My Mac Photos albums and folders syncing to iCloud and showing on iPhone/iPad?

Hi all! On my Mac I’ve organized Photos into Folders and Albums. I recently enabled iCloud Photos and all images have uploaded correctly. On iPhone/iPad (and iCloud.com) I can see the photos sorted by date, but none of my Albums/Folder structure shows up.

What I’ve checked / tried

  • These are regular albums (not Smart Albums).
  • Created a test album on the Mac (“TEST iCloud”) → it doesn’t appear on iPhone/iPad/iCloud.com.
  • The Mac library is the System Photo Library (button is greyed out).
  • iCloud Photos / Sync this Mac is ON in Photos settings and in System Settings (same Apple ID on all devices).

Question

How can I get the Albums and Folders from the Mac Photos library to sync/appear on iOS and iCloud.com?

Is there a way to force a metadata reindex/resync or any known limitations (e.g., Shared Library, referenced files, etc.) that could block album syncing?

Any tips or steps to troubleshoot would be much appreciated. Thanks!

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Sep 7, 2025 8:37 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 7, 2025 9:18 AM

How long have you waited? The album and folder structure arrives separately from the images, themselves.

The pictures sort by date in the Library view. Have you opened the Albums section with the little down arrow,

turning it from > to ∨ ?


This is my iPad



This is my Photos at iCloud.com

They both look like my Mac. There's nothing special; that's the design.


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 7, 2025 9:18 AM in response to camilopinhon

How long have you waited? The album and folder structure arrives separately from the images, themselves.

The pictures sort by date in the Library view. Have you opened the Albums section with the little down arrow,

turning it from > to ∨ ?


This is my iPad



This is my Photos at iCloud.com

They both look like my Mac. There's nothing special; that's the design.


This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

My Mac Photos albums and folders syncing to iCloud and showing on iPhone/iPad?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.