iCloud Photos (formerly called iCloud Photo Library) is a part of Apple’s iCloud suite of services that stores your entire photo library in iCloud. This way, you can access your photos on any device supported by iCloud that uses the same Apple ID.

It automatically manages your photo collection so that you can spend more time focusing on taking new pictures. There’s a lot to learn about how iCloud Photos works, so we’ll share some tips and tricks to get more from it below.

1. Manage Your Local Storage With iCloud Photos

When you enable iCloud Photos, it uploads your entire photo collection to iCloud and makes it accessible on other devices. The Photos app stores a version of all those photos, depending on the settings you choose.

Download Originals to this [Device] or Download and Keep Originals stores the full-resolution version of photos and videos on both the device and iCloud. Choose this option if your device has enough storage space to fit your entire photo collection. On an iOS device, this option is off by default.

Optimize [Device] Storage stores a compressed version of photos and videos on the device. The full-sized copy remains in iCloud. Photos discards the original versions and replaces them with thumbnails on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, then downloads the originals again whenever you need them.

If you want to edit a photo, Photos will download the full version from iCloud. To make sure you have a copy of your original images, you’ll want to make sure at least one device keeps everything at the original quality. You can then make a backup with Time Machine or a third-party backup app. You can also download your original photos from iCloud.com.

2. Using Photo Stream Instead of iCloud Photos

With Photo Stream, your Mac, iPhone, or iPad automatically uploads newly taken or imported photos to the cloud, from where they go to the My Photo Stream album on all your devices. But if iCloud Photos also does all these things, then what’s the point of Photo Stream?

Related: How to Decide Which iCloud Storage Plan Is Right for You

The minimum system requirements for iCloud Photos are iOS 8.3, OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, and iCloud for Windows 7. If you don’t meet these criteria and don’t want to pay for extra storage, Photo Stream remains an excellent replacement for iCloud Photos.

The Limitations of Photo Stream

There are some downsides to using Photo Stream instead of iCloud Photos, though:

  • Photos in My Photo Stream remain in iCloud for 30 days. That should be sufficient time to back up your photos manually. After that, they are removed from iCloud.
  • No matter how many photos My Photo Stream uploads to the cloud, the local Photo Stream album on any iOS or iPadOS device only keeps up to 1,000 images.
  • My Photo Stream doesn’t support videos, live photos, and formats such as HEIF or HEVC.
  • My Photo Stream works only when the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network, not cellular data.
  • Photos are stored in full-resolution on Mac but compressed for iOS and iPadOS devices.

Despite these limitations, you may want to keep Photo Stream enabled if you want to stream your recent images on an Apple TV, for example. Pick one device, like your Mac, and activate it there.

3. Share Using Shared Albums

Shared Albums are a private way to share digital memories with friends and family. At first, you create an album, then invite others to subscribe to it via email. Subscribers can like what you post, add comments, and even add their own photos if you allow them.

Once you create a shared album, it syncs your photos on every device for free. But Apple has added certain limitations. For example, you can only hold a maximum of 5,000 photos or videos up to 15 minutes long. Check out Apple’s My Photo Stream and Shared Albums limits page for more details.

How to Enable Shared Albums

On a Mac: Open the Photos app and select Photos > Preferences from the menu bar. Then, switch to the iCloud tab and activate the switch next to Shared Albums.

iCloud tab in Photos Preferences on Mac.

On an iPhone or iPad: Open the Settings app. Then, scroll down and tap Photos. Finally, turn on the switch next to Shared Albums.

How to Create Shared Albums

On a Mac: Select Shared Albums from the Photos sidebar and use the tiny Add (+) icon to create shared albums. Then, drag and drop photos into a shared album. Or, select the album and click Add photos and videos to add items.

Adding items to a shared album on Mac.

On an iPhone or iPad: Select the photos you want to share and tap the Share icon. Then, tap Add to Shared Album and pick an existing shared album or create a new album. You can find shared albums that you create under the Shared Albums section of the Albums tab (iPhone) or Photos sidebar (iPad).

How to Edit Shared Albums

To change the album settings on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, select a shared album and tap or click the People icon.

Managing shared albums on Mac.

You can then invite more people, let subscribers add their own photos, create a public website (available to anyone with a shared URL), show notifications if they add a comment, and more.

4. Understand the System Photo Library

When you first launch Photos, it lets you create a new library or select the existing library. Apple designates it as System Photo Library. It’s the only library that iCloud uses, and iCloud-enabled apps have access to it. By default, it lives in the Pictures folder.

Photos app Preferences screen on Mac.

You can create additional photo libraries to reduce the space taken by iCloud Photos and backups. However, you can only work in one photo library at a time. If you switch to a different library and re-enable iCloud Photos, the newly selected system photo library will merge with the one already synced to iCloud.

Related: A Guide to Moving Your Mac Photos Library to an External Drive

5. Back Up Your iCloud Photos to Cloud Storage

One drive failure can wipe out all your photos in an instant. The solution is to ensure you have a reliable backup system in place. We recommend making an online backup, a duplicate backup on an external hard drive, and an offsite backup.

Our first choice is Google Photos. There are some excellent reasons for using Google Photos over iCloud Photos. Setting up is easy.

In Google Photos on your iOS or iPadOS device, tap the Profile icon and choose Photos settings. Toggle the Backup & Sync switch and allow Google Photos to access your entire photo library. Then, select the Upload size setting you prefer.

Microsoft’s OneDrive is another good option. In the OneDrive mobile app, tap the Profile icon and choose Settings. Then, toggle the Camera Upload switch. All the photos and videos on your device and any new ones will get uploaded to OneDrive.

6. Do Photos Stay in iCloud Forever?

What will happen to your photos if you stop paying for an iCloud storage subscription? Your devices keep the photos that are already saved, but syncing between them comes to a halt. Also, your photos will eventually be deleted from the cloud, but Apple doesn’t say when that happens.

If you chose to Download Originals to this [Device] on a Mac, your Mac becomes the only device with the full-resolution version of your photos. But if you selected Optimize Storage, that could leave you with only low-resolution copies of your photos.

7. Using iCloud Photos in Windows and on the Web

You can access every photo and video stored in iCloud Photos from iCloud.com. Click the Photos icon, and within a few minutes, you’ll see an interface similar to the Photos app for iPadOS, albeit a little less capable. You can upload, download, view, and delete photos.

In the left panel, you’ll see all the albums you created and photos sorted according to the Media Types. You can add items to new albums, but it doesn’t let you see shared albums, create projects, or play slideshows.

Photos web app on iCloud.com.

To access your photos from a PC, download the iCloud for Windows app and sign in with your Apple ID. Then, check Photos, click the Options button next to Photos, and check iCloud Photos to turn on automatic uploads and downloads of photos and videos.

Related: How to Use iCloud on a Windows PC

Check Shared Albums to share your photos. You can also customize the location of your Shared Albums folder if there is too little space on your PC’s system partition. Click Done when you’re finished.

iCloud for Windows app.

Note: My Photo Stream is no longer available in the latest version of iCloud for Windows.

Keep Your Photos Under Control

iCloud has several components that deal with photos, and keeping track of them can be tough. iCloud Photos can back up your entire photo library and sync them across your devices. My Photo Stream is best for those who don’t use iCloud Photos and wish to sync their most recent pictures. And Shared albums lets you organize and share photos with others.

The tips discussed here show you how each component works and ways to use them effectively. While iCloud Photos will automatically introduce some order to your photo library, there is still more you can do to better organize your photos.