Macbook photos storage was 160GB, i deleted the library and sync fr iCloud again, still take 90GB when it is only 25GB in iphone. Already optimized storage. How can i reduce it in Macbook?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.5
How large is the Photos library in iCloud? The size of the library in iCloud will determine, how small an optimized library can be.
Even an optimized library will need additional storage for working copies. And this additional storage is larger on the Mac than on an iPhone, because the thumbnails and previews for browsing will be larger on a Mac with a large display than on an iPhone with a small display.
On my Mac these working copies require roughly 25% of the size of the library in iCloud.
You can see which items are using the additional storage, when you ctrl-click the Photos Library and use "Show Package Contents". Display the folders inside in list view and compare the sizes. The "optimize Storage" can make the folder originals small, but all other orders will be needed,
For example - the sizes of the folders of my iCloud Photoslibrary - it is not optimized.
Be very careful not to modify anything. Just look at the sizes. Right after a new download from iCloud the background processes may need plenty of additional storage to cache data, while they are scanning and preparing the library. Give the Mac time to finish the initial scan.
How large is the Photos library in iCloud? The size of the library in iCloud will determine, how small an optimized library can be.
Even an optimized library will need additional storage for working copies. And this additional storage is larger on the Mac than on an iPhone, because the thumbnails and previews for browsing will be larger on a Mac with a large display than on an iPhone with a small display.
On my Mac these working copies require roughly 25% of the size of the library in iCloud.
You can see which items are using the additional storage, when you ctrl-click the Photos Library and use "Show Package Contents". Display the folders inside in list view and compare the sizes. The "optimize Storage" can make the folder originals small, but all other orders will be needed,
For example - the sizes of the folders of my iCloud Photoslibrary - it is not optimized.
Be very careful not to modify anything. Just look at the sizes. Right after a new download from iCloud the background processes may need plenty of additional storage to cache data, while they are scanning and preparing the library. Give the Mac time to finish the initial scan.
That is strange. The sizes in the package you have shown are not accounting for the 200GB.
With the originals folder only holding 323MB your library is already fully optimized. And the sizes of database and resources are reasonable for a 200GB iCloud Library.
Where are you seeing the size of 90GB for the Photos? In the Info of the Finder for the Library? Or in the System Preferences in the Storage overview? Both can be misleading. Occasionally the Finder is showing me a size of the library that simply cannot be true, because it is larger than the size of the internal drive of my Mac. And the Storage Overview is also not very reliable. The Finder is not always updating the size of the library package immediately. You may want to look at the modification date in the Info for the Library.
Are you using Time Machine? Then you may want to ensure, that you are making the backups regularly, at least once a day. Otherwise the local snapshots may need too much storage.
In addition to léonie's remarks, keep in mind that as you edit or print pictures from Photos, the Mac will import the large Original files it needs, and it may take a while before it prunes those. If your MacAir's storage is pretty clear, then purging Originals may be of pretty low priority. On the other hand, if your MacAir is struggling with having enough storage space, then it may not be able to delete files. I found that I had crazy things go on with my own Air when it had less than 15% of its (1 TB) storage free.
Syncing is faster when the Mac is plugged in, turned on, and running without having Photos in the foreground--you don't want it to think that you are using the Photos app. You may have to tell it not to shutdown when it’s not being used. Oddly, this setting switch is at SystemSettings>Battery>Options.
As léonie says, this stuff may take some time to settle down. The Mac doesn't always set its priorities as we expect.
Another option is to get a portable SSD to move and run the Photos library from.
The following is extremely small and easy to carry along with your MBA.
This is the OWC Envoy Pro MINI.
Just some food for thought.
The Storage shown in the System Settings is supposed to show you the storage required by your System Photo Library, see: Change Storage settings on Mac - Apple Support
But this is sometimes not quite correct. The best way is to look into your Photos Library and see the total sizes of the sub folders. There may be some hidden files, that are not shown, but I have never seen very large hidden files in the library.
Just to be clear, did you enable "Optimize Mac Storage" in Photos in the MacBook? Each device has a separate setting for optimizing its storage.
It's taking up 200GB in iCloud.
Breakdown of the package contents:
database: 9GB,
resources: 27GB
originals: 323MB
internal, external: 198MB
private: 1.69GB
scopes: 1.69GB
If it's about 25% of that of the iCloud's, it would be about 50GB instead of the current 90?
Yes, I have already enabled it.
I am seeing the 90GB in storage of system settings.
And thanks for the time machine suggestion: not using it currently and maybe I should look into that.
Thanks.
Photos app taking up too much space
