Photos / iCloud somehow switched itself on — how do turn it off correctly?

Question

Photos / iCloud somehow switched itself on — how do turn it off correctly?

So.......at some point in the last week maybe, either my iCloud or Photos App somehow turned on the Photos checkmark in the System Preferences iCloud settings — something I would never even do under general anaesthesia. I just discovered this in the Photos app, telling me that 100,000 items out of 350,000 already uploaded. I pushed pause on that upload — but now what? When I switch it off in Sys Prefs, it tells me:

"If you turn off iCloud Photos, photos and videos that have not been fully downloaded will be removed from this Mac. These items will still be available on other devices using iCloud. To ensure all items are on this device, allow the update to finish before turning this off."

So...... I apparently now have to download all the photos that were supposed to be and stay on my Mac and should never have been uploaded in the first place. This makes me very nervous (and is exactly the kind of weird message I have come to expect from the iCloud/Photos interface.

I am letting the download happen, but if anyone has any other advice to make sure I get all my full-size original photos back, I'd be ever so grateful.

I am running OS 12.2.1 on a 2021 iMac.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Feb 25, 2022 10:48 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

194,331 points

Feb 25, 2022 10:33 PM in response to Blond James Blond

Did you just install a system update? If you have subscribed to an iCloud storage plan, iCloud Photos may become enabled by default after a major system upgrade. And usually the checkmark "Optimize Mac Storage" will also be enabled.

The first thing to do is to ensure, that the option "Download originals to this Mac" is enabled in the Photos > Preferences > iCloud. Then wait, until the status bar below "All Photos" is showing "Updated just now" and no longer "Downloading". This does not suffice, however. Photos is dragging ts feet about downloading the originals, even if "Download originals to this Mac" is enabled. I have frequently discovered that some originals had not yet been downloaded, because I have not used these particular images in a long time. we can only force Photos to download the images by using them.

Before you disable iCloud Photos again, check, if really all photos have been downloaded. The safest way to check this is to copy the Photos Library to an external volume. The external volume needs to be prepared as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

Just copy the library to the volume, so you can test if it is complete. Keep the original library on your internal drive.

To check, if the copy is complete, quit Photos, if it is running. Double click the copy on the external volume to open it in Photos. if you are seeing a warning, that "incomplete versions will be removed", the download from iCloud has not yet finished. Quit Photos again, then switch back to the library on the internal drive. Do not yet disable iCloud Photos.

To force a download from iCloud you could export all photos to a folder on the external drive.

Select groups of roughly 1000 photos in Photos.
Use the command "File > Export > Export unmodified originals" and save the selected photos to a folder on the external volume. Repeat, until all photos have been exported.

After this, try again to copy the library and check, if you still are getting warnings about incomplete versions.

You may want to keep the copy of the library and the exported originals as an additional backup, until you are sure, that the library has successfully been disconnected from iCloud and your Time Machine backups are again complete.

Reply

Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

194,331 points

Feb 25, 2022 10:35 PM in response to léonie

Did you just install a system update? If you have subscribed to an iCloud storage plan, iCloud Photos may become enabled by default after a major system upgrade. And usually the checkmark "Optimize Mac Storage" will also be enabled.

The first thing to do is to ensure, that the option "Download originals to this Mac" is enabled in the Photos > Preferences > iCloud. Then wait, until the status bar below "All Photos" is showing "Updated just now" and no longer "Downloading". This does not suffice, however. Photos is dragging ts feet about downloading the originals, even if "Download originals to this Mac" is enabled. I have frequently discovered that some originals had not yet been downloaded, because I have not used these particular images in a long time. We can only force Photos to download the images by using them.

Before you disable iCloud Photos again, check, if really all photos have been downloaded. The safest way to check this is to copy the Photos Library to an external volume. The external volume needs to be prepared as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

Just copy the library to the volume, so you can test if it is complete. Keep the original library on your internal drive.

To check, if the copy is complete, quit Photos, if it is running. Double click the copy on the external volume to open it in Photos. if you are seeing a warning, that "incomplete versions will be removed", the download from iCloud has not yet finished. Quit Photos again, then switch back to the library on the internal drive. Do not yet disable iCloud Photos.

To force a download from iCloud you could export all photos to a folder on the external drive.

Select groups of roughly 1000 photos in Photos.
Use the command "File > Export > Export unmodified originals" and save the selected photos to a folder on the external volume. Repeat, until all photos have been exported.

After this, try again to copy the library and check, if you still are getting warnings about incomplete versions.

You may want to keep the copy of the library and the exported originals as an additional backup, until you are sure, that the library has successfully been disconnected from iCloud and your Time Machine backups are again complete.

Reply