Syncing iPhone and iMac Photos

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 8, 2023

Spent about three hours at the home of a senior having problems after migrating the photos in her Photo app to a new computer, a 2020 MacBook running Ventura.

Nothing we did seemed to work so she ended up purchasing PowerPhotos which worked perfectly. It migrated her old iPhoto Library into her current iPhoto Library eliminating all duplicates when it did so and, much to her delight, populated all her unpopulated Photos folders & albums.

But, now there is another problem: her iPhone, her iPad, and her iCloud.com account all show some 40,000 photos whereas Photos on her MB Pro show about 12,000 photos.

Several hours later, the numbers hadn’t changed [Give it time to sync, was the advice] and after shutting down and restarting her phone, the discrepancy persists.

Her iPhone does show that some 4,000 photos are duplicates, but once she has sorted those out, there will still be a difference of thousands of photos between her MB Pro all her other Apple devices.

I have searched for a solution but have not found any sure-fire fix, even among the Apple Support documents like this one

If your iCloud Photos are not syncing - Apple Support

If your photos or videos won't sync to iCloud Photos on your device, learn how to check the status of your photo library and what to do if you see a status message.

support.apple.com

Do any of you know how to put those devices in sync?

MacInWin · Jul 8, 2023

Ian should come along eventually, he is the wizard of all things Photos here. However, to sync, all devices need to be logged into the same AppleID account and sync has to be turned ON on all devices. What I am not sure of is what will happen when sync does start. Will the Mac jump up to 40,000, or will the others come down to 12,000?

As for the time it takes, it depends on many things. Sync is a low priority task and may take hours (even days) to complete. It only runs when Photos is open, whether active or not, and nothing else is happening. You said she had a 2020 Mac, with Ventura, but didn't provide models for the iPhone and iPad, or the version of iOS and iPadOS. You might provide that for Ian, or anyone else, so that we can be sure they are all compatible.

IWT · Jul 9, 2023

Good afternoon, @SpeedThree5500.

Jake overstates my abilities, but here are a few ideas to test. Much of what I'm going to suggest may well have been done, but check to make sure.

There is a lot to go through and I'm sorry for that; but I assure you it's all relevant.

On your MacBook, check out these settings:

Firstly, Open Photos app > now use the Keyboard shortcut - Command plus comma - to enter Photos Preferences > Click on "iCloud" and make sure "iCloud Photos" is ticked.

Mac > System Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Photos On (May need to tap on Show All to find it).

Whilst there, please tell me if "Optimise Mac Storage" is turned On or Off. Ideally, it should be Off, but if it's On - LEAVE it alone for now.

Next, same place, but just below: you will see "Account Storage". Alongside is "Manage". Click on that and tell me what you see there.

In particular, it will tell you how much Storage Space is available to you.

And underneath, you will find how much Storage Space is being taken up by Photos and Backups. (This is important particularly if "Optimise Mac Storage" is On).

____________________________________________________________________________________

On iPhone & iPad > Settings > Photos >" iCloud Photos" is Ticked.

On iPhone & iPad > Settings > Tap on Owner's Name (Apple ID iCloud+ Media & purchases) > iCloud > Show All > Photos On. And below this > iCloud Backup On.

Again on iPhone & iPad > Settings > Mobile Data > Turn Off (for the moment) to restrict syncing to WiFi and then Tap on Mobile Data Options > Data Mode - Make sure Low Data Mode NOT ticked.

You may well have done this, but it pays to be sure.

The purpose of the above is to force Syncing by WiFi only. This is vastly quicker than Mobile Data and cheaper as it's not using that service. This is a temporary measure until we get the Syncing over and done with. Then Mobile Data can be turned On again.

Next, still on iPhone & iPad, just check your iCloud Storage limit in case that's the cause of the slow down. I know we did that for the Mac (Account Storage > Manage), but it's important to do this for iPhone & iPad because there seems to be a discrepancy about storage on each device.

To do this: On iPhone, iPad - Settings > Apple ID > iCloud. At the top alongside iCloud/iCloud+ you should see xGB of yGB used where x is the current amount stored within iCloud Storage and y is the amount of iCloud Storage you have or have paid for.

Syncing needs WiFi (in fact we have insisted that WiFi only will be used for syncing as we have shut down Mobile Data for the time being).

As Jake said, Syncing is low priority and there's a lot of photos (and possibly videos) to be synced via the iCloud to/from Mac, iPhone, iPad.

I've set you a lot of work to do, but I'm not sitting next to you and we need a good starting point.

I do hope this helps

Ian

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 9, 2023

MacInWin said:
Ian should come along eventually, he is the wizard of all things Photos here. However, to sync, all devices need to be logged into the same AppleID account and sync has to be turned ON on all devices. What I am not sure of is what will happen when sync does start. Will the Mac jump up to 40,000, or will the others come down to 12,000?

As for the time it takes, it depends on many things. Sync is a low priority task and may take hours (even days) to complete. It only runs when Photos is open, whether active or not, and nothing else is happening. You said she had a 2020 Mac, with Ventura, but didn't provide models for the iPhone and iPad, or the version of iOS and iPadOS. You might provide that for Ian, or anyone else, so that we can be sure they are all compatible.

You hit the nail on the head: I guess the question is "Which is the 'Master' list? The one in iCloud.com, the iPhone, the iPad, or the iPhone?
Also, I knew it could take time, but not days, and that it only runs when Photos is open.

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 9, 2023

IWT said:
Good afternoon, @SpeedThree5500.

Jake overstates my abilities, but here are a few ideas to test. Much of what I'm going to suggest may well have been done, but check to make sure.

There is a lot to go through and I'm sorry for that; but I assure you it's all relevant.

On your MacBook, check out these settings:

Firstly, Open Photos app > now use the Keyboard shortcut - Command plus comma - to enter Photos Preferences > Click on "iCloud" and make sure "iCloud Photos" is ticked.

Mac > System Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Photos On (May need to tap on Show All to find it).

Whilst there, please tell me if "Optimise Mac Storage" is turned On or Off. Ideally, it should be Off, but if it's On - LEAVE it alone for now.

Next, same place, but just below: you will see "Account Storage". Alongside is "Manage". Click on that and tell me what you see there.

In particular, it will tell you how much Storage Space is available to you.

And underneath, you will find how much Storage Space is being taken up by Photos and Backups. (This is important particularly if "Optimise Mac Storage" is On).

____________________________________________________________________________________

On iPhone & iPad > Settings > Photos >" iCloud Photos" is Ticked.

On iPhone & iPad > Settings

I've set you a lot of work to do, but I'm not sitting next to you and we need a good starting point.

I do hope this helps

Ian

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 9, 2023

Ian - Thank you so very much for those detailed instructions. I was at the lady's home yesterday for three hours working on this and I may have exhausted her patience. I offered to do a Zoom session with her at 4 today to go through all these settings and promise to report back.

Your taking the time and patience to write those detailed instructions is greatly appreciated.

Jimmysb · Jul 9, 2023

WOW -

‍

that is a lot to take in

IWT · Jul 9, 2023

@SpeedThree5500

SpeedThree5500 said:
Your taking the time and patience to write those detailed instructions is greatly appreciated.

That's so very kind; but it all depends on whether that works. Please feel free to post back. And any difficulties, I'll do my best to sort.

And remember, I'm just one of the many members on this Forum.

Ian

MacInWin · Jul 9, 2023

SpeedThree5500 said:
You hit the nail on the head: I guess the question is "Which is the 'Master' list? The one in iCloud.com, the iPhone, the iPad, or the iPhone?
Also, I knew it could take time, but not days, and that it only runs when Photos is open.

Well, the good news is that even if what happens is that all of the devices end up with 40,000, all you need to do is re-run the de-dupe software to get the Mac back to just the 12,000 and that will then sync out to the other devices. Be interesting to see which way it goes.

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 9, 2023

Reporting back.

Did a brief Zoom session after emailing her your step-by-step suggestions.

Here's is what happened at this step: "Firstly, Open Photos app > now use the Keyboard shortcut - Command plus comma - to enter Photos Preferences > Click on "iCloud" and make sure "iCloud Photos" is ticked."

The iCloud tab was greyed out and under General was this: Library Location > her home folder > Pictures > Converted iPhone Library 2.photoslibrary AND Only the System Photo Library is searched in Spotlight

The choices immediately below this were: [Show in Finder] and [Use as System Photo Library]

It seemed logical to choose [Use as System Photo Library] and so she made that choice.

That produced the alert [Switching the System Photo Library will turn off iCloud Photos}

Googled that exact term and got this:

****************
When you switch the System Photo Library, iCloud Photos will be turned off. This is because iCloud Photos only syncs changes from your System Photo Library. If you switch to a different library, iCloud Photos will not be able to sync with it.

If you want to keep using iCloud Photos after switching the System Photo Library, you will need to turn it on again in the Photos settings. When you do this, the photos and videos from your old System Photo Library will be merged with the new one.

Here are the steps on how to switch the System Photo Library and turn on iCloud Photos again:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Click on the **Photos** menu and select **Preferences**.
3. Click on the **General** tab.
4. Click on the **Use as System Photo Library** checkbox next to the library you want to use as the System Photo Library.
5. Click on the **iCloud** tab.
6. Click on the **Turn on iCloud Photos** checkbox.
7. Click on the **Merge** button to merge the photos and videos from your old System Photo Library with the new one.

Once you have completed these steps, iCloud Photos will be turned on again and your photos and videos will be synced to iCloud.

Please note that if you have any photos or videos that have not been fully downloaded to your Mac, they will be removed when you switch the System Photo Library. You can download them again from iCloud Photos.
**************
The process began, we presumed that it was going to take some time to complete and so we ended our Zoom session with the promise to be continued tomorrow at 10:00 (Eastern Daylight Time).

Will let you know the outcome.

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 10, 2023

Reporting back once again:

2023-07-10

Did a Zoom session this morning.

Photos > Settings > iCloud is no longer grayed out. I had her check the box for [iCloud Photos] and the radio button for [Download originals to this Mac] then quit and restart photos.

The total number of photos on the Mac remains at about 11,000.

When she went to iPhone > Photos > All Photos > it continues to show about 40,000 photos and displayed “Synced with iCloud just now”.

When she went to Photos on the Mac, in noted “11,092 Photos and Syncing 19,743 items from iCloud”.

I told her to leave the Mac open and not to quit photos and I will check back later.

Again...will report back tomorrow when I will Zoom with her again.

IWT · Jul 10, 2023

Thanks ever so much for the feedback.

You are quite right in advising the lady to leave things alone. It will take a lot of time because the discrepancies between the various Devices indicates that partial syncing has occurred in some, more complete syncing in others.

Additionally, syncing from A to B interferes with syncing from A to C or B to C etc, - if you get my meaning. It should even out in time.

My guess, and certainly hope, is that over time the syncing will balance out. The ultimate aim is to have the same data on each Device. There might still be a slight discrepancy in numbers and more likely in the storage space taken up on each device because of the way data is handled.

Patience, endless patience, is required

Ian

IWT · Jul 10, 2023

By the way. Just wanted to ask you if the lady has enough iCloud Storage to cope with all these syncs?

I mentioned this in regard to all Devices. I guess you would have told me/her if she was near the storage limit or exceeded it?

Ian

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 10, 2023

IWT said:
I mentioned this in regard to all Devices. I guess you would have told me/her if she was near the storage limit or exceeded it?

I will double-check with her tomorrow just to be sure.

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 11, 2023

Reporting back.
• Her cloud storage is fine; plenty of room
• This morning, at the foot of her All Photos window in Photos was
41,672 Photos - Downloading 22,817 Originals.
Further progress updates to follow.

IWT · Jul 12, 2023

Thank you. Keep at it. Patience is the key.

Ian

Rod · Jul 15, 2023

Ian, my settings, since the loss of Photo Stream are the same as you described on all devices but although you seem to suggest, "Optimise Mac Storage" be off on the Mac (which it is in my case) I do have "Optimise iPhone Storage" ON on my iPhone as opposed to the other option, "Download and Keep Originals".
Is this what you recommend? It's my understanding that full resolution copies will be kept on the iPhone unless short of space, which I'm not, with some 50GB of 128GB free.
I'd really value your opinion on this and any suggestions/observations you may have.

IWT · Jul 15, 2023

Hi Rod.

When starting out to help a member, it's useful to have an exact picture of their current status. Hence I try to cover all possibilities without prejudice.

You are correct on all counts. Keeping "Optimise" off on the Mac avoids complications, particularly in the OP's situation where several devices are in operation and where the end result is to have all synced via iCloud and also stored in iCloud in case of loss.

You are, again, correct in relation to "Optimise" on the iPhone. That's a different scenario. On or Off depends on one's preferences and on the available storage space on iPhone & iCloud.

Your setup is, as you stated, and confirmed by this Apple article:

Manage your photo and video storage – Apple Support (UK)

Find out about photo storage and saving space with iCloud.

support.apple.com

No need for change

HTH

Ian

Rod · Jul 15, 2023

Thank you as always, it all seems to be working for me as hoped. When I first applied the current settings it did take around 24hrs for everything to sort itself out.

SpeedThree5500 · Jul 16, 2023

Reporting back to close this thread.
She installed the paid app PowerPhotos from Fat Cat software and used it to sort out/merge/etc. her multiple photos libraries. Since she had a MB Pro, an iPad, and an iPhone, and over 40k photos, it took about three days for everything to finally get in sync but, in the end, it did.
BTW - I went back through this thread and double-checked that I did a "like" for all those who contributed...and again, my thanks for doing so.