Change settings in Photos on Mac

Library Location

• Show in Finder: View the location of your Photos library in the Finder.

• Use as System Photo Library: Use the currently open library as your System Photo Library (which allows you to use it with iCloud Photos). See System Photo Library overview and Create additional photo libraries.

Photos

• Autoplay Videos and Live Photos: Set videos and Live Photos to play automatically when opened or when the pointer is placed over them.

Memories

• Show Featured Content: Include photos that you’ve selected as Featured on your iPhone or iPad.

• Show Holiday Events: Include groups of holiday photos as memories.

• Show Memories Notification: Display a notification when a new memory is available.

• Reset Suggested Memories: Reset all types of memories to appear if you have set Photos to show fewer memories of certain types.

• Reset Suggested People: Reset people suggestions to show all people if you have chosen to show fewer photos of certain people.

Importing

• Copy items to the Photos library: Allow Photos to store all imported photo and video files in the Photos library. To leave imported items in their current location outside of the library, deselect this tickbox. If photos are stored outside the library, they aren’t automatically uploaded to iCloud Photos and available on all your devices. You must manually back them up to safe storage locations.

Sharing

• Include location information: Include location information that’s embedded in photos taken by a GPS-enabled camera (including iPhone) when sharing or exporting the photos.

• Memories: Choose an orientation and aspect ratio for your shared memories.

Privacy

• Use Touch ID or password to Unlock: Set the Recently Deleted and Hidden albums to require a password or Touch ID to unlock them.

HDR

• Use the HDR capability of your display: Show the full dynamic range of your photos on an Apple Pro Display XDR. This option appears only when an Apple Pro Display XDR is connected to your Mac.

iCloud Photos

Select to allow photos and videos to be uploaded to iCloud and transferred to your other Mac computers and devices where iCloud Photos is turned on and you’re signed in with the same Apple ID.

• Download Originals to this Mac: Store the original, full-resolution photos both on your Mac and in iCloud.

• Optimise Mac Storage: Save space on your Mac by storing full-resolution originals in iCloud and keeping smaller versions on the computer when needed.

See Use iCloud Photos to store photos.

Shared Albums

Share albums with others and subscribe to albums that others share with you. You can select photos and share them with friends and family; people you share with can view the photos, make comments and even add photos of their own. See What are shared albums in Photos on Mac?

Add Participants

Add participants to your Shared Library. Participants must have an Apple ID account and must turn on iCloud Photos on their Mac and other devices to access the Shared Library. Children under 13 must be part of the organiser’s Family Sharing group.

See Add or remove iCloud Shared Photo Library participants.

Shared Library Suggestions

Receive suggestions for adding photos and videos of people that you select to the Shared Library. To get sharing suggestions for additional people, click Add Other People.

See Add photos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library.

Deletion Notifications

Receive notifications when other participants delete items that you contributed to the Shared Library.

Delete Shared Library

The organiser of a Shared Library can delete it. When you delete a Shared Library, all participants receive a notification and can transfer all of the items in the Shared Library to their Personal Library.

Select one of the following:

• Keep everything: Add all the photos in the Shared Library to your Personal Library.

• Keep only what I contributed: Add only the photos that you contributed to the Shared Library to your Personal Library.

See Create or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library.