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User profile for user: mani.de
mani.de Author
User level: Level 1
29 points

One Mac, one photo library, two accounts, local and remote

I have a large photo library on an external drive.

The library does not fit into the internal drive.

I want to use iCloud to be able to see my photos without the drive (and also be able to see all photos on the iPhone at any time), but I also want to keep storing ALL my photos on that external drive.


My idea:

  • Create two accounts on the Mac, but both using the same iCloud account
  • Turn on iCloud photo library to sync the photos from the external drive to iCloud
  • On one account use the external drive for photos and turn on "keep originals on this Mac"
  • On the other account use the internal drive for photos and turn OFF "keep originals on this Mac"


So with one account I can always see all photos without needing to plug in the external drive. This account is then my "normal" account.

The other account is used from time to time whenever I plug in the external drive, just to download the latest photos from iCloud and save them locally.


Has anyone tried this yet? Does it work? Anything special to keep in mind?

Can one account have the "keep originals on this Mac" turned on and the other turned off? Or will it be stored "iCloud wide" somehow, so it will not stick in each account or will the both accounts "conflict" on some other way with each other?


Thanksin advance for any real world experiences! (Not just guesses, please)


Posted on May 16, 2021 2:56 AM

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,921 points

Posted on May 16, 2021 8:50 AM

Hi - Yes, that will work, and that is actually one of the methods reccomended by Leonie in her user tip about backing up a photos library when you are using optimise mac storage.


By having a full copy of the library on an external drive on a second account, you are also able to log on to that account, allow it to sync with the latest version of your iCloud library, and then back it up using time machine.


See:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250001961

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,921 points

May 16, 2021 8:50 AM in response to mani.de

Hi - Yes, that will work, and that is actually one of the methods reccomended by Leonie in her user tip about backing up a photos library when you are using optimise mac storage.


By having a full copy of the library on an external drive on a second account, you are also able to log on to that account, allow it to sync with the latest version of your iCloud library, and then back it up using time machine.


See:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250001961

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One Mac, one photo library, two accounts, local and remote

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