Kare Morken’s external drive took a tumble and died, along with all the images and videos stored in the Photos library.
I would like to restore/make a new Photos library to store locally from my iCloud Photos but I have not been able to find out how to do this.
It’s only non-intuitive to find the answer, because it’s usually described in terms of adding a computer or iOS device.
- Make sure you’re logged into the same iCloud account as your iCloud Photo Library. (Log in via a web browser to make sure and that the photos and movies are still there.)
- On your Mac, hold down the Option key while launching Photos.
- Create a new library (click Create New Library) and save it at whatever drive location you want.
- Once the new library appears, choose Photos > Preferences, and then in the General tab click Use as System Photo Library.
- In the iCloud tab, you can now check iCloud Photo Library, and opt between optimized and full-resolution media.
IDG You can choose a new library for Photos at launch.
That’s it. Syncing can take a long time over a modest broadband connection if you have tens of gigabytes stored in your iCloud Photo Library. But it’s the only way to proceed if you want to have a full-resolution local copy, which I recommend, as you can then back that copy up elsewhere—to a local drive or to a hosted Internet backup service, or, preferably, both.
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Author: Glenn Fleishman, Senior Contributor
Glenn Fleishman’s most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. He’s a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911.