Q: Moving Photos Library with iCloud Photo Library enabled
TL;DR: Photos library while using iCloud does not merge, but adds the entire Library to iCloud again, making in my case upgrade my storage plan while plenty of space for that merge
All,
I have been using iCloud Photo Library for a long time now to sync pictures across devices, and so far so good.
I'm running out of space in the disk of my Mac, and I wanted to move the Library to the SD card, so I have followed the steps of copying the folder then selecting the library alt-clicking on the Photos icon.
It works, all (or most) of the pictures show up just fine.
When I go to Preferences > iCloud it says "iCloud features for Photos are only available in the System Photo Library", so I go to Preferences > General and click on "Use as System Library" which I think is the correct step since I do want to move everything out of the hard disk and the SD card is always plugged in (it's a Transcend JetDrive Lite 330, enough for storing things I don't usually work with, like pictures, music, ISO files and VMs). Then the iCloud options are available to click on, so I check "iCloud Photo Library" and then it starts uploading again my entire Library
Since the Library is the same, I wasn't expecting it to upload, and make me upgrade my iCloud storage plan. I did, out of fear of removing something, but I still have had plenty of space in my 50GB plan as I can see in the System Preferences > iCloud (using ~37GB).
Is this the expected behaviour and do I need to upload again all my pictures? They are all there already!
Are there additional steps to follow when moving the library AND iCloud is enabled? I of course may have missed the obvious, but I have followed all steps in the official documentation and other internet resources, to no avail, i.e.: no way of avoiding the duplicate space in iCloud therefore having to upgrade my iCloud storage plan.
Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support
Get help with your iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support
Designate a System Photo Library in Photos - Apple Support where it reads "If you designate a new library as the System Photo Library and then turn on iCloud Photo Library, the photos and videos in the new library will merge with those already in your iCloud Photo Library. If you want to keep the contents of your photo libraries separate, don’t turn on iCloud Photo Library for more than one library in Photos.", that merging I was expecting, not the whole Library again.
Thank you!
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), null
Posted on Sep 8, 2016 10:33 AM
Since the Library is the same, I wasn't expecting it to upload, and make me upgrade my iCloud storage plan. I did, out of fear of removing something, but I still have had plenty of space in my 50GB plan as I can see in the System Preferences > iCloud (using ~37GB).
Is this the expected behaviour and do I need to upload again all my pictures? They are all there already!
Yes.
Photos will upload the library again, because it cannot be sure that the moved library is completely identical. It is uploading again and checking for duplicates. After the upload is finished, you will not be using more iCloud storage than before, but it will take a long time.
But it should not have been be necessary to upgrade the storage plan. You should be able to downgrade again as soon as the upload has finished.
What I am doing, when I want to move the library to a new location is to create a new, empty library on the new drive and then enable the new, empty library as the iCloud Photo Library. The library will download from iCloud to the empty library instead of uploading. This is faster and avoids the prompt to upgrade the iCloud storage. But the drawback is, that I have to name all faces again, since the faces do not sync to iCloud. And the projects will be missing. I am always keeping a copy of the original library in the new location, so I can use the old projects and can look up faces when In doubt about a name.
Posted on Sep 8, 2016 11:13 AM


