Two Photos libraries in iCloud?

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Two Photos libraries in iCloud?

I have a desktop Mac and a MacBook Pro running Sonoma and on both of them I have photos libraries and I do have optimize storage turned on on both. Some photos on the MacBook Pro are duplicates really of the ones on the Mac or vice versa. So my question is because I have both the iCloud photos turned on on the Mac and the MacBook Pro are all the photos merged? How are they handled? Do I access or can I access the MacBook Pro photos when I'm at my Mac since they're in the cloud as well. If I delete a photo on one or the other of the machines does it delete it on the other machine or on the cloud? What if I don't want a photo on my MacBook Pro but I don't mind having it on the Mac?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 23, 2024 5:27 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Richard.Taylor

Level 6

18,481 points

Feb 24, 2024 8:58 AM in response to Victoria Herring

As muguy said, iCloud Photos is a synchronizing service, and all the devices connected to it with the same Apple iD will have exactly the same pictures, in the same albums, etc, and when you delete a picture from one it will be deleted from all the other libraries. That's synchronization.

But there is a way to have two different libraries if that's what your really need. You can create a "shared library" but not share it with anyone but yourself. This may not be what you want, but people here use it and it works. See this:

What is iCloud Shared Photo Library in Photos on Mac? – Apple Support (UK)

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Answer 2

muguy

Level 10

92,312 points

Feb 23, 2024 5:46 PM in response to Victoria Herring

If you sync with iCloud using the same Apple ID on both devices, your photos will merge into one album. Changes made on one device will reflect on all devices.

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Two Photos libraries in iCloud?

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