Unable to access iCloud photos on iMac after attempting home sharing setup

I’ve been using one of my older iMacs to run a repeating slideshow of my iCloud photos (23,000+).

It was working great until I tried to set up home sharing. I’m not sure if I was successful turning it off.

Now I am unable to access the iCloud photos on the iMac.

I chatted with apple support but wasn’t able to find a solution so I ended the chat.

I’ve checked and double-checked all the system and photo settings but am still unable to download my photos to the iMac. Everything works ok on my MacBook.


i-cloud & MacBook windows show 2 libraries (“shared” & “personal”) in a toggle window:

Photos on the iMac running Catalina do not have that widow. Option/start Photos shows a library choice but they are neither “shared” or “personal”.

i must be missing something.

[Edited by Moderator]

Original Title: download originals to mac