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I cannot get my Mac (Ventura) to sync Photos with my icloud account. Icloud photos is turned on all my devices, and I can see the pictures in icloud.com, but cannot get them to sync with my Photos app on my Macbook Pro (Ventura). I am connected to wifi and have checked all my Photos and MacBook settings.
MacBook Pro 16″
Hello gcook1868,
You came from the best resource for setting up iCloud Photos on your Mac: Set up and use iCloud Photos
Depending on your iCloud Photo Library size and the network speeds, it may take some time for these photos to show up on the Mac in the Photos app. We'd recommend staying connected to a good working Wi-Fi network and make sure iCloud Photos is enabled on the Mac.
Some things to keep in mind:
In case the issue continues to occur, are you using the same iCloud account on these devices? Are you missing photos on other devices or only the Mac? The more we can understand, the better we can assist.
Hoping to hear how it goes, take care.
This issue only occurs on my Mac that is running Ventura 13.1. Photos on my Mac is version 8.0.
I am not using a VPN or security software (other than the Mac Ventura operating system).
I have 300 Mbps download speed / 11 Mbps upload speed and am connected to Wifi all the time at my house where I do most of my work.
On my Mac, I have iCloud Photos turned on.
When I open my Mac Photos, it shows it is pointing to a Photos system library (.photoslibrary) stored in my iCloud account. This is not the Shared Library that I want it to point to, but an old version of my Photos library.
When I go to Photos / Settings and select Shared Library, it gives me a screen with the only option being to "learn more." It takes me right back to this help page (not helpful).
When I go to my Photos / Settings, under "General" it shows I am using a library on my iCloud that is not the Shared Library; however, the only options on this screen are to "Show in Finder" or "Use as System Library." If I select "Use as System Library" it warns me I will have to turn off iCloud Photos to proceed and that once I turn of iCloud Photos I can no longer access them in iCloud.
Shared Library Help screen information says I should have an invitation to accept from when I created my Shared Library, but I can't send an invitation to myself as I am the Shared Library owner? No invitation shows in Photos for me to accept.
How can I point my Photos to the Shared Library? When I go to iCloud.com, I can see the Shared Library photos, and I can also see them on my iPhone; however, I can't point Photos on my Mac to the Library -- on Mac Finder there is no Shared Library showing in my iCloud account and I cannot see a .photoslibrary type file in my iCloud account.
I am logged into iCloud on my Mac with the same login as the one I use to access the Shared Library on my iPhone and on iCloud.com, yet I cannot connect my Mac Photos app to this Shared Library. All I can see it the old library that is an incomplete version of the Shared Library.
Could you please clarify what you mean by "When I open my Mac Photos, it shows it is pointing to a Photos system library (.photoslibrary) stored in my iCloud account. This is not the Shared Library that I want it to point to, but an old version of my Photos library. "? Does "stored in my iCloud account" mean, that the library is stored in your Pictures folder in your user home folder, where it should be?
What you need to do to get your Mac syncing with your shared iCloud Photos Library is to make the library that you have been using on your Mac and that you want to upload into iCloud Photos and the Shared library your System Photos Library and then enable iCloud Photos for it.
If you are already having a library syncing with iCloud Photos on your Mac, use this library. You can check, which library is currently used as your System Photos Library, if you quit Photos, then launch it again, while holding down the options key ⌥ . Release the key, when the dialog to pick a library appears. In this dialog one of the libraries should be marked as System Photos Library. When you select I, a line at the bottom will show you the path to this library, like this:
If you find your system photos library, select and open it. Check, if the path is pointing to a suitable folder. The library should be in your Pictures folder. It must not be on iCloud Drive or in a shred folder or any kind of synced folder.
Check, if iCloud Photo is enabled for this library and check, if your missing cloud photos are there. You can only have one iCloud Photos Library and join only one Shared library. So you should use the existing one.
If there is no current system photos Library, open the last used library and make it the System Photos Library, enable iCloud Photos.
icloud.com account photos won't sync to MacBook Pro (Ventura)
