A forum member asked this question a year ago, and the answer doesn't cover all of the question. Why does my macOS Monterey (on my iMac M1) show storage usage for Photos (high) when all of my photos should be on iCloud?
Note that all of my devices are synced to optimize and synced to iCloud.
iCloud is only a Conduit to have files on iCloud so when changes are made on one device, they are uploaded to iCloud.
The changes are reflected to all other Drives using the Same Apple ID
iCloud was not designed nor intended to be used to Off Load Data to save Space on the Internal Drive. That specific function is best left to some Third Party Cloud based Service to actually Store Data and or an External Drive
Further and in specific situations where Internet Connections are not available, copies of these same files do reside on the Internal Drive.
This will allow the user to work on the Local Files and once Internet Connection is established, the Changes to the files(s) will be uploaded to iCloud.
iCloud is only a Conduit to have files on iCloud so when changes are made on one device, they are uploaded to iCloud.
The changes are reflected to all other Drives using the Same Apple ID
iCloud was not designed nor intended to be used to Off Load Data to save Space on the Internal Drive. That specific function is best left to some Third Party Cloud based Service to actually Store Data and or an External Drive
Further and in specific situations where Internet Connections are not available, copies of these same files do reside on the Internal Drive.
This will allow the user to work on the Local Files and once Internet Connection is established, the Changes to the files(s) will be uploaded to iCloud.
iCloud is not a cloud-only storage solution, it is meant to sync all your photos (and other stuff) across all your Apple devices, usually taking up there there same space as in iCloud.
And yes, 4 GB is way too low to even operate macOS properly, the rule thumb is around 15 % free space, but unfortunately macOS does not warn you. Having too low storage space on your Mac might result in strange effects, so I would recommend trying to free up some space (Free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support) or get an external hard drive to move some data over.
The settings for optimised synching says that only in case of low storage capacity on your Mac (or every other Apple device), the photos get replaced with low-res versions. If you have plenty of storage left, the original photos are still loaded on your Mac.
HI again, yes and no. They are related because the overall issue is storage; however, Photos and how it works doesn't directly impact System Data taking up so much space. I just finished talking to an Apple level two tech person who confirmed what I thought about Photos; that it's normal for some of my Photos to be kept on my iMac and the rest be in iCloud. I mentioned that the optimization isn't working so well if it doesn't see the need to move more files (like Photos) over to iCloud (with LOADS of space) when I only have 7 G left on my storage and can't update with an Apple update to be able to connect my iPhone (USB) to my iMac.
However, he did confirm for the other question (which I'll answer on the other post) that my System Data level is abnormal.
Thanks! About a year ago this would have been so useful to me; alas, that was done and they are all synced with the iCloud Master (sorry, I need to laugh a bit) the count of photos and videos is pretty close (only off by one or two photos, which the rep and I checked) and only the iMac has a somewhat high retention of my Photos. My iPhone, iPad, and Macbook Air (circa mid-2014) are fine.
BUT, I definitely will keep that page bookmarked!
Thank you, and yes, this is why I've been cleaning up files ALL afternoon. I really don't have a lot of files (docs 2 G and Mail 15G) or apps (33G). But Photos is 33G and Systme Data is now down to 73G (but still way to high). P. Phillips gave me some good articles on the other post he asked me about concerning System Data. And since I've been this route before, I know where to look for a lot of other files, except this time my Photos storage is high in addition to the System Data. So I was hoping to find a way to possibly force Photos to move over more photos to iCloud (which I believe is answer is, "No" to my chagrin).
Now that is not at all what the two Apple reps said about iCloud (at least concerning moving files to iCloud). I did that today as well; I moved all of my downloaded files (which have a few large image PDF's) over to iCloud. Somehow, I believe you more than them based on the evolution iCloud went through, and I am now wondering about that move.
System Storage Taking Up Way Too Much Spa… - Apple Community
Are the two directly connected
Another similar question over here ----- >>
Local storage space - Apple Community
If I pay Apple to have 2TB of iCloud space, how is it not to be used to store my files and photos? Are you saying if only uses that space when your entire local storage is completely full???
Well, if you have 4 GB left and need to update with an Apple update is that not low enough?
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Why are all my photos not on my iCloud? Or rather, why is my Photos Library file so large?
