Unable to see most iCloud Shared Library photos on other devices

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Level 1

11 points

Unable to see most iCloud Shared Library photos on other devices

I migrated my entire photo library from Google Photos to iCloud Photos directly through Google Takeout. That part went fine.

I migrated to a “family” iCloud account that we use for the MacBook, shared iPad and Apple TVs.
I went into my existing Shared Album and moved all 41,000 photos into it. I am able to see everything on our MacBook Photos app.
I shared it to my phone and my wife’s phone. For some reason we only see about 5,000 photos which I believe are the ones that were there prior to the Google Photos migration.
Does it take some time to update on the other devices? I’m just not sure why I’m not seeing most of the photos.

iPhone 15 Pro

Posted on Feb 24, 2025 7:15 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

markwmsn

Level 6

16,817 points

Feb 24, 2025 10:22 PM in response to d_r_f

You mention both Shared Library and Shared Album. Are you really using both? If not, which?

If you are using a Shared Library, are your and your wife's iPhones both running new enough versions of iOS to see the Shared Library? Are they both set to view "Both Libraries" (or "Shared Library")?

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Answer 2

muguy

Level 10

92,198 points

Feb 24, 2025 8:55 PM in response to d_r_f

See Shared Album limits - Apple Support

you may wish to investigate a shared library. How to use iCloud Shared Photo Library - Apple Support

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Unable to see most iCloud Shared Library photos on other devices

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