You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Finding a file in iCloud Drive which I can view in Photos

I have many thousands of photos stored in iCloud Drive which I am able to view in the Photos application on my Mac.


If I select a photo within the app and use 'Get Info' to obtain the filename, a search with Finder using that filename, across both 'This Mac' and 'iCloud Drive' produces no results. This is not an issue with the file itself, I get the same result (i.e. none at all) using other file names also.


In Windows the function 'Show in folder' exists for files, is there anything within the Photos app that would tell me the location of where this image is being displayed from?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 13, 2022 2:47 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 13, 2022 5:47 AM

Lets assume that you did not activate "Optimise Mac Storage" and all original photos are on your MacBook.


Here a way to see where these files are.

Warning do never ever change anything in these folders, if you change, delete, move or do something by hand in these folders you will risk that you loose all your photos!!

Everything you do here is at your own risk and nobody can help you when it is no longer working!!

You would have to restore your MacBook from a Time Machine Backup!!


Your photos library is normally stored in a folder called Pictures, use finder and go to this folder.

As soon as you mark the file and do a right click on your mouse you will see this menu.


As soon as you select "Show Package Contents" you should see this structure.

Open the folder originals, there you will see the files.

Apple will give them new names and add them to some folders, but they have nothing to do with the names that you gave them. Therefore you really have no benefit of seeing them.


The risky part will start in these folders !!


Similar questions

7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 13, 2022 5:47 AM in response to confused_icloud_user

Lets assume that you did not activate "Optimise Mac Storage" and all original photos are on your MacBook.


Here a way to see where these files are.

Warning do never ever change anything in these folders, if you change, delete, move or do something by hand in these folders you will risk that you loose all your photos!!

Everything you do here is at your own risk and nobody can help you when it is no longer working!!

You would have to restore your MacBook from a Time Machine Backup!!


Your photos library is normally stored in a folder called Pictures, use finder and go to this folder.

As soon as you mark the file and do a right click on your mouse you will see this menu.


As soon as you select "Show Package Contents" you should see this structure.

Open the folder originals, there you will see the files.

Apple will give them new names and add them to some folders, but they have nothing to do with the names that you gave them. Therefore you really have no benefit of seeing them.


The risky part will start in these folders !!


Jun 13, 2022 6:36 AM in response to confused_icloud_user

One more thing - you mentioned iCloud Drive. Even if you are using iCloud Photos, the Photos Library is not on iCloud Drive. The local copy of your Photos Library must not be placed into a synced folder, neither iCloud Drive, a DropBox or Google Drive, or similar. The syncing would damage the Photos Library. If move the Photos Library to iCloud Drive, the most recent system versions will not even try to sync the library with iCloud Drive. It will show a crossed out cloud badge in the Finder.



If you want to see where a certain photo is stored inside the library, you could use PowerPhotos to find it for you.

When you launch the free trial version of PowerPhotos, it will show you your Photos Library in a separate window, and when you select a photo there, you will see the path to the original and the edited version in the Info. This is useful, in the rare case, that an image file is in an incompatible format or Photos cannot open it for other reasons. Then you can fin the original and check, if other applications can open it or convert it to a more compatible format. I am using PowerPhotos a lot, just for the ability to have a second window for my Photos Library, and to see more metadata for the photos.



Jun 13, 2022 3:46 AM in response to Ralf-F

Thanks, this video was interesting but unfortunately dwells on external drives and not iCloud Drive.


If I have a file (which I believe to be stored in iCloud Drive), and I have selected 'Optimise Mac Storage' within the Photos App, presumably the original file still resides somewhere in iCloud Drive? Or am I correct in saying this, yes it is in iCloud Drive, but there is no way of determining from within Photos where it is precisely?

Jun 13, 2022 4:17 AM in response to confused_icloud_user

All photos will always be in their original format / quality on the iCloud, as long as you have it activated and you have space in the iCloud.

This is independent of your input for "Optimise Mac Storage".


As soon as you select "Optimise Mac Storage" you will allow the MacBook to store photos in lower quality on the local hard drive of the MacBook.

System will automatically decide if there is sufficient space to have the original photos also on the MacBook, it it things there is not sufficient space it will replace the local copy with lower resolution/quality.

Unfortunately there is no description how much space is needed before MacBook will replace the originals on the local drive.


Jun 13, 2022 5:15 AM in response to Ralf-F

Thank you Ralf, this is really useful, I had wondered if there is a 'magic number' which determines whether the original or a lower resolution image are stored - it appears not, or at least not publicly!


So going back to my previous question, am I correct in thinking that there is no way from the Photos app of determining where (which folder) the original image is located? Appreciate your help here I have not been able to find anything on the internet

Finding a file in iCloud Drive which I can view in Photos

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.