My iCloud is nearly full. I'd like to simply "select all" and then download my photos to my portable hard drive. I understand how to do this individually but that will take forever. I've about 525 photos.
Help please.
iMac, iOS 7.0.4, every thing is up to date
See this thread for merging two photo libraries How to restore photolibrary from Icloud,
A second method is export photos from system photo library to a desired location say download folder in finder , then connect an external hard drive to the Mac then transfer the photos from download folders into the external hard drive , and all your photo data is saved .See this article Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
If you desire how many selected photos see this article Select and deselect photos in Photos on Mac - Apple Support are to be deleted in system photo library folder , you should select them and delete to recently deleted folder see this article Delete photos or recover deleted ones in Photos on Mac - Apple Support ( its your choice to delete them permanently immediately or after 30 days the photos will be removed from the iCloud server ) .
Three part answer.
1. Open Photos, go to Photos/Preferences/iCloud and set up syncing. Then go to System Preferences/iCloud, sign in, and check Photos syncing. Once all the Photos have synced to your computer, quit Photos. You should now have a complete compilation of your photos (like a Master Library). Reopen Photos with the option/alt key held down and create a new system Library. You can now delete photos from your devices/computer while maintaining a master copy on the computer. Added photos can be exported from the new Library and imported into the Master Library. Turn off iCloud syncing when reverting to the Master Library.
Photos - Use multiple libraries in Photos
2. One option would be to open Photos with the option/alt key held down and create a new system Library on the external. Once everything is downloaded, reopen Photos with the option/alt key held down, and switch back to the Library on your internal drive to delete photos. Switch as required/desired.
3. One option to free up space would be to move your Photos Library to an external hard drive. Then quit/reopen Photos with the option/alt key held down and make the external hard drive file the system Library. Once you are sure all your photos are there, you can delete the Library from the internal drive if desired. Once you do this, the external hard drive will need to be attached to access/sync your photos.
Article if for iPhoto, but the basics are the same.
iPhoto: Move your iPhoto library to a new location
Photos library - Move your Library to an external storage device
Thanks for all the options!
I don't have the mind to do this at the moment but I will be printing your descriptions so I can easily refer to them.
I really appreciate this!
You are welcome.
How to download entire iCloud photo library
