If you’re looking to free up space on your desktop, one effective solution is to delete photos from your Mac while keeping your files organized. At the same time, it is critical to save access to your cloud-stored photos. This is especially true for users who have limited storage capacity on their devices but want to keep their memories safe and accessible from wherever.
Accordingly, many users face challenges when they delete photos on a Mac, as this often leads to their removal from iCloud due to synchronization. This happens because of synchronization. It automatically updates changes on all connected devices. Yet there are methods you can use to delete photos without them disappearing from iCloud. Here are various ways and useful tips on how to do it in the best possible direction.
Before we get into the specifics, you first comprehend how syncing between your Mac and iCloud operates.
iCloud images instantly stores all of your images and videos to iCloud, making them available across all of your devices. When you make changes, they are automatically synced to all of your devices that share the same Apple ID. That implies that if you change or delete photos on your Mac, it is likewise removed from iCloud and other devices if syncing is enabled.
This can be troublesome if you want to fast free up space on your Mac while still storing your photos in iCloud without spending too much time on it.
We’d like to expose you to the following ways for deleting images from your Mac and storing them in iCloud. Here is a more detailed look at each of them.
This method means that you disable photo synchronization between your Mac and iCloud. This way, deleting photos on your Mac won’t affect what’s stored in iCloud. To successfully disable it, follow steps below.
In the left pane, select iCloud Find Photos in the list of services Uncheck the box next to it By following these few simple steps, you disable synchronization and can delete photos from your Mac without worrying about them disappearing from iCloud.
Caution This method stops new photos from syncing between your Mac and iCloud. If you want to keep uploading new photos from your Mac to iCloud, this might not be the right method for you.
Use Third-Party Cloud Services If you don’t want to use iCloud to save your images, you can use third-party services instead. Examples include Dropbox, Google Photos, and OneDrive. To accomplish this, take these steps.
Install the cloud service of your choice on your Mac Before you delete them from your Mac, make sure the photos are successfully uploaded After you confirm the deletion, you can clear the images from your Mac Notice Using third-party services provides an extra layer of backup, significantly reducing the risk of accidentally having to delete photos that are important to you.
Using a Separate Photo Library By creating a separate library of photos, you can organize and delete photos from your Mac without affecting iCloud. To do this, do the following.
Close the Photos app on your Mac Go to the Pictures folder Find the file Photos Library.photoslibrary Create a new empty library:
Hold down the Option key and open the Photos app, In the library selection window, click Create New , Give the new library a name, Save it in the Pictures folder
Set the new library as the system one: In the Photos app, go to Settings , On the General tab, click the Use as System photo library button. After completing the steps above, you have two separate libraries—one for photos that are synced to iCloud and another for local photos. This setup allows you to manage storage efficiently and delete photos from your Mac without affecting those stored in iCloud. You can switch between libraries by holding down the Option key when launching the Photos app and selecting the one you want.
Notice Photos added to your local library won’t be uploaded to iCloud, and vice versa.
Use Virtual Machines or a Separate User Account If you want to have access to your images without taking up space on your main Mac profile, you can establish a new user profile. To accomplish this, do the following.
And now you have a new profile where you can store photos without overloading your main account.
Using a Virtual Machine Using a virtual machine, such as Parallels or VirtualBox, allows you to create a separate environment on your Mac where you can store and manage photos without using your main system’s storage. To accomplish this, follow these steps:
Install a program for creating virtual machines Set up a separate disk for photos inside the virtual environment Upload photos to it without taking up space on your main Mac drive Image Source: depositphotos.com
Extra Tips for Managing Photos on Your Mac For better photo management on your Mac, consider using an external storage device such as an SSD or external hard drive to free up space while keeping your images safe. Regularly clearing your Mac’s cache can also help remove unnecessary files that take up storage . Additionally, enabling Apple’s Storage Optimization feature ensures that full-size photos are stored in iCloud while only optimized versions remain on your Mac, helping to maximize available disk space without losing access to your photos.
Clear the Photos Cache Mac keeps cached data of photos. They can take up a significant amount of memory, so you need to get rid of them. Follow these steps to make sure you don’t delete anything unnecessary.
Press Command + Shift + G Type `~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Photos` Delete the contents of the cache folder Use an External Storage Device You can free up space on your Mac without losing the memories in your photos forever by storing your files on an SSD or external hard drive. This allows you to safely delete photos from your Mac while keeping them securely backed up. To successfully apply this tip, do the following.
Connect the external drive to your Mac Make sure the disk is in APFS or Mac OS Extended format. You can check this in Disk Utility Drag the folder with photos to the disk After copying, check that you have successfully transferred all the files Delete the files from your Mac Storage Optimization Apple offers a feature called Storage Optimization, which helps manage space efficiently. It automatically saves full-size versions of photos to iCloud while keeping only thumbnail copies on your Mac. This allows you to delete photos from your local storage without losing access to them in iCloud. To enable the feature, follow the steps below.
Select Optimize Mac storage This way you can free up a lot of disk space and still keep your photos available in iCloud.
Archiving Photos Before Deleting Them Archiving your photos is another viable option. This way, you can create a copy of all or part of your photos and store them in a safe place before you delete photos from your Mac. Here are three ways to archive your photos: Creating a ZIP archive, Using a flash drive or DVD, and Using Time Machine.
Create a ZIP Archive Select photos or a folder with photos 2. Right-click and select Compress
3. Save the resulting ZIP archive to an external storage device or to the cloud
Burn to a DVD or Flash Drive Insert a flash drive or DVD Drag and drop the necessary files to the media Check that all files are saved Then delete them from your Mac Use Time Machine Connect an external drive Turn on Time Machine in System Preferences Select the disk to back up Optimizing and Compressing Photos Before Saving Them You can ensure that your photos take up less space by optimizing them before archiving. This makes it easier to delete photos from your Mac while keeping optimized copies stored safely. To do this, you can use the built-in Preview to reduce the size or use ImageOptim or TinyPNG services. These services will help you compress photos without significant loss of quality.
Use Preview to Reduce the Size Open the photo in Preview Reduce the quality to 80-85% Automatic Photo Deletion to Free Up Space If you find yourself having to clear your Mac’s memory of photos quite often, you might want to consider automated methods.
Use Automator to Automatically Move Photos Select Create a new workflow Add the action Find images Set up a filter. For example, older than 1 year Add a Move files to folder action Choose an external disk or cloud storage Set it up as a regular task Smart Folders to Quickly Find Large Photos Go to Create a new smart folder Click the “+” button in the upper right corner Add another filter by selecting “File size ” You’ve now created an automatic folder that will contain only large photos that you can view and delete.
Additional But No Less Important Tips Regardless of which approach you use, you need first determine how much space your photos take up. It’s also crucial to understand how to restore deleted images if you make a mistake.
Check How Much Space your Photos Take Up Here you’ll see how much space your favorite photos take up, and you can also clear the cache or delete photos that are no longer relevant.
Recover Deleted Photos If you mistakenly erase images from your Mac, there are various options for recovering them.
Restore from a Time Machine Backup Connect the disk with the backup Recover from Recently Deleted Select the photos you want to recover Restore via iCloud.com Conclusion Deleting photos from your Mac without deleting them from iCloud is a perfectly possible process if you want to optimize your disk space. You can use different methods. Each of them is described in detail in the article above. We’ve also shared more tips for you to help you understand the process even better. The choice depends on your requirements and preferences. Please, let us hope that this article has helped you find the best solution.
