Moving photos from OneDrive to ICloud

Hello,

1) I don't know if OneDrive has an equivalent service (I tried to find it on Microsoft's Support site) but if things were going from iCloud to OneDrive I would recommend checking out privacy.apple.com "Transfer a copy of your data You can transfer a copy of your data to another participating service. This option is currently available for your iCloud photos and videos." I think at the very least it's worth contacting Microsoft Support to find out if they have a similar process to make this easier for you.

I am not sure if their Folders would automatically become Albums with iCloud Photos but assume the two are very similar. Projects are more for sharing of photos. You can integrate apps into Photos to create scrapbooks, flyers, invitations, etc as "Projects"

What are albums in Photos on Mac? - Apple Support

"An album is a collection of photos and video clips. Photos creates some albums for you, and you can create as many albums as you want to organize your photos the way you like. You can place photos in more than one album. You can also create Smart Albums, which automatically gather photos for you based on criteria you specify—such as keywords or locations. You can organize your albums by placing them in folders.

Albums appear in the sidebar; select one to see its contents in the window to the right. To see the albums in a folder (such as the My Albums folder), click the arrow next to the folder. Or, simply select the folder name, and the albums in it appear in the window to the right. Double-click an album to open it."

Create projects using third-party apps in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

"Create projects using third-party apps in Photos on Mac

You can use third-party apps to create and print photo books, cards, calendars, framed prints, and more. You can download apps that work with Photos from the App Store. As new photo editing or print project apps appear, you can add them to Photos and take advantage of their special features. You can order prints and copies of print projects using apps like Motif, Mimeo Photos, and WhiteWall. Prices vary depending on the app you use."

2) The Photos App is pretty good with finding and allowing you to manage duplicates. Remove duplicate photos in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

3) I am not exactly sure what you mean here but am guessing you would rather see these photos in Finder to access them using Preview rather than in your Photo Library with Photos. If so, you could export them. They wouldn't be deleted from your Photo Library but a copy would be exported for you to manage outside of the library. Export photos, videos, slideshows, and memories in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

Most of the links here are from the Photos User Guide, which I recommend checking out, as well as the macOS User Guide.

Photos User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

macOS User Guide - Apple Support

I hope this helps.

The best thing you can do is to import 2 or 3 hundred images into Photos on your Mac and explore. Doing this won't disturb your current system, but will give you a chance to see what the possibilities are. Some basic points are that in Photos albums hold photos, and a photo can be in multiple albums without using extra disk space. So, you can - as you do now - categorise everything by date. But you also have a lot more opportunities: People, Places, just to name the obvious and automatic ones, also pretty much any system you care to contrive using keywords and so on. But the best thing to explore and see - you won't do any damage as everything can be undone. More queries? By all means post back.

The first thing to recognise here is that there is no actual problem. What's happening here are two different approaches to managing your Photographs. The one you describe, folders on One Drive, is actually managing files. And if that works for you, good and there's absolutely no reason why you can't continue to do this. On the other hand, Photos and the iCloud Photo Library are based on a different approach. Rather than being concerned with the files, which the app just copies into the Library, it focuses on managing your photographs. Whereas the files-in-folders system is basically categorising your images on one axis only (Day/Month/Year), the database in Photos means you can do that, plus also on as many different axes as you can devise. Faces, Places, Favourites, Keywording and so on. Images don't have to live in a single folder, but can appear in multiple albums in your Library, without using any extra disk space. So your collection becomes more flexible and content rich.

Again, neither approach is wrong, though I would argue one is more flexible than the other. But what's important is the system you choose to use, and both are equally possible. However, complexity arises when you try and impose one system onto the other. When you try and move to iCloud for instance, but also maintain your material on One Drive. Or, indeed, vice versa. If you want to use iCloud you need to change your approach. Equally, if you're on iCloud and want to use files-in-folders you're going to have to change your approach. They are just different ways of working.

Migrating from Files-in-Folders to Photos isn't difficult and I don't understand why you think moving images into Photos has to be done one at a time. Entire collections can be imported at one go. Can you clarify?

Have you tried checking this when you import?

You can import multiple folders, and each folder becomes an album. The album is also in its own folder, which is weird, but easy to move several albums all to the same folder.

File -> Import

Select a folder of your images then click 'Review For Import'

In the next screen at the top you can select an album, destination, or create a new one and then your images are imported to the Library and also added to an album.

Thanks.

I think i've worked it out. As soon as I was able to see iCoud Drive and iCloud Photos in my PC File Explorer (after i installed the app iCloud for Windows) i have simply been:-

a/ downloading folders from OneDrive to my PC (by setting them as "Always keep on this device") then

b/ simply dragging and dropping those folders onto the appropriate iCloud - Folder or Photos - which they then upload / synchronise automatically. I am yet to see if this method will create albums in Photos as my iPhone is still synchronising too.....

I'll keep you posted.

Hi fliss52.

I have the same conundrum. OneDrive is fine and my folders of photos are in year/month sequence, orderly and easy to search when you want something. I too would like to move to iCloud but worry about what that would look like.

I see you didn't get much help from the community, but did you resolve it personally??

I would be very interested to hear your comments and what you decided to do in the end.

Many thanks

Scott Wilson

AU

It's stopped working / synchronising. Oh and to top it off many of the files types that Apple say are ok to upload to iCloud do not work. iCloud says thay must be JPEG files only. What a useless system and it appears unless you are using iCloud from THE MOMENT you first purchased a phone then uploading files from other devices / folders will be absolute trial and error.

I am likely to go back to OneDrive.

Disappointing Apple.

Thanks. I have a better feel for it now but it does mean I’ll have to re-create albums in photos (various trips) of which we have many. So some work ahead of me.