Syncing photos to iCloud

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Syncing photos to iCloud

I have a large library (over 1 gb) of photos on my desktop. They are already backed up. I just for the first time signed up for iCloud. Not using it for my mac photos library. Using it for other reasons. However, I previously used photo stream (which goes away in 2 weeks). That way, all photos taken on my phone, my wife's phone, and my iPad ended up on my mac.

I can't use iCloud photos on my mac, since it is such a large library. Not enough room in iCloud. Is there any way to have all NEW photos taken on my devices sync to iCloud, and show up on my mac (like they did with photo stream) but without syncing the the pre-existing photos on the mac library to iCloud?

Thanks

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jun 11, 2023 6:25 PM

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Answer 1

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FoxFifth

Level 10

475,455 points

Jun 11, 2023 6:38 PM in response to Brian Drachman

Sorry, no. iCloud Photos is all or nothing for each device. If turned on in a device, all photos will be synced with iCloud and any other devices where it is turned on.

Also see: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

You can manually import photos to the Mac as described in the Mac section of Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC - Apple Support

There are also 3rd party apps that may have options that will help (not a recommendation as I haven't used them). Two examples: https://www.photosync-app.com/home and https://imazing.com/

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Syncing photos to iCloud

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