As photos and videos taken with point-and-shoot cameras, SLRs, and iPhones become more detailed and higher quality, their file sizes also increase. This means you may find that your Mac’s hard drive is full of all those memories from vacations, birthdays, or whatever else you decide to photograph. If so, it might be a good idea to start using iCloud to store them. This can help reduce the space these images take up on your hard drive, while ensuring that they will be safe on Apple’s servers in case something happens to your Mac. Plus, you can view all of these images on any of your Apple devices, thanks to iCloud syncing. Here’s how to download photos from Mac to iCloud.
Alternatively, if you want to save space on iPhone, read: How to Move Photos to iCloud to Save Space on iPhone.
Or, if you prefer to back up your photos another way, read: How to Move Your Photo Library to a Hard Drive.
How much does it cost to use iCloud Photos
Of course, this method of saving space on your Mac has a downside: you’ll have to pay for enough storage in iCloud to store all your photos. Apple is giving everyone 5GB free, but that won’t be enough, so you’ll want to explore some of the paid iCloud+ tiers that offer higher storage capacities.
They currently come with these monthly costs:
- 5 GB: free
- 50GB: $0.99/£0.99
- 200GB: $2.99/£2.99
- 2TB: $9.99/£8.99
- 6TB: $29.99/£26.99
- 12TB: $59.99/£54.99
You can learn more about the benefits of each tier and how to upgrade on our How Much Does iCloud Cost? guide. Additionally, each of these iCloud storage tiers can be shared with your family if you set up Family Sharing.
How to Transfer Photos from Mac to iCloud Storage
Storing your Mac’s photos in iCloud isn’t a matter of copying them all and dragging them to a folder marked iCloud. Apple makes things simple with iCloud Photos. If you use iCloud Photos, you can not only keep high-resolution versions of all your images and videos on Apple servers, but you can also sync them with your other Apple devices so you can see all your photos on all your devices.
Setting up iCloud Photos on your Mac is easy. Once you have selected the appropriate storage tier you need, follow these steps:
- Open the Photos app on your Mac.
- In the upper left corner, click Pictures then select Settings.
- Click it iCloud tab option.
- Check it iCloud Photos box.
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Now all images in the Photos app on your Mac will automatically sync to iCloud servers (provided you have enough iCloud storage available).
How to Reduce the Space Taken Up by Photos on Your Mac
Once your photos are stored in iCloud, you then have the option to keep only smaller versions of the photos and videos locally on your Mac, while larger, full-resolution versions remain in iCloud. These can be quickly downloaded if you wish, but the smaller versions still look very detailed with the added benefit of taking up much less space on your Mac.
To do this, follow these simple steps:
- Open the Photos app on your Mac.
- In the upper left corner, click Pictures then select Settings.
- Click it iCloud tab option.
- Select the Optimize Mac Storage and existing full-resolution images on your Mac will be replaced with smaller alternatives.
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This setting should result in a considerable reduction in the storage space your photos take up on your Mac, but without losing any of your images or sacrificing their quality (at least that of the originals).
Can I delete photos from my Mac once they’re in iCloud Photos?
The answer is no. Definitely not.
iCloud isn’t a true backup, but rather a way to sync your library across multiple devices. Even though it seems like your photos are safe in the cloud, the syncing nature of the service means that anything you delete on your Mac will also be deleted in iCloud, and then on all your devices. If you’ve already done this, or if it happens by accident, all is not lost. You get a 30-day grace period during which you can recover deleted photos.
If you deleted a photo from your Mac, you will notice in the Photos application that in the left column there appears a Recently deleted case.
Click on the Recently Deleted folder and you should see your deleted photos inside (you may need to enter your password to open the folder).
Now just select the photos you want to restore and click the button To recover in the upper right corner and you should find them back in your normal photo library.
For more help, read: How to Recover Deleted Photos on Your Mac.
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How to Backup Your Photos Another Way
While iCloud Photos is a great way to sync your images across multiple devices and keep copies of them in the cloud, if you want to make sure those precious moments stay safe and are backed up, we also recommend using a software to create dedicated backups of not only your photos, but also your documents and other data.
Of course, there’s Apple’s Time Machine, which is a solid option if you have an external hard drive you can use. You can also create a folder containing the items you want to back up and manually move it to iCloud to back it up (you still can’t do this with Time Machine backups, unfortunately). It’s also worth exploring the wide range of third-party solutions you’ll find in our guide to the best Mac backup software.
If you desperately want to save space on your Mac, we suggest moving your photo library to an external drive. For our pick of current storage deals, check out our guides to the best external hard drives for Mac and the best external SSDs for Mac.
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