Choose where to keep your photos and videos
1 How to Set up iCloud on Mac. To set up iCloud on a Mac, you need to be running Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later. So, if your Mac is not up to date, download and install the latest version before you continue. If it is, follow these simple steps to set up iCloud on your Mac. Step 1: Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu. Photo Stream: Turning on Photo Stream allows your laptop to automatically receive photos from your iOS devices. Take a photo with your iPhone, for example, and that image is immediately pushed to your MacBook, iPad, and iPod touch. On the MacBook, however, Photo Stream goes one step further: The photos appear automatically in iPhoto or Aperture within a special album titled Photo Stream.
Make your photos and videos available on all your devices with iCloud Photos. Or store them locally only on your Mac or PC.
iCloud Photos
iCloud Photos keeps your photos and videos safe, up to date, and available automatically on all of your Apple devices, on iCloud.com, and even your PC. iCloud Photos always uploads and stores your original, full-resolution photos. You can keep full-resolution originals on each of your devices, or save space with device-optimized versions instead. Either way, you can download your originals whenever you need them. Any organizational changes or edits you make are always kept up to date across all your devices.
The photos and videos that you keep in iCloud Photos use your iCloud storage. Before you turn on iCloud Photos, make sure that you have enough space in iCloud to store your entire collection. You can see how much space you need and then upgrade your storage plan if necessary.
Import to your Mac
You can use the Photos app to import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac.
- Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac with a USB cable.
- Open the Photos app.
- The Photos app shows an Import screen with all the photos and videos that are on your connected device. If the Import screen doesn't automatically appear, click the device's name in the Photos sidebar.
- If asked, unlock your iOS device using your passcode. If you see a prompt on your iOS device asking you to Trust This Computer, tap Trust to continue.
- Either select the photos you want to import and click Import Selected, or click Import All New Photos.
- Wait for the process to finish, then disconnect your device from your Mac.
Learn what to do if you can't import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer.
Import to your PC
You can import photos to your PC by connecting your device to your computer and using the Windows Photos app:
- Make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes on your PC. Importing photos to your PC requires iTunes 12.5.1 or later.
- Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your PC with a USB cable.
- If asked, unlock your iOS device using your passcode.
- If you see a prompt on your iOS device asking you to Trust This Computer, tap Trust or Allow to continue.
Then, visit Microsoft's website to learn how to import photos to the Windows Photos app in Windows 10.
If you have iCloud Photos turned on, you need to download the original, full resolution versions of your photos to your iPhone before you import to your PC. Find out how.
When you import videos from your iOS device to your PC, some might be rotated incorrectly in the Windows Photos app. You can add these videos to iTunes to play them in the correct orientation.
Learn what to do if you can't import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer.
Learn more
- Use Time Machine to back up all of your files, including your photos and videos, to an external hard drive.
- Import photos and video from storage media, like a hard disk or SD card, to Photos for macOS.
- Use a scanner and Image Capture to import photos that were taken with a film camera.
- Import your images directly to a folder on your Mac with Image Capture.
Thanks for posting your question in the Apple Support Community. I understand that you'd like to turn off the ability for your photos to sync between your devices.
It sounds like you have iCloud Photo Library enabled for your iCloud account. This allows you to keep the photos up to date on all of your devices. Any time you make a change on one device (like deleting a photo), that change happens on all other devices where your iCloud photo library is turned on. You have the option to either disable it on only one device, or all of your devices. You can follow the steps to turn it off here:
How do I turn off iCloud Photo Library on only one device?
You can turn off iCloud Photo Library on a single device when you follow these steps:
- On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
- If you use iOS 10.3 or later, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos, then turn off iCloud Photo Library.
- If you use iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Photos and turn off iCloud Photo Library.
- On your Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud > Options next to Photos, then deselect iCloud Photo Library.
- On your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV (4th generation), go to Settings > Accounts > iCloud. Under Photos, press Select to turn off iCloud Photo Library.
If you have Optimize Storage turned on, you might not have all of your original photos and videos on your device. To download the original photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then select Download Originals to this Mac. Then you can turn off iCloud Photo Library. You can also select the photos and videos that you want to download from iCloud.com.
Before you turn off iCloud Photo Library, you might want to make a copy of your photos and videos.
How do I remove all iCloud Photo Library content from iCloud and my devices?
To turn off your iCloud Photo Library everywhere, follow these steps:
- On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
- If you use iOS 10.3 or later, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Storage > Manage Storage > iCloud Photo Library, then select Disable and Delete.
- If you use iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage > iCloud Photo Library, then select Disable and Delete.
- On your Mac, go to Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud. Click Manage, select Photo Library, then select Disable and delete.
Photos and videos are stored in your account for 30 days. To download your photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then select Download Originals to this Mac. You can also select the photos and videos that you want to download from iCloud.com.
Download Photos From Icloud To Mac Air Pro
Get help with your iCloud Photo Library
If you decide to turn off iCloud Photo Library on your devices, then you'll need to keep your photos up to date on your devices using another method. You can use these steps to Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Take care.
How Do I Download Photos From Icloud
Apr 2, 2018 2:26 PM