Photos will not download originals

Have you signed out of the first user account while trying to download the library from the second user account? It might speed up things. Downloading all photos takes a lot of patience. Try to force the download by using the photos, for example by exporting the originals in small groups, no more than 1000 at a time. The option “download an keep the originals” does not necessarily mean that the photos will be downloaded instantly. It mans that Photos keeps the downloaded files and not removes them again when we are using photos. One thing you might want to check - make sure, Photos is syncing with the correct library on your external volume. If it is loosing the connection to the external drive it might start using a new library in your Pictures folder instead. You can see the path to the currently opened library in the Photos Preferences General.

Hi lydhvin,

Thank you for posting in Apple Support Communities! To download your Photos to your Mac from iCloud, you'll want to follow the steps listed here: Download photos to your Mac from iCloud.

Hope that helps!

( 1) Create a new admin account in users and groups .

( 2 ) Log out primary account from apple logo and then sign in with second admin account .

( 3 ) Click on continue .

( 4 ) Don’t sign in with your existing Apple ID and password , click on set up later .

( 5 ) A pop up window appears are you sure you want to skip signing in with an Apple ID ? An Apple ID is used to automatically set up the iTunes Store , App Store , iCloud and , more .

( a ) don’t skip ( b ) skip , click on skip 

( 6 ) The box of enable ask Siri is checked by default , click on continue .

( 7 ) Choose your look ( a ) light ( b ) dark click the desired option and click on continue .

( 8 ) Setting up your Mac ( three right check marks will appear ) .

( 9 ) Click on system preferences > accessibility > mouse and trackpad > trackpad options , check the box of enable dragging with three fingers drag and click on ok .

( 10 ) Click on Go > Computer > Macintosh HD > Users > click on primary admin account > Downloads , select the photos , copy them ( use command and C keys ) and drag and drop over the desktop .

( 11 ) Open photo application and click on get started again drag and drop each photo from the desktop into the application .

Another method is to transfer photos between two admin accounts in a Mac .

Click on finder > Go > home > your user name > pictures > Photos Library.photoslibrary just right click on it and click on show package contents > click on masters folder ( in new version the name will be different ) to get selected , copy the complete master folder ( use command and C keys ) , again close the finder window , click on Go > Home >( paste use command and V keys ) over the shared folder .

Photos can’t be transferred directly from iCloud to an external hard drive for that you need to set up iCloud photo library see the article Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

And its preferences Change preferences in Photos on Mac - Apple Support  , open finder > Go > home > your user name > pictures either drag and drop Photos Library.photoslibrary to an external hard drive , the second method is right click on Photos Library.photoslibrary and click on show package contents in the upcoming column , you can also drag and drop complete masters folder to an external hard drive that is connected .

Also as per the article Back up the library in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

• Manually copy your library to an external storage device: Drag the Photos library (by default in the Pictures folder on your Mac) to your storage device to create a copy.

There are two photo libraries in finder location , you have dragged and dropped one of them to an external hard drive , rather you designate one photo library .

Then you are dragging and dropping photos from second photo library to an external hard drive .

Another method .

See this thread for merging two photo libraries How to restore photolibrary from Icloud,

A second method is export photos from system photo library to a desired location say download folder in finder and connect an external hard drive to the Mac , then transfer the photos from download folders into the external hard drive , hence all your photo data is saved .

You can select few photos see this article Select and deselect photos in Photos on Mac - Apple Support and drag and drop to the desktop screen , then again open photo application , again upload yo the photo library folder ( drag and drop ) .

You are welcome ☺️ . It is nice to see that someone actually read my user tip and tried to use it.

.I love iCloud Photos as an off-site storage and to keep my devices in sync, but it is a pity, that there is no easy way to backup our iCloud Photos Library, if we use the Optimise feature.