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User profile for user: Mr Moto
Mr Moto Author
User level: Level 2
162 points

Download photos when iCloud subscription ends

Recently, my daughter passed away, so I want to end her subscription to Apple, iCloud a.s.o.

Her children, however, want to keep the pictures their mom made. There are about 10,000 in the Cloud.

I can download these pictures to her MacBook (Apple Helpdesk therefore sent me this link: iCloud-foto's en -video's downloaden - Apple Support (NL). But there I read that downloaded pictures disappear when they are removed from the Cloud, even after they have been downloaded. Which, I suppose, is exactly what happens when I delete her account.

Can anybody help me to save the pictures from the Cloud for my grandchildren? Thanks a lot!


Posted on Dec 2, 2024 4:35 AM

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4 replies
User profile for user: muguy
muguy
User level: Level 10
82,681 points

Dec 2, 2024 4:44 AM in response to Mr Moto

The easiest thing to do is to enable iCloud Photos on the Mac to sync photos from iCloud. (Photo > settings > iCloud)

Then, once complete, disable iCloud Photos to break the connection to iCloud. Photos will then remain on the Mac.


You'll still want to backup the Mac using Time Machine (or similar) to retain a backup copy.

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User profile for user: Mr Moto
Mr Moto Author
User level: Level 2
162 points

Dec 2, 2024 5:03 AM in response to muguy

Thanks for your repley!


In Photo > Settings > iCloud I see as the only options on my daughter's MacBook (MacOS 12.7.6)

  • iCloud photos
    • download originals to this Mac
    • optimize Mac storage
  • Shared albums


I see no options to 'enable sync photos'.


Anyways – I suppose that I should check 'download originals to this Mac' (which until now is not activated)?

Will it be settled then?


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Download photos when iCloud subscription ends

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