How can I get my albums and folders I created in the Photos.app on my Macbook Pro to sync onto my iMac and iPhone? I have iCloud Photo Library switched on on all these devices. I've made changes that have not updated elsewhere. What am I supposed to do?
Thanks, Nadia
MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)
Is there a way to do this via iTunes sync without iCloud Photo Library? When I use iTunes the albums from the Photos app come over to iOS but the folders are gone. This used to work via iTunes and I don't want to use the cloud for security reasons.
Is there a way to do this via iTunes sync without iCloud Photo Library? When I use iTunes the albums from the Photos app come over to iOS but the folders are gone. This used to work via iTunes and I don't want to use the cloud for security reasons.
My photos apparently sync OK - but it takes very long time: I 'imported' 13 photos about 12 hours ago - 11 hours later one of them was visible on my wife's iPad. Right now I can view just 8 of them...seems to take a lot of patience! 😕
It's now 21 hours since the photos were imported to iCloud Photo Library - and still only 8 out of 13 pictures visible on the iPad: I begin to understand why Apple wants to expand their data storage capacity in Denmark (where I live)! 🙂
Nadia,
if you are using iCloud Photo Library on all devices, the albums and folders are supposed to sync with iCloud Photo Library across your devices.
See: Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support
Which changes did not sync across?
Smart albums will not sync to your iPhone, only standard albums.
And faces albums and thumbnails will not sync at all, only searchable keywords.
One possible reason for the changes not syncing might be, that the upload of your Photos Library to iCloud has not yet been completed. Are you still seeing a progress bar, when you are looking at the Photos > Preferences > iCloud on your iMac or MacBook Pro?
Léonie
Hi Leonie,
Thank you for your reply.
I have created new Albums and Folders and copied images from old iPhoto albums into the new albums and folders- none of the changes have updated to my other iCloud Photo Library's.
I did the transfer from iPhoto to Photos ages ago so didn't think it would be the upload issue as you suggest but I did notice that my Macbook (where I made the changes) was so full that there wasn't any space left on the disc for any new photos to be uploaded. I changed my dropbox sync options to free up some space and checked the iCloud Photo Library progress bar as you suggested and it's saying it's downloading items - when this finishes do you think it will then make my changes update across my other devices?
Also do you mind explaining how to create a smart album that finds all the unassigned photos in my moments so that I can then file them to the relevant album please?
Thank you very much for your help and time. 🙂
and it's saying it's downloading items - when this finishes do you think it will then make my changes update across my other devices?
Yes, usually the changes will sync after the upload or download is complete.
Also do you mind explaining how to create a smart album that finds all the unassigned photos in my moments so that I can then file them to the relevant album please?
To create a new smart album go to the File menu:
File > New Smart album.
Set the constraint for the smartalbum to "Album is not Any".
Thank you for your response. I turned on iCloud Photo Library on all of my devices: iMac, Macbook Pro, iPhone & iPad. I made changes to the albums on my iMac during the course of the day when all the pictures were uploading to iCloud. But I was concerned because the reorganization of the albums were not syncing across all the devices. I didn't want to reorganize every device as a result. So I turned off iCloud Photo Library on all devices and wanted to start from scratch.
Your comment puts me to ease that changes to the albums will occur after the complete download of pictures. I think I shall restart and turn on all the devices again and trust if I make changes to albums along the way that these same changes will appear on all devices at the end of the process.
Thank you again! I couldn't find answers to this question easily online. I'll update this post if for some reason there's a hiccup instead and albums are not synced at the end of the process of uploading all my pictures to iCloud.
I think I shall restart and turn on all the devices again
Best not to mess with it - if you turn off ICPL and turn it back on you will care a total restart of the upload - the initial upload can take a long time and until it is done nothing downloads - keep every device on, charged and on WiFi until the upload is comppete
LN
Thank you for this post. I wish I had caught your comments in time. I restarted ICPL on all devices and the initial upload is taking a long time. But I am glad you confirmed that syncing of albums on the various devices will occur once all the uploading of pictures is complete. I am following your advice to keep all devices on, charged, and on WiFi while uploading my personal store of photos to the ICPL. Your post is very helpful.
Do albums and folders sync in Photos.app
