Download photos from two icloud libraries on external drive

I have an external drive with two photo libraries in it. One is my iCloud Photo Library linked to my iCloud account. The other is my husband’s linked to his iCloud account.


I just got a new MacBook. I want to download the rest of the originals from my iCloud account into my library on the external drive. And download the rest of my husband’s photos from his iCloud account into his library on the external drive.


how do I set each library on the external drive to only download the pictures from the respective iCloud account?



Posted on Sep 12, 2025 5:05 PM

Reply
5 replies

Sep 15, 2025 7:58 AM in response to lulu0915

The "Ignore Ownership" box need to be check on an APFS drive.

It has nothing to do with Libraries, except that they don't work without it being checked.


I think it's unclear exactly what you want. Do you want on Library on your Mac with all the pictures from both accounts? If that's it, then you're right--


Start with a new empty Library, connect to his account, and your Mac's Library will fill with his pictures from iCloud. But since your new Library started empty, it won't change his Library. This could take days. Then, disconnect from his account and sign in to your account. All of "his" pictures will be copied to your iCloud Photos, and then all of "your" pictures which were already in iCloud will be copied back to your new Mac Library.


His Library remains the same; yours has all the pictures. But, you're not connected to his account, so when he adds pictures, you don't automatically get them.


Is that it? or something else?


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.

Download photos from two icloud libraries on external drive

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