Joined a family Shared Photo Library? Every photo in it can land on your Mac too
A Shared Photo Library uses only the creator's iCloud storage, but it downloads to every member's Mac. How to see and control the local cost.
Your family set up an iCloud Shared Photo Library and everyone's holiday photos now appear in your Photos app. That is the point of it. It also means those photos are part of your library on your Mac, not just in the cloud.
Whose storage it uses
| Storage | Who pays for it |
|---|---|
| iCloud | Only the person who created the Shared Library |
| Your Mac's disk | Everyone whose Mac shows it |
That split surprises people. Your iCloud plan is fine, but your Mac's disk quietly holds everyone's photos.
Check the effect
du -sh ~/Pictures/*.photoslibraryIn Photos, the button at the top of the library lets you switch between Both Libraries, Personal Library and Shared Library. It changes the view only, not what is stored.
Keeping it under control
- Turn on Optimize Mac Storage in Photos, Settings, iCloud. It applies to shared photos too, keeping smaller versions on the Mac. See Optimize Mac Storage not working for how it behaves.
- Agree on what goes in. The camera can share automatically. On the iPhone, Settings, Photos, Shared Library, Sharing from Camera decides whether photos go to the shared library automatically, only when certain people are nearby, or only manually.
- Leaving the shared library lets you keep everything, or only what you contributed. Keeping everything copies it into your personal library, which does not save space.
More on keeping a library small: Photos library taking up space and shared Mac storage for families.
Common questions
Does an iCloud Shared Photo Library use my storage?
It uses only the creator's iCloud storage. But the photos still download into each member's Photos library on their Mac, which uses local disk space.
How do I stop a shared photo library filling my Mac?
Turn on Optimize Mac Storage in Photos settings so the Mac keeps smaller versions, and agree with the family on what is shared automatically.
If I delete a photo from the Shared Library, is it gone for everyone?
Yes. Deleting from the Shared Library removes it for every member.