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iMac photos to iCloud issue?

Hi- I have 350 GB library of 70,000 photos and am trying to move to 2TB iCloud for first time. It's just not uploading- my library is so big. How can I get this to work?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Aug 19, 2020 1:23 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 19, 2020 1:45 PM

dropm97 wrote:

Hi- I have 350 GB library of 70,000 photos and am trying to move to 2TB iCloud for first time. It's just not uploading- my library is so big. How can I get this to work?

That size of library will take time. It is not a simple FTP upload.


And to be clear, you are not moving those files. iCloud Photos is a syncing service, not off device storage.


To some degree, your photos will be present on both your Mac and iCloud.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 19, 2020 1:45 PM in response to dropm97

dropm97 wrote:

Hi- I have 350 GB library of 70,000 photos and am trying to move to 2TB iCloud for first time. It's just not uploading- my library is so big. How can I get this to work?

That size of library will take time. It is not a simple FTP upload.


And to be clear, you are not moving those files. iCloud Photos is a syncing service, not off device storage.


To some degree, your photos will be present on both your Mac and iCloud.

Aug 20, 2020 11:54 AM in response to LACAllen

Thank you! I do see it's working now-- 2 days later it's now moved 4,000 photos, so it's working, just very slowly!


I haven't fully thought about the difference between a syncing service and off device storage. If something happens to my Mac, all of my pictures will still exist in the cloud, yes? If my Mac dies and I don't get another Mac, will I still be able to use my pictures in the cloud as I normally would?

Aug 20, 2020 11:59 AM in response to dropm97

If something happens to my Mac, all of my pictures will still exist in the cloud, yes? If my Mac dies and I don't get another Mac, will I still be able to use my pictures in the cloud as I normally would?

If you keep them synced, yes.


Your photos were not "moved" to iCloud. That's the term you used. Your photos are still present on your Mac, in addition to being on iCloud.


If your Mac crashes, signing in to iCloud again will sync your photos from iCloud back to your Mac.


It is key you understand that you can't now delete photos from your Mac, using the logic they are in iCloud.



iMac photos to iCloud issue?

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