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How to Create a External Backup of iCloud Photos

I have 8 years of photos in iCloud. I would like to create an external backup of these photos. My current Macbook does not have available storage to download any photos. What is the best way to create a backup of my iCloud Photos?


MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 20, 2020 7:09 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 20, 2020 11:13 AM

Are you using Photos for Mac with iCloud Photos?

If not, the best way to get a backup of your photos would be to get yourself an external volume and download the photos from the iCloud webpage at www.icloud.com. Or create an empty Photos Library on the external volume and let Photos download the photos from iCloud to the new, empty library. This would be the better way, because it will also save the albums and adjustments.

See this page for more details:

Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 20, 2020 11:13 AM in response to jkinva

Are you using Photos for Mac with iCloud Photos?

If not, the best way to get a backup of your photos would be to get yourself an external volume and download the photos from the iCloud webpage at www.icloud.com. Or create an empty Photos Library on the external volume and let Photos download the photos from iCloud to the new, empty library. This would be the better way, because it will also save the albums and adjustments.

See this page for more details:

Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support

Oct 20, 2020 10:36 AM in response to jkinva

Reduce the Mac storage https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251789307

Open finder > Go > home > your user name > pictures either drag and drop Photos Library.photoslibrary to an external hard drive , the second method is right click on Photos Library.photoslibrary and click on show package contents in the upcoming column , you can also drag and drop complete masters folder to an external hard drive that is connected https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mchl027f1d66/mac

How to Create a External Backup of iCloud Photos

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