How to use iCloud Shared Photo Library on your Mac
iCloud Shared Photo Library lets you share photos and videos seamlessly with up to five other people, so everyone can collaborate on the collection and enjoy more complete memories. Find out how to set up and use a Shared Library.
How iCloud Shared Photo Library works
When you contribute photos and videos to iCloud Shared Photo Library, they move out of your Personal Library and into the Shared Library. You can join one Shared Library, and you can choose what to share or automatically share content straight from the camera.
All participants have equal permissions to add, edit and delete content in the Shared Library, while the person who set up the Shared Library — the library creator — provides iCloud storage for all of the content. Everyone else gets access to the Shared Library content without it counting towards their iCloud storage.
To set up a Shared Library, you’ll need a device with iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16.1 or macOS Ventura or later with iCloud Photos turned on. If you’re under 13, you can only join or create a Shared Library with members of your Family Sharing group.*
Create a Shared Library
In the Photos app, choose Photos > Settings, then click iCloud.
Check that you’ve turned on iCloud Photos.
Click Shared Library, then click Get Started.
Follow the onscreen instructions to invite participants and add photos and videos.
Join a Shared Library
Open the invitation from the library creator or go to Photos > Settings, then click View Invitation.
Click Get Started, then follow the onscreen steps to choose photos and videos you want to move to your Shared Library, or choose to move photos later.
Follow the onscreen steps to preview your Shared Library content and confirm the content you want to share.
Switch between your Personal Library and Shared Library
Open the Photos app.
At the top, click the Library view button. Choose Personal Library, Shared Library or Both Libraries.
In Both Libraries or Shared Library view, you can identify photos that are in the Shared Library by the icon in the corner. To turn this icon off, choose View > Metadata > In Shared Library.
Leave a Shared Library
If you've created an iCloud Shared Photo Library, you can remove a participant or delete the Shared Library at any time. After you've deleted the Shared Library, all participants will receive a notification:
If a participant has been in the Shared Library for more than seven days, they'll automatically receive everything from the Shared Library in their Personal Library.
If they've been in the Shared Library for less than seven days, they'll only receive the photos and videos they contributed.
If you’re a participant, you can leave a Shared Library at any time. You can choose to receive a copy of everything from the Shared Library in your Personal Library, or just what you've contributed.
Find out how to leave a Shared Library
Get help with Shared Library
If you're using a device with an earlier version of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS or iCloud for Windows, you won't be able to see content moved to the Shared Library. You can see your Shared Library on iCloud.com, or see it on a device that meets the minimum system requirements for Shared Library.
If the library creator runs out of iCloud storage, you can no longer add content to the Shared Library. Changes such as edits, favourites and metadata adjustments will no longer be synced. To get more storage and access to other premium features, find out how to upgrade to iCloud+.
When a participant deletes a photo or video from the Shared Library, it will be moved to Recently Deleted. Only the contributor of that photo or video can delete it from Recently Deleted.
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