How to use iCloud Shared Photo Library on iPhone or iPad

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. Learn how to set up and use a Shared Library.

• How iCloud Shared Photo Library works

• Create a Shared Library

• Join a Shared Library

• Share photos straight from the camera

• Switch between your Personal Library and Shared Library

• Leave a Shared Library

• Get help with 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 from the camera.

All participants can add, edit, and delete content in the Shared Library. The library creator, the person who set up the Shared Library, 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 or join a Shared Library, you 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.*

Learn how to set up iCloud Shared Photo Library on a Mac

Create a Shared Library

1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Photos. In iOS 17 or earlier, go to Settings > Photos.

2. Tap Shared Library.

3. Choose up to five people to invite, or you can invite participants later.

4. Choose past photos and videos that you want to move to your Shared Library, or choose to move photos later.

5. Follow the onscreen steps to preview your Shared Library, confirm the content that you want to share, and invite additional participants.

   

Join a Shared Library

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the invitation from the library creator or go to Settings > Apps > Photos. In iOS 17 or earlier, go to Settings > Photos.

   

2. Tap Accept & Continue.

3. Follow the onscreen steps to choose photos and videos you want to move to your Shared Library, or choose to move photos later.

4. Follow the onscreen steps to preview your Shared Library content and confirm the content that you want to share.

Share photos straight from the camera

1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Photos. In iOS 17 or earlier, go to Settings > Photos.

2. Tap Shared Library.

3. Tap Sharing from Camera and make sure that it's turned on.

   

   • To have the Camera app add photos to your Shared Library automatically when you're near participants, choose Share Automatically.

   • To choose when to have the Camera app add photos to your Shared Library, choose Share Manually.

   • To automatically share photos taken at home to the Shared Library, choose Share When At Home.

4. In the Camera app, to send photos and videos straight to your Shared Library, make sure that you turn on the Shared Library button . To send photos and videos to your Personal Library, tap to turn it off.

   

Switch between your Personal Library and Shared Library

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Photos app.

2. Go to Library View Options:

   • In iOS 26 or later, tap Library, then tap the Sort and Filter button or tap Collections, then tap the More button.

   • In iOS 18, tap the profile button in the upper corner and scroll down to Library View Options.

   • In iOS 17 or earlier, at the top of the Albums or Library tabs, tap the button next to Select in the upper right.

3. 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 the icon off, tap Shared Library Indicator.

Leave a Shared Library

If you created an iCloud Shared Photo Library, you can remove a participant or delete the Shared Library at any time. After you delete the Shared Library, all participants receive a notification:

• If a participant has been in the Shared Library for more than seven days, they 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 receive only the photos and videos that 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 contributed.

Learn how to leave a Shared Library

Get help with Shared Library

• If you use a device with an earlier version of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, or iCloud for Windows, you can't 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, favorites, and metadata adjustments no longer sync. To get more storage and access to other premium features, the library creator should upgrade their iCloud+ plan or manage their iCloud storage.

• When a participant deletes a photo or video from the Shared Library, it moves to Recently Deleted. Only the contributor of that photo or video can delete it from Recently Deleted.