How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your 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. Learn how to turn on Shared Albums, manage a shared album, and save photos from a Shared Album on your Mac.
Turn on Shared Albums
Update your Mac to the latest macOS.
Sign in to iCloud with the same Apple Account on all of your devices that you want to use with 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.
Learn how to set up and use Shared Albums on your iPhone or iPad and your other devices.
If you're using earlier versions of iOS, iCloud for Windows, iPhoto, or Aperture, you can still create and see Shared Albums.
Create a new shared album
In Sharing section of the sidebar, click the Add button
next to Shared Albums.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.Click Create.
Delete a shared album
Open the shared album.
Click the People button
in the toolbar.Click Delete Shared Album.
When you delete a shared album, it automatically removes from all of your devices and the devices of your subscribers. If you turned on Public Website, the shared album is removed from the web too. Deleting a shared album permanently deletes all of its photos. Before continuing, make sure that you save any photos that you want to keep.
Invite more people
Open the shared album.
Click the People button
in the toolbar.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 publish to a website that anyone can see in an up-to-date web browser.
Remove a subscriber
Open the shared album.
Click the People button
in the toolbar.Select the subscriber that you want to remove.
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
Select the photos and videos that you want to share.
Click the Share button
in the toolbar, then select Shared Albums.Choose the album where you want to share your photos. When you add new photos, shared album subscribers receive a notification.
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 drag photos from your library directly into the shared album in the sidebar.
If a subscriber can't add their photos or videos, open the shared album, then click the People button in the toolbar. Make sure that you turned on Subscribers Can Post.
Delete photos and videos from a shared album
Open the shared album.
Select the photo or video.
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.
Select the photo and video that you want to save.
Control-click, then click Import.
Learn about supported file types and Shared Album limits
Learn which file types you can use in Shared Albums
Learn about Shared Album storage limits