It says "Uploading x items" but Photos is set to "Download originals to this Mac"

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Level 1

9 points

It says "Uploading x items" but Photos is set to "Download originals to this Mac"

I have an iMac that I use to store all the originals that have been synced to iCloud from an iPhone and a Photos library on a laptop.

When I start up the Photos library on the iMac I see the message at the bottom it says "Uploading x items". That seems strange, as it is only really supposed to "Download originals to this Mac"!!

I have been editing my library on both the phone and the laptop, so there are many photos that have been deleted since the last time that I synced this iMac to "Download originals to this Mac".

I just want to make sure that it's not just uploading all the photos that were deleted during hours of editing on the other devices....

Basically, it doesn't make any sense that it would "Upload x items..." as NO NEW items have been added on the iMac.

Can anyone explain this?

MacBook Pro 15″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Dec 12, 2021 12:32 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

23,954 points

Dec 13, 2021 2:24 PM in response to TonyCollinet

That is normal - stuff needs to be uploaded from your mac into icloud - as well as downloaded from iCloud to your mac - even when download originals is set.

If a complete sync is triggered (eg with a macos update, or turning off/on icloud - or repairing the library - probably some other triggers), then every thing in your library is compared in both directions.

Don't worry - even though it says uploading you will still have originals on your mac.

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Answer 2

Dec 12, 2021 2:05 PM in response to Spectre69

Well if you edit any photos on the mac, then edited items will need to be uploaded.

It is also possible (eg - if you've upgraded your mac, or turned iCloud off/on - or a number of other triggers) that a complete new sync of the library has been started - which will include both an upload of what is on your mac, and a download from iCloud - even if that has already been done in the past.

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Answer 3

Spectre69 Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 13, 2021 12:57 PM in response to Ozzie1910

Thank you. However, I DO want the "Download originals to this mac..." setting!

The other devices are set as your screenshots.

What is confusing is the mention of "Uploading..."

As I said, I don't want the machine to "Upload" photos that I have already deleted on other devices.

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Answer 4

Spectre69 Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 13, 2021 1:02 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Yes, I understand that if I edited any photos they would need to upload. However, this machine is simply to download originals and back them up. It says that it is "Uploading..." thousands of items.

So, I did upgrade both the phone and the laptop OS recently including new versions of Photos. The old iMac has an old version of photos.

Do you know if the iCloud photos database is the 'master' so to speak? So, whatever, I sync, it will always sync from the state of the iCloud database?

As I said, I deleted a lot of photos from the laptop. Those library edits were synced to iCloud. Then, I turned on the iMac and it is telling me that it needs to "Upload". I would be fine to let it run, it it is just going to sync to the latest state of the iCloud library. But, since that actually has fewer photos, the "Uploading" thousands of items doesn't make any sense.

Thank you.

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Answer 5

Spectre69 Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 14, 2021 3:33 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Thank you Tony. :)

I'm confident that the originals will stay on my Mac.

My issue is that I don't want to "upload" all the photos that have already been deleted on other devices. Meaning, I spent hours editing down my database on the laptop and I just want the iMac to sync to the state of the iCloud and actually "Download" any new photos taken with the iPhone.

The iMac has zero NEW photos that need to be uploaded! It needs to be sync'd, meaning it actually should be deleting photos from the iMac library.

I guess that I would be fine if the dialogue said that it was syncing the database. "Uploading photos" makes no sense at all. Again, there are zero NEW photos to upload from the iMac. There are ONLY OLD photos that have been deleted on other devices.

Just being careful, as iPhoto and Photos are so precarious....

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Answer 6

Ozzie1910

Level 4

3,114 points

Dec 12, 2021 2:16 PM in response to TonyCollinet

You must the same amount of pictures in all your apple devices and the settings must like this in your Mac and iPhone to have them synchronized

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It says "Uploading x items" but Photos is set to "Download originals to this Mac"

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