iCloud photo issue

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Level 1

8 points

iCloud photo issue

Why does my MacBook Photo app contain more photos than my iPhone and iCloud.....even though all three are connected to iCloud?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Feb 22, 2021 3:41 PM

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Answer 1

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JetCarPilot Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 24, 2021 4:13 PM in response to mingoslkd

Thanks for the reply. I do have the latest software/IOS on my devices. My iPad and iPhone are current and my MacBook Pro is running the latest as well. My iOS devices were remaining current with the online iCloud photos (around 15,000 photos) but my MacBook was nearing 60,000 photos. I am not sure why the MacBook wasn't pushing a bunch of the photos to the cloud. It would push/receive the current photos - just not older ones.

I have removed all photos from all devices onto an external hard drive. I am running them through Lightroom to weed out any duplicates. After I have freshened up the batch, I am going to reload onto my MacBook and see if they will all push to the cloud.

On a different subject, do you know if Apple has any plans to include duplicate screening into the Photos app? It would surely be helpful.

Thanks again for the reply. I will provide a progress check once I have updated back onto my MacBook photos app.

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Answer 2

mingoslkd

Community Specialist

Feb 24, 2021 12:38 PM in response to JetCarPilot

Howdy JetCarPilot,

It's great to have you in the Apple Support Community. We understand that you can see more photos in the Photos app on your Mac than you can on your iPhone or when visiting iCloud.com. We’re happy to provide some guidance.

Using your Mac, go to System Preferences > Apple ID. Click iCloud in the sidebar, then select Photos. If you have an earlier version of macOS, go to System Preferences > iCloud. Click Options next to Photos, then select iCloud Photos. Which options are selected here?

If you’re using iCloud Photos on all of your devices, the photos will upload to iCloud and download to your devices. It’s also possible that your Mac may have photos that can’t upload to iCloud. If that’s the case, it could explain why more photos would show up there.

If iCloud Photos isn’t selected and only My Photo Stream is enabled, it will transfer new photos from your devices to the other devices, but you may not see all of your photos. Photos in My Photo Stream are saved on the iCloud server for 30 days. After that, the photos are removed from iCloud.

My Photo Stream

If you're missing photos or videos in the Photos app

About iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream

Keep us posted!

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iCloud photo issue

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