How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your Mac
iCloud 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 iCloud 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 the 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, then choose Settings. In macOS Monterey or earlier, choose Photos, then choose Preferences.
Click the iCloud tab, then select Shared Albums.
In macOS 27 or later, make sure iCloud Photos is turned on.
Find out 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
With Shared Albums, you can create albums to share photos and videos with others—and they can add their own photos, videos, and comments for everyone to see.
Starting in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, Shared Albums adds support for full-resolution sharing, new filters and sorting, emoji reactions, and new ways to invite others to collaborate on an album. Friends and family will be able to join and contribute their own photos on the web, even without an Apple Account or Apple device.
In macOS 27 or later
In the Sharing section of the sidebar, click the Add button
next to Shared Albums.Type a name for the Shared Album.
Choose whether to invite and approve participants, or share the album with a link.
To create a temporary shared album, turn on Make Album Temporary.
Click Create.
In macOS 26 or earlier
In the 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
When you delete a shared album, it is automatically removed from all of your devices and the devices of your subscribers. If you've turned on Public Website, the shared album is removed from the web too. Deleting a shared album will delete all of its photos permanently. Before continuing, make sure you save any photos that you want to keep.
In macOS 27 or later
Open the shared album.
Click the Manage Shared Album button
.Click Delete Shared Album.
Click Delete to confirm. You can tap Make Album Temporary to make the shared album temporary instead, and it will be deleted in thirty days.
In macOS 26 or earlier
Open the shared album.
Click the People button
in the toolbar.Click Delete Shared Album.
Invite more people
You can invite others to view or add to your shared album.
In macOS 27 or later
Open the shared album.
Click the Manage Shared Album button
.
Click Invite Participants. Choose an app to use to share the link to the shared album. You can also click Copy Album Link to copy the link so you can send or post it.
Accept or decline access requests
When you turn on Access Requests in an album's Sharing Options, additional people with the link to the shared album can request access to be approved by you. To accept or decline an access request:
In the Sharing section of the sidebar, click Activity.
Click Approve or Decline.
In macOS 26 or earlier
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.
To share albums with friends and family who don't use iCloud:
Open a shared album you created.
Click the People button
in the toolbar.Turn on Public Website. Your photos will be published to a website that anyone can see in an up-to-date web browser.
Join a shared album
You can join a shared album someone created in macOS 27 or later by opening the link to the album on an Apple or non-Apple device. Any participants with devices that aren't on the latest software will have to update their devices or view the album on iCloud.com.
The album owner can choose in the album's Sharing Options to only allow people they invite or approve to access or allow anyone with the link to join without approval, and they can choose whether to require additional people with the link to request access.
Request access to a shared album
Open the link you received to a shared album.
If prompted, tap or click Send Request.
You'll be notified when the album is shared with you.
Remove a subscriber
As the creator of a shared album, you control who can access it. You can remove subscribers at any time.
In macOS 27 or later
Open the shared album.
Click the Manage Shared Album button
.Click the More button
next to the participant you want to remove.Click Remove Participant, then click Remove.
In macOS 26 or earlier
Open the shared album.
Click the People button
in the toolbar.Select the subscriber you want to remove.
Click the arrow next to their name, then Remove Subscriber.
Add photos and videos to a shared album
Select the photos and videos 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.
Click Add.
If you have a shared album open, you can also click the "Add photos to this shared album" button
or "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 to a shared album
If you've added someone as a participant but they can't add to the shared album, check their permissions settings.
In macOS 27 or later
Open the shared album.
Click the Manage Shared Album button
.Click the More button
next to the participant.Click Can Add Photos.
If the participant can't open the album link, check whether you have a pending access request from them and if so, approve their access request.
In macOS 26 or earlier
Open the shared album.
Click the People button
in the toolbar.Make sure you've 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 From All Devices or 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 they personally added. Anything you delete is automatically deleted from the album on all of your devices and the devices of subscribers.
Any photos that you've 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 you want to save.
Control-click, then click Save to Library or Import.