clarification needed for photos and iCloud

This is something I have never understood and Im trying to figure this out before I dump more money into my iCloud storage.

I DO NOT have iCloud photo storage turned on on any of my devices. I currently have 50 gb of icloud storage, of which I have about 3 gb free and the rest is being taken up by photos/videos. On my iPhone settings - general-storage and iCloud usage , my iCloud info states "iCloud Photo Library 46.5 gb.

If I log into iCloud on a web browser and delete photos from there, will I lose them on any of my other devices? Why is my iCloud filled with photos when I don't have iCloud photo library turned on? My photo library on my Mac is around 90 gb, so not everything is uploaded to iCloud.


Any insight would be much appreciated

Welcome.

It's not easy and not always intuitive.

However, if you have 47GB of photos/videos in iCloud, it got there somehow

Which seems to imply that iCloud Photo Library is, or was, enabled on some device.

On your Mac > Photos app > Preferences > iCloud. Double check iCloud Photo Library is not checked - in fact from what you appear to want, none of the options should be checked.

On all your iDevices, just check again in Settings > Photos And Camera > iCloud Photo Library is OFF. You possibly want My Photo Stream and iCloud Sharing to be OFF as well.

If I log into iCloud on a web browser and delete photos from there, will I lose them on any of my other devices?

Click to expand...

Yes; but ONLY if your Mac and iDevices are syncing Photos to the iCloud. Try this: Go into System Preferences > iCloud. This will open a Window. Make sure Photos is not checked.

(And, unless you want it for other purposes, you might want to Uncheck iCloud Drive).

Please post back after these checks. Only too happy to help.

Ian

IWT said:

Welcome.

It's not easy and not always intuitive.

However, if you have 47GB of photos/videos in iCloud, it got there somehow

Which seems to imply that iCloud Photo Library is, or was, enabled on some device.

On your Mac > Photos app > Preferences > iCloud. Double check iCloud Photo Library is not checked - in fact from what you appear to want, none of the options should be checked.

On all your iDevices, just check again in Settings > Photos And Camera > iCloud Photo Library is OFF. You possibly want My Photo Stream and iCloud Sharing to be OFF as well.



Yes; but ONLY if your Mac and iDevices are syncing Photos to the iCloud. Try this: Go into System Preferences > iCloud. This will open a Window. Make sure Photos is not checked.

(And, unless you want it for other purposes, you might want to Uncheck iCloud Drive).

Please post back after these checks. Only too happy to help.

Ian

Click to expand...

I may have inadvertently enabled iCloud photo library at one point in the past, but currently, none of my devices have iCloud photo library enabled. I have always had Photo stream turned on as it is a feature I like. But this is where the confusion starts. In trying to find an answer, I found an article online that seemed to imply that photo stream and iCloud photo library are one and the same...in that if you purchase more iCloud storage, photo stream will add more photos until the storage is full, or the library is uploaded. I dont know if this is correct.

In my system preferences >iCloud , photos is not checked but has a "-" in blue, and when I select options, I have photo stream and iCloud photo sharing enabled, which I have always had, but iCloud photo library is not checked.

I don't want to disable iCloud Drive as I do use it for some document storage.

I don't mind deleting some photos and videos from my iCloud, I just don't want them to delete from my MacBook, which is my storage device (I do understand that they will delete from the cloud and therefore not be accessible on iPhone and iPad). I also don't necessarily mind upgrading my storage to the 200 gb plan, but I really have no need to store my whole 80gb photo library in the cloud either.

I don't know why I have such a hard time understanding Apple's use of cloud photo storage, but I truly have never understood it since they implemented iCloud photo library.

addendum :

While looking through my iPhones settings - settings>photos and camera - iCloud photo library is toggled off.

However when going settings>icloud>storage>manage storage - photos shows "iCloud photo library 46.5 gb. when selecting that I am than taken to the info pane which gives me the option to disable and delete iCloud photo library.

so ...is iCloud photo library enabled on my phone or not?

Thanks for posting back. Very kind.

In my system preferences >iCloud , photos is not checked but has a "-" in blue,

Click to expand...

. Correct.

I don't want to disable iCloud Drive as I do use it for some document storage.

Click to expand...

. Fine. It is different. I only mentioned it in passing.

I have always had Photo stream turned on as it is a feature I like

Click to expand...

. So do I. No problem there.

I also don't necessarily mind upgrading my storage to the 200 gb plan, but I really have no need to store my whole 80gb photo library in the cloud either.

Click to expand...

. Agree. The 200GB is incredibly cheap (about the cost of one mug of coffee per month). Still no need to if you don't require it.

However when going settings>icloud>storage>manage storage - photos shows "iCloud photo library 46.5 gb. when selecting that I am than taken to the info pane which gives me the option to disable and delete iCloud photo library.

so ...is iCloud photo library enabled on my phone or not?

Click to expand...

. This is how I read this: it relates to what you have already stored in iCloud, as you mentioned in your first post. That is not in dispute - how it got there, well......

seemed to imply that photo stream and iCloud photo library are one and the same.

Click to expand...

. Not really. My Photo Stream allows you to take a photo on your iPhone, for example, and have it sync to all your iDevices and Mac IF they also have My Photo Stream checked.

Perhaps, if I tell you my set up and how I manage my photos that might help?

On all my iDevices, I have My Photo Stream switched on. Nothing else.

On my iMac, I have My Photo Stream switched on AND iCloud Photo Library AND download originals to this Mac. (So iCloud Photo Library is only checked on my Mac).

How it works: Any photo taken on an iDevice appears on all of them AND my iMac. If I delete a photo from My Photo Stream on any iDevice, it removes the same photo from all iDevices, but NOT my iMac (where I store all my photos).

If I delete a photo from my iMac, same is deleted from all iDevices.

So, like you, my iMac is my store and my iDevices feed into it. Once on my iMac, deleting photos from these iDevices still retains those on my iMac.

However when going settings>icloud>storage>manage storage - photos shows "iCloud photo library 46.5 gb. when selecting that I am than taken to the info pane which gives me the option to disable and delete iCloud photo library.

so ...is iCloud photo library enabled on my phone or not?

Click to expand...

. This is what it says under Disable and Delete: If you want to stop using iCloud Photo Library and recover your iCloud Storage, you can disable it on all your devices. You will then have 30 days to download your photos and videos.

As you have iCloud Photo Library ALREADY disabled on ALL your devices, and your photos safely on your Mac (and no doubt backed up along with everything else on your Mac - Time Machine or other method), I see no reason for not going ahead and clicking on Disable and Delete on your iPhone.

Does all this make any sense??

Ian

I work exactly as Ian has described, being mean and not wanting to pay iCloud to store 30,000 photos. I do use iCloud to sync contacts, documents, calendars notes and mail. Only thing I would suggest is to make sure you have a back up if you treasure your photos.

IWT said:

Thanks for posting back. Very kind.


Does all this make any sense??

Ian

Click to expand...

It does...in theory, lol.
So does having iCloud photo library enabled on one device ( say my iPhone , as that is where all my pictures are taken) mean that only pics taken on that device are uploaded to the cloud? Or by enabling it on one device translate to all devices, meaning that it works similar to photo stream?

So far , I have just been going through my iCloud photos and deleting useless photos, and videos, just to free up some space.

I do thank you very much for the detailed replies. It has been very helpful.

badshoehabit said:

I work exactly as Ian has described, being mean and not wanting to pay iCloud to store 30,000 photos. I do use iCloud to sync contacts, documents, calendars notes and mail. Only thing I would suggest is to make sure you have a back up if you treasure your photos.

Click to expand...

Most of my current situation is due to just upgrading to a new MacBook ( new for me anyway, a 2013 retina from a 2009 model). Embarrassingly enough, I don't have a current backup solution. The new MacBook only has a 250 Gb flash storage, and currently all my photos are stored on the Mac. I am looking into moving my photos library to an external SSD , just so I don't have to worry about eventually running out of space on the MacBook. But that sets up a new issue for me as to the best way to back up the external drive library. I have the free version of google photos enabled so , worst case scenario, I do have some type of backup, though it is certainly not ideal.

does having iCloud photo library enabled on one device ( say my iPhone , as that is where all my pictures are taken) mean that only pics taken on that device are uploaded to the cloud?

Click to expand...

Yes.

Or by enabling it on one device translate to all devices, meaning that it works similar to photo stream?

Click to expand...

No. Not if My Photo Stream is turned off on all other devices.

But why do it this way? Your Mac is where you store your photos - like me. So, if you are going to use iCloud Photo Library at all, why not on your Mac? Then you are using the Mac as your photo store and backing that up to iCloud.

Go back to my post #5. Re-read how I set up my iDevices and my Mac. The sentence starts "Perhaps, if I tell you my set up and how I manage my photos that might help?"

The end result is that my iDevices feed my Mac automatically via My Photo Stream and (only) my Mac backs these photos up to the iCloud. After they are on my Mac, I can safely remove them from my iDevice (iPhone mainly, but it could be the iPad as well).

If you're still unsure, come back.

Ian

thunderoad02 said:

Most of my current situation is due to just upgrading to a new MacBook ( new for me anyway, a 2013 retina from a 2009 model). Embarrassingly enough, I don't have a current backup solution. The new MacBook only has a 250 Gb flash storage, and currently all my photos are stored on the Mac. I am looking into moving my photos library to an external SSD , just so I don't have to worry about eventually running out of space on the MacBook. But that sets up a new issue for me as to the best way to back up the external drive library. I have the free version of google photos enabled so , worst case scenario, I do have some type of backup, though it is certainly not ideal.

Click to expand...

I use a portable external hard drive and back up via Time Machine.

IWT said:

Yes.


If you're still unsure, come back.

Ian

Click to expand...

No that has cleared up a lot for me. Thanks for all the help and patience, again, it is much appreciated.

badshoehabit said:

I use a portable external hard drive and back up via Time Machine.

Click to expand...

Will time machine also back up another external hard drive where I may be storing my photo library?

thunderoad02 said:

Will time machine also back up another external hard drive where I may be storing my photo library?

Click to expand...

Not sure I fully understand but if you use an existing hard drive for a full system back up with Time Machine it will include your Photos library. I don't know whether that will overwrite Photos already stored there.

thunderoad02 said:

Will time machine also back up another external hard drive where I may be storing my photo library?

Click to expand...

If you have your MacBook, and an external drive for your Photos library, you would need to tell Time Machine, which requires a separate external drive for backup, to back up the Photos library external drive.

Absolutely. IF Photos Library is on your Mac's HD, no problem, Time Machine will back it up.

But IF Photos Library is on a External Hard Drive (EHD), then Time Machine (TM) will NOT back it up UNLESS you tell it to.

To do that: Firstly make sure your Photos EHD is mounted.

Click on TM icon in top Menu Bar. From the Drop Down, click on "Open Time Machine Preferences". (You can also get there by Opening System Preferences and clicking on Time Machine).

Whichever way, you now have a window. Click on OPTIONS.

This opens a window with a box showing "Exclude these items from backups". Your Photos EHD will almost certainly be shown in this box - i.e. Excluded. Click on it to highlight it. Now click on the minus symbol (-) underneath the box. This will remove your Photos EHD from the EXCLUSIONS.

From now on, your Photos EHD will be backed up.

NB. As you are backing up your Mac's HD AND your Photos EHD, you will need a large capacity EHD for your Time Machine Backups. Add together the storage capacity of the Mac HD + the storage capacity of the Photos HD + at least 50% more (preferably 2 times more) Ito calculate the storage you will need on your Time Machine EHD.

Ian