can't find photos uploaded to icloud

I uploaded 338gb of photos from my MacBook. It took most of the day so I left it running overnight. It appeared to be done in the morning but I looked for one of the photos and can't seem to find it. Also iCloud has only 248 gb in photos. I look on iCloud Drive on my Mac and the photos are there. What am I missing here.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.4

Posted on Apr 8, 2024 6:26 AM

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Posted on Apr 8, 2024 6:30 AM

depends on how you uploaded. You won’t find photos in iCloud Drive in finder. Photos in the Photos app sync to iCloud.com/photos and to any connected device. A 338 GB photo library may take days to complete the initial sync. Check the status by selecting library view, scroll to the bottom for iCloud item count and upload status.


if instead you uploaded files to iCloud Drive, your files will display in finder.


you can check the cloud status by identifying the status icon.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 8, 2024 6:30 AM in response to CT-Wanderer

depends on how you uploaded. You won’t find photos in iCloud Drive in finder. Photos in the Photos app sync to iCloud.com/photos and to any connected device. A 338 GB photo library may take days to complete the initial sync. Check the status by selecting library view, scroll to the bottom for iCloud item count and upload status.


if instead you uploaded files to iCloud Drive, your files will display in finder.


you can check the cloud status by identifying the status icon.

Apr 8, 2024 6:56 AM in response to CT-Wanderer

You can synchronize your photos using the Photos App.

Open photos

Go to photos > settings > iCloud to enable iCloud photos

Photos > settings > general to ensure your library is the system library


Your photo library will then sync to your devices and iCloud. Changes you make, albums you create, etc. will propagate to your devices from any device.

Apr 8, 2024 6:45 AM in response to muguy

So that could be my problem. I did a drag and drop into Icloud drive on my Mac. There are 38,000 items I was trying to upload to iCloud. There are only 22,000 items in photos on iCloud.com. I was assuming it would upload to the cloud. Isn't iCloud Drive backed up to the cloud? Ultimately I am trying to get access to all my photos on my phone and iPad. What do I need to do to accomplish this. Thanks so much for your help.

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can't find photos uploaded to icloud

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