I understand that the Apple Photos library is in iCloud. What is the status of other files inside the Pictures folder? Are they only stored locally on the hard drive or are they also in iCloud? They appear to be only stored on the hard drive.
iMac 27″, macOS 12.2
Depends on whether you have enabled iCloud Photos (see below). If enabled, Photos are accessible on all Apple devices sharing the same AppleID. It is also possible to create shared albums using Photos (and even make them publicly accessible).
Local photos can easily be added to your Photos library (by dragging the files or folders to the Photos window or by using the Import command).
Thank you both for replying! From your responses I now believe that photos that I’ve imported into the Apple Photo library are the only ones included in iCloud. Any other files within the Pictures folder are only stored on the local hard drive.
OS X Pictures Folder and iCloud
