Ronald Timmermans1

Q: backup photo library on icloud much smaller than on my mac

I bought some extra storage space (50GB) on iCloud to be able to have a full backup of my photo library (47 GB). I see now that the storage space on iCloud takes just over 30GB of photos. How can I be sure that my COMPLETE library has been backed-up ? It looks as if some part was not fully transfered to the cloud. Or does iCloud compress the data ?

Thank you for any wise answers..

Posted on Feb 17, 2016 12:47 AM

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Q: backup photo library on icloud much smaller than on my mac

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 17, 2016 4:36 AM in response to Ronald Timmermans1
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Feb 17, 2016 4:36 AM in response to Ronald Timmermans1

    iCloud Photo Library stores the originals of your photos, the edits, all metadata.  But it is smaller than the version on your Mac because the Faces thumbnails are missing, the books and other projects, and the library on your mac may contain utility photos like previews for the media browser.

    If your local Photos Library contains referenced photos, these will also be missing from iCloud Photo Library, because referenced photos cannot upload to iCloud. But  otherwise all photos, edits, metadata, albums, smart albums will be included.  See this document on what iCloud Photo Library:   Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support

    How can I be sure that my COMPLETE library has been backed-up

    Don't rely on iCloud as your backup.  You need a local backup of your library as well.

    iCloud Photo Library is not a backup. It is a central storage of your Photos Library, but it will be always in sync with the library on the devices that are using iCloud Photo Library. You cannot restore lost or modified from it, because all changes to the local libraries will immediately propagate to the iCloud version.