Photos on iCloud iPhone and Mac

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Level 1

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Photos on iCloud iPhone and Mac

What is the best way to set up photos and iCloud on my devices so that pictures are transferred to mac and can be deleted from iPhone but stored on Mac?

Posted on Apr 17, 2022 3:38 AM

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Answer 1

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muguy

Level 10

83,167 points

Apr 17, 2022 8:11 AM in response to bluegreysky

Nothing has changed in the functionality as to how iCloud works or photo stream. Learn more at About iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream - Apple Support

If your Mac is not using iCloud, but your devices are, anything you delete on a device (except for your Mac) or in iCloud will delete on all devices and iCloud (again, except for the Mac as iCloud is not enabled). You likely have some combination of photo stream and iCloud photos working on the devices.

Videos will upload to iCloud too, but it may take some time, only if you have iCloud photos enabled.

3.6 GB sounds about right for the number of photos and videos that you have. I have 13,000+ pictures and about 1,000 videos and my library is around 125GB.

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Answer 2

muguy

Level 10

83,167 points

Apr 17, 2022 4:07 AM in response to bluegreysky

If you enable iCloud photos, all photos will be on all devices and in the cloud. Deleting in any one location will delete everywhere.

If you wish to retain your images on a Mac, you can either enable iCloud to make an initial sync and then disable iCloud. Or, sync your devices with your Mac individually.

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Answer 3

bluegreysky Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 17, 2022 8:05 AM in response to bluegreysky

This seems to be an historic mess. It all used to work seamlessly, photos taken on phone moved to mac and iPad and stored on mac. Photos taken on phone and deleted weren't deleted on Mac. Videos taken on phone now don't seem to go any other device or app since summer.

If my mac is not using iCloud if I delete a photo on my phone or iPad will it delete from iCloud but not my Mac?

At the moment my situation is: Photo app on My mac is not using iCloud. iCloud photos on my phone is ticked green. My videos don't seem to be stored anywhere other than on phone photo app where they have been recorded and don't store anywhere. I've no idea what iMovie or clips is for as nothing loads into these apps. Photos only appear on my iPad if I save manually from an app or take them using iPad? iCloud photos is not ticked across on my iPad but Photo Stream is.

I only have 678 photos and 56 videos (most under 20 secs) but its taking up 3.6 GB!

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Answer 4

bluegreysky Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 17, 2022 10:01 AM in response to muguy

Thank you for your answer - Thats reassuring to know. I'm transferring video to mac to free up space on phone and iCloud.

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Photos on iCloud iPhone and Mac

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