iCloud & iCloud Photos · iCloud Photos and the Photos library

What happens if I turn off iCloud Photos on my Mac?

Short answer: Syncing stops but your iCloud library is untouched. If Optimize Mac Storage is on, some originals exist only in iCloud — switch to Download Originals and let it finish before turning iCloud Photos off.

Your Mac stops syncing with iCloud Photos, but your library in iCloud stays as it is. What's left on the Mac depends on your setting: with Download Originals, the full library remains on the Mac; with Optimize Mac Storage, some originals were only in iCloud, and Photos will warn you that those won't be on this Mac.

Before you turn it off with Optimize Mac Storage on:

  1. Switch to Download Originals to this Mac in Photos → Settings → iCloud.
  2. Make sure you have the free space and let the download finish.
  3. Then turn off iCloud Photos.

If space is the problem, free it first — for example by relocating other large folders to your fast drive with Storage Studio — rather than turning off iCloud Photos to save room.

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