Using Google Drive with MBP

Joined
Dec 12, 2009
Messages
519
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Photos (Version 2) was a mixture of personal pictures (holidays etc) and shots of pages of books and documents taken at libraries and archives.

I've now put all the images from books and documents onto Google Drive: the holiday pix remain in Photos. When the images of books and documents had arrived on Google Drive, I deleted them from Photos. This separation has tidied up things up and made both holiday pix and the pages from books and documents easier to find.

I had thought that by deleting the images of books and documents from Photos I would also create space on the drive of my MBP (10.12.16). My thinking was that all of these would be on Google Drive and no longer on the MBP.

However, I see that the Google Drive folder on the MBP now has some 8GB of data on it. I've tried deleting files from this folder but this also removes them from Google Drive on the web.

I'm pleased to have created some order but a bit disappointed not to have liberated space on the MPB.

I guess this is just the way it works and that I was expecting too much … comments appreciated.

M
 
M

MacInWin

Guest
Not much to say. That's how it works. I don't use Google Drive, but Dropbox and several others also work the same way. It keeps a folder on the MBP in sync with a folder in the cloud and that folder can also be synced to other devices, so that a change in any is a change in all. If you want to trust your pictures to the cloud and NOT have them on the MBP, you will need to find a cloud storage service that doesn't sync to a folder. I can't make a recommendation because I don't do that at all. I'm not at the full trust level for the open cloud services quite yet.
 
Joined
May 21, 2012
Messages
10,703
Reaction score
1,158
Points
113
Location
Rhode Island
Your Mac's Specs
M1 Mac Studio, 11" iPad Pro 3rdGen, iPhone 13 ProMax, Watch S7, 2018 15" MBP, AirPods Pro
You do know, that, if you have "copy file to library" selected in Photos >Preferences, then ithe photo is also still in your Photos library database.
 
OP
M
Joined
Dec 12, 2009
Messages
519
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Thanks to both for the replies.

Regarding the reply from Bob ... I've looked in prefs and see that I do indeed have 'copy file to library' selected. I guess this is the default.
So I gather from this that I've not achieved much (in terms of saving space) by deleting the shots from 'Photos' that I took at reference libraries and public record offices.

I've just looked in 'Pictures' (left-hand sidebar) .. and in here anarchy reigns!

There are loads of pix, included those from public record offices that I've deleted from 'Photos'. But it gets worse. There's also:

*'iPhoto Library 1' (37.81GB). (Some years ago I stopped using 'iPhoto' and took up with 'Photos'.)
* two files both called 'Photos Library_1'. One of these shows 6.4MB and the other shows 33.17GB.

Many of the images that I see in 'Photos' are the same as those in 'iPhoto' ... can't be sure that they're all in there. Is there any point in keeping the images that are in 'iPhoto Library'? Can I just delete them? Would this be helpful ... perhaps dangerous?

I think that mess-ups occurred when I've changed Macs over the years.

Perhaps I should do some trial-and-error and see what happens if I delete images ... but I'd appreciate comments on this muddle.

M
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top