How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad and Mac

Shared Albums let you share photos and videos with just the people you choose — and they can add their own photos, videos and comments.

• Turn on Shared Albums

• Use Shared Albums on your iPhone or iPad

• Use Shared Albums on your Mac

• File types that you can use in Shared Albums

• Shared Album storage limits

Turn on Shared Albums

1. Update your iPhone or iPad to the latest iOS or iPadOS, your Mac to the latest macOS, and your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD to the latest tvOS. If you have a Windows PC, update to Windows 10 or later and download iCloud for Windows.

2. Set up iCloud on all of your devices.

3. Sign in to iCloud with the same Apple Account on all of the devices that you want to use with Shared Albums.

4. Turn on Shared Albums:

   • On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos, then turn on Shared Albums.

   • On your Mac, open the Photos app. From the menu bar at the top of the screen, choose Photos > Settings. In macOS Monterey or earlier, choose Photos > Preferences. Click the iCloud tab, then select Shared Albums.

   • On your Apple TV, go to Settings > Users and Accounts > iCloud and turn on Shared Albums.

   • On your Windows PC, open iCloud for Windows and select Photos. Select Shared Albums. If you aren’t prompted to turn on features, click the Options button next to Photos. Click Done, then click Apply. Find out more about sharing albums with iCloud for Windows.

Use Shared Albums on your iPhone or iPad

• Create a new shared album

• Delete a shared album

• Invite more people

• Remove a subscriber

• Add photos and videos to a shared album

• Delete photo and videos from a shared album

• Save photos and videos from a shared album

Create a new shared album

1. In Photos, scroll down to Shared Albums.

2. Tap Shared Albums, then tap Create.

3. Give the shared album a name and choose some images to add to the shared album.

4. Choose people to invite from your contacts, or type an email address or iMessage phone number. Tap Done.

5. Tap Done.

In iOS 17 or earlier:

1. In Photos, go to the Albums tab and tap the Add button.

2. Tap New Shared Album.

3. Give the shared album a name, then tap Next.

4. Choose people to invite from your contacts, or type an email address or iMessage phone number.

5. Tap Create.

Delete a shared album

1. Open the shared album.

2. Tap the More button. In iOS 17 or earlier, tap the People button.

3. Tap Delete Album.

When you delete a shared album, it's automatically removed from all of your devices and the devices of your subscribers. If you've turned on Public Website, the shared album will be removed from the web too. Deleting a shared album will permanently delete all of its photos. Before continuing, make sure that you save any photos that you want to keep.

Invite more people

1. Select a shared album that you’ve created.

2. Tap the More button.

3. Tap Shared Album Details.

4. Tap Invite, then enter the names of people that you want to share this album with.

5. Tap Done.

In iOS 17 or earlier:

1. In Albums, select a shared album that you created.

2. Tap the People button.

3. Tap Invite People.

4. Enter the names of people who you want to share this album with.

5. Tap Add.

To share an album with friends or family who don’t use iCloud, open a shared album that you’ve created, tap the More button, then tap Shared Album Details. In iOS 17 or earlier, go to the People tab. Turn on Public Website. Your photos will be published to a website that anyone can see in an up-to-date web browser.

Remove a subscriber

1. Open the shared album.

2. Tap the More button, then tap Shared Album Details. In iOS 17 or earlier, tap the People button.

3. Select the subscriber that you want to remove.

4. Tap Remove Subscriber at the bottom of the screen.

As the creator of a shared album, you control who can access it. You can remove subscribers at any time.

Add photos and videos to a shared album

1. From your Library or from within an album, tap Select and then select the photos and videos that you want to share.

2. Tap the Share button, then tap Add to Shared Album.

3. Choose the album where you want to share your photos. Then tap Post.

If you have a shared album open, you can also tap the Add button to select photos and videos to add.

When you add new photos, the people who you share the album with will be notified automatically. Make sure Subscribers Can Post is turned on so they can add photos and videos too. Just tap the More button then choose Shared Album Details.

Delete photos and videos from a shared album

1. Open the shared album.

2. Tap the photo or video.

3. Tap the Bin button .

4. Tap Delete Photo.

If you're the owner of a shared album, you can delete any photos, videos or comments from anyone. Subscribers can delete anything that they personally added. Anything you delete is automatically deleted from the album on all your devices and the devices of subscribers.

Any photos that you saved or downloaded from a shared album to your Photos library stay in your library even if the shared album is deleted or the person who created it stops sharing it.

Save photos and videos from a shared album

When you share photos and videos with someone, they can save shared items to their own library.

1. Tap the photo or video.

2. Tap the Share button.

3. Tap Save Image or Save Video.

Use Shared Albums on your Mac

• Create a new shared album

• Delete a shared album

• Invite more people

• Remove a subscriber

• Add photos and videos to a shared album

• Delete photo and videos from a shared album

• Save photos and videos from a shared album

Create a new shared album

1. In the sidebar, click the Add button next to Shared Albums.

2. Type a name for the Shared Album and the email addresses of people you want to share the album with. Click the Add button to select contacts from iCloud.

3. Click Create.

Delete a shared album

1. Open the shared album.

2. Click the People button in the toolbar.

3. Click Delete Shared Album.

When you delete a shared album, it's automatically removed from all of your devices and the devices of your subscribers. If Public Website was enabled, the shared album is removed from the web too. Deleting a shared album permanently deletes all of its photos. Before continuing, make sure you save any photos that you want to keep.

Invite more people

1. Select a shared album that you created under Shared in the sidebar.

2. Click the People button in the toolbar.

3. In the Invite People field, click the Add button to open the Contacts panel, then choose people to invite from your contacts.

You can also share albums with friends and family who don't use iCloud. Just open a shared album that you created, click the People button in the toolbar, and turn on Public Website. Your photos will be published to a website that anyone can see in an up-to-date web browser.

Remove a subscriber

1. Open the shared album.

2. Click the People button in the toolbar.

3. Select the subscriber that you want to remove.

4. Click the arrow next to their name, then Remove Subscriber.

As the creator of a shared album, you control who can access it. You can remove subscribers at any time.

Add photos and videos to a shared album

1. Select the photos and videos that you want to share.

2. Click the Share button in the toolbar, then select Shared Albums.

3. Choose the album where you want to share your photos.

If you have a shared album open, you can also click “Add photos and videos” to select photos and videos to add. You can also simply drag photos from your library directly into the shared album in the sidebar.

When you add new photos, the people who you share the album with will be notified automatically. Open the shared album, click the People button in the toolbar, and make sure that Subscribers Can Post is turned on so that they can add photos and videos too.

Delete photos and videos from a shared album

1. Open the shared album.

2. Select the photo or video.

3. Control-click, then click Delete from Shared Album. Click Delete.

If you have a shared album open, you can also select a photo and press the Delete key to delete it from the shared album.

If you're the owner of a shared album, you can delete any photos, videos or comments from anyone. Subscribers can delete anything that they personally added. Anything you delete is automatically deleted from the album on all your devices and the devices of subscribers.

Any photos that you saved or downloaded from a shared album to your Photos library stay in your library even if the shared album is deleted or the person who created it stops sharing it.

Save photos and videos from a shared album

When you share photos and videos with someone, they can save the shared items to their own library.

1. Select the photo and video that you want to save.

2. Control-click, then click Import.

File types that you can use in Shared Albums

Shared Albums support these image formats:

• HEIF

• JPEG

• RAW*

• PNG

• GIF

• TIFF

Shared Albums also support special formats that you capture with your iPhone, such as slo-mo, time-lapse, Live Photos and Memory videos. When shared, photos are reduced to 2,048 pixels on the long edge, except panoramic photos, which can be up to 5,400 pixels wide. You can share GIFs that are 100MB or smaller.

Shared Albums support these video file types and formats:

• HEVC

• MP4

• QuickTime

• H.264

• MPEG-4

Videos can be up to fifteen minutes in length and are delivered at up to 720p resolution.

Shared Album storage limits

A shared album can hold up to 5,000 photos and videos. If you reach your Shared Album limit, you need to delete some photos or videos before adding new ones. The photos and videos you share (and the comments or likes associated with those photos) stay in iCloud until you or the contributor delete them manually, or until you delete the shared album completely.

The photos and videos in your Shared Albums are kept in iCloud, but they don't count against your iCloud storage limit.