remove photos from the cloud

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Level 1

13 points

remove photos from the cloud

I'm new to Macs. I copied some photos onto my new MBP. At some point it asked me if I wanted to import them into the "Photos" app. I said yes. A little later I got a message that said I had used up my cloud storage quota for photos for the day.

The problem is that I don't want any photos stored in the cloud. There are a few private photos in there that I would prefer to protect, keep them out of the could, and once I remove them from my MBP I want them gone forever.

Can someone explain to me why it started uploading photos, what this storage area is called, how I can remove them from storage without removing them from my local disk?

Also, is there are a useful way to use the Photos app WITHOUT uploading anything?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 11, 2016 8:43 PM

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Answer 1

qsszb

Level 4

1,230 points

Aug 12, 2016 7:38 AM in response to mike1127

This should help you turning off the iCloud Photo Library: Photos for OS X: Access your photos and videos everywhere with iCloud Photo Library

Scroll down to Stop using iCloud Photo Library. Document also walks you through deleting from iCloud.

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Answer 2

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Aug 12, 2016 9:27 AM in response to mike1127

Of course - using any iCloud service is totally optional - to not use any in the Photos preferences uncheck all of the Cloud services that you have checked - and it you want no iCloud access at all in the system preferences log out of iCloud

As to why it started - very simple, because you told it to

At some point it asked me if I wanted to import them into the "Photos" app. I said yes.

LN

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Answer 3

mike1127 Author

Level 1

13 points

Aug 14, 2016 10:02 PM in response to mike1127

Hmm, when I went to preferences, the box for iCloud was unchecked. However, the box for My Photo Stream was checked.

The original concern was a message that said I had used up space. I don't remember the exact wording of the message, but it sounded a lot like it was saying it had been uploading something and that I had used up the quota.

Is it possible this is My Photo Stream?

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