How to download original photos from iCloud Photos directly to an external drive on a Mac?

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Tesserax Author

Level 10

158,592 points

How to download original photos from iCloud Photos directly to an external drive on a Mac?

Background

I'm trying to assist my daughter. She has an Early 2020 Intel MacBook Air running macOS Ventura.
She has in excess of 12K photos on iCloud Photos that she wants to download the originals directly to an external drive connected to her Mac bypassing the MBA limited storage space.

The Issue

If she attempts to download the original photos from iCloud Photo, but it only allows her to download them to the Photos System Library on the Mac itself. She knows that she can then export them to the external drive, but because her MBA has very limited storage space this will not be possible.

What she has already tried

Removed as much as she could from the MBA to increast storage space. Still didn't have enough room.

What she would like to do

She would like to download those originals directly to the Mac's external drive, but she (& I) can't seem to find a method to do so.
Does anyone know if this is even possible ... and if so, please let us know what steps it would take to do so.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide us.

MacBook Air (2018 – 2020)

Posted on Feb 23, 2024 3:53 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

FoxFifth

Level 10

475,455 points

Feb 23, 2024 6:54 PM in response to Tesserax

I don't think, from your description that this is what she wants, but just in case, another option would be to just move her Photo Library to the external drive.

See: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

If it is designated as the System Photo Library, it will still sync with iCloud. See warnings in the above support article about the disc being connected anytime before opening the Photos app.

She could then always have all photos on the external drive in Photos but would nave no photos on her main drive and no photos syncing with iCloud Photos from the main drive.

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Answer 2

FoxFifth

Level 10

475,455 points

Feb 23, 2024 4:21 PM in response to Tesserax

One possibility (that I haven't tried in years) is to connect the external drive and then set the internet browser download location to that drive. If using Safari, that is done at Safari menu > Settings (or Preferences) > General > File Download location. Then login to iCloud.com, select a group of photos (e.g., click on first photo and hold shift key when clicking the last photo in the range of photos you want to select) and click the download option.

The last time I heard, this is limited to 1,000 photos at a time. Also, I no longer know if any meta data will be included.

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Answer 3

Tesserax Author

Level 10

158,592 points

Feb 23, 2024 5:36 PM in response to FoxFifth

Thanks FoxFifth! We'll give it a try and let you know. I'm assuming that this will copy the original (not low-res) versions to the external drive ... correct? ... and that they would be copied as standalone photos, not going into a Photos Library on that external drive ... correct?

I believe her end goal is to have a Photos Library on this external drive as sort of an archive copy ... not syncing it with iCloud Photos, but be easily accessible via the Photos app. Anyway, once we get them all copied, we can try this later.

Thank you

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Answer 4

FoxFifth

Level 10

475,455 points

Feb 23, 2024 6:29 PM in response to Tesserax

Tesserax wrote:

Thanks FoxFifth! We'll give it a try and let you know. I'm assuming that this will copy the original (not low-res) versions to the external drive ... correct? ... and that they would be copied as standalone photos, not going into a Photos Library on that external drive ... correct?

I believe her end goal is to have a Photos Library on this external drive as sort of an archive copy ... not syncing it with iCloud Photos, but be easily accessible via the Photos app. Anyway, once we get them all copied, we can try this later.

Thank you

Correct for both of the questions.

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Answer 5

Tesserax Author

Level 10

158,592 points

Feb 23, 2024 9:10 PM in response to FoxFifth

Actually, this is exactly what she is looking for. This way she can still take advantage of using iCloud Photos for all the photos she takes with her phone, but can save storage space on your MBA by having the local Photos Library on her external drive.

Fantastic! We will give it a go this weekend, and I will report back the results.

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Answer 6

Tesserax Author

Level 10

158,592 points

Feb 24, 2024 2:41 PM in response to FoxFifth

I'm glad you did too. It's funny how easy it is when you know what you are doing. I've been "playing" with Apple computers since the Apple IIc. You think, by now, I would know everything there is to know about them. Ha!

Thanks to folks, like you, I don't have to! ;)

... and by the way, this worked great! Issue solved! Thank you very much!

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Answer 7

FoxFifth

Level 10

475,455 points

Feb 24, 2024 9:39 AM in response to Tesserax

I almost didn't think of that and then I almost didn't mention it. Glad I did. Note that I've never done it myself but have seen other posts here from people who have.

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How to download original photos from iCloud Photos directly to an external drive on a Mac?

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