Added: After you delete the Photos Library from your Mac you can only access the photos in iCloud using the web interface and the Photos.app on the www.icloud.com page. You cannot access iCloud Photo Library using Photos on your Mac, unless you make a photos library on an external drive your System Photos Library. As long as iCloud Photo Library is enabled on your Mac the photos will download again.
- That's actually pretty easy to do. The basic idea is to launch Photos with the Option key held down. This gives you the option to make a new empty library. Then make that new library your 'System Library' in Photos, Preferences, General. Then all of your iCloud Photos will start downloading into the new library as it syncs.
- How to create a new user account on the Mac. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen. Select System Preferences from the drop down menu. Click on Users & Groups. Click the lock in the lower left corner to make changes.
- IPhoto Buddy uses a simple, streamlined interface that was inspired by iPhoto itself and is similar to iPhoto Library Manager. If you have multiple photo libraries on your Mac, you can choose one to be the System Photo Library. The System Photo Library is the only library that can be used with iCloud Photos, Shared Albums, and My Photo Stream.
In iPhoto Library Manager click the New Library button to create a new library—call it something like Pictures from 2005. Save that library to your external hard drive. Save that library to your.
To avoid having a large Photos Library on your Mac
- either use a library on an external drive with Photos and iCloud Photo Library
- or use a small Photos Library on your internal drive without iCloud Photos Library enabled and use the web interface to access your Photos in iCloud
- or disable iCloud Photo Library completely on your Mac and use only the web interface to iCloud Photo Library.
Dec 27, 2015 8:09 AM
Photos in your System Photo Library are available in apps like iMovie, Pages, and Keynote. You can also sync them to iOS devices and view them on Apple TV. And if you want to use your own images as your desktop picture or screen saver, the images need to be in your System Photo Library before you can select them in System Preferences.
If you have only one photo library, then it's the System Photo Library. Otherwise, the first photo library that you create or open in Photos will become the System Photo Library. If you have more than one library, you might need to designate a System Photo Library, so other apps can access the photos and videos you want them to use.
Follow these steps to designate a System Photo Library:
Mac Photo Create New System Library Project
- Quit Photos.
- Hold down the Option key and open Photos. One of the photo libraries is already designated as YourLibraryName (System Photo Library).
- Choose the library you want to designate as the System Photo Library.
- After Photos opens the library, choose Photos > Preferences from the menu bar.
- Click the General tab.
- Click the Use as System Photo Library button.
If you open a second or different library in the Photos app, and you haven't designated it as the System Photo Library, other applications will use photos from the original System Photo Library. Hold down the Option key when you open Photos to see which library is set as the System Photo Library.
Mac Photo Library Management
iCloud and the System Photo Library
You can use iCloud Photos, Shared Albums, and My Photo Stream only with the System Photo Library. If you choose a different library in Photos without designating it as the System Photo Library, the iCloud tab in Photos preferences is disabled:
Mac Photo Library Files
If you designate a new library as the System Photo Library and then turn on iCloud Photos, the photos and videos in the new library will merge with those already in your iCloud Photos. If you want to keep the contents of your photo libraries separate, don't turn on iCloud Photos for more than one library in Photos.
