iCloud & iCloud Photos · iCloud Photos and the Photos library

How do I move old photos out of iCloud Photos to an external drive to free iCloud space?

Short answer: Download the originals, export them with File → Export → Export Unmodified Original to your external drive, check them and keep a second copy, then delete them in Photos and empty Recently Deleted. Deleting removes them from every device.

Copy the originals out first, check them, then delete from iCloud Photos. Deleting in Photos with iCloud Photos on removes the photo from every device and iCloud, so the copy must be safe before you delete.

  1. In Photos settings, make sure this Mac has Download Originals, or download the originals you're archiving.
  2. Select the photos and choose File → Export → Export Unmodified Original to a folder on your external drive.
  3. Open a sample of the exported files to confirm they're complete.
  4. Keep a second copy somewhere else — one drive is not a backup.
  5. Delete them in Photos, then empty Recently Deleted to release the space.

See exporting originals to an external drive.

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