one of the main benefits of Apple photos and iCloud - and that is having identical libraries on all your devices. I can take shots when I'm out, on my phone, do a quick edit and post to facebook.


Then when I'm home if I have a really good image, I can do a more careful edit on the mac and have it printed, put in a book. Or post to other social media from the comfort of my home office.


I have a full size camera also, and the photos I take on that - import to my mac, and edit there, are also viewable online, and on my phone.


If I'm out and about for a few days, I can also use my iPad for photo viewing and editing rather than taking my macbook with me.


If you are worried about space on your macbook - just tell it (in icloud settings above) to optimise storage, and it will just keep small previews on your mac, only downloading a full sized image if you need it to view larger, edit or post.

Reply
User profile for user: Alejandrorh_1403
Alejandrorh_1403 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 2, 2020 5:08 AM in response to TonyCollinet

But this means that when I get the IPhone all my really old photos will also be available offline in the phone. I don't really need that much storage in my pc, I mainly use it for the university and streaming. But im planning on buying a 64gb IPhone, is there a way i can still see my photos online in the phone and that the new ones from the IPhone get uploaded to the cloud as-well?


I can tolerate having all my photos downloaded at my macbook, but I don't know if my phone's storage is going to be enough. I'm talking about all the photos I have ever taken in my life 😂😂😂😂

Reply
User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
195,571 points

Dec 2, 2020 6:04 AM in response to Alejandrorh_1403

How many photos do you have? if you enable iCloud Photos and "Optimise iPhone Storage" on the iPhone, the optimised versions of the iCloud photos on your iPhone will take up at least 10% of the storage of the full sized versions. This is an estimate. It depends on the format and size of the original image files and videos. For example, if the original image files in iCloud are taking up 200GB, they may need 20GB on your iPhone, perhaps more. I had no problem with an iPhone 5s with 64GB and 250GB iCloud Photos Library and a large iTunes Library.


Reply
User profile for user: Alejandrorh_1403
Alejandrorh_1403 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 2, 2020 7:46 PM in response to Alejandrorh_1403

I found a solution that works for me, I only uploaded to photos the most recent photos and the really important ones to me; the other ones I uploaded them to icloud directly (not photos but the cloud), the photos app isnt reading the photos directly in the cloud, that was the plan since the beginning so Im happy with this outcome. When I get the Iphone im going to try not to use optimise storage, I will only turn it on if i need the storage down the line.


Im going to try this because it was a pain to open onedrive just to download one photo when i needed it, so having an offline copy of the important ones may work for me.

Reply

How to stop the photos app from downloading my photos?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.
Learn more Sign up