Sometimes, due to limited iCloud storage, users may consider downloading their iCloud Photos and videos to an external hard drive with larger capacity. While photos and videos may appear on your iPhone or Mac, they are often optimized versions—thumbnails stored locally to save space. To download full-resolution original photos from iCloud to an external drive, this guide provides several effective solutions.
1. Download iCloud Photos Directly to an External Hard Drive
Apple does not offer a built-in feature to download iCloud Photos directly to an external hard drive—it only supports downloading them to your Mac's local storage. However, you can use third-party apps like Photo Exifer to achieve this. Steps:
1. Download and install Photo Exifer on your Mac.
2. Grant it Full Disk Access: Go to System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Full Disk Access, and add the Photo Exifer app.
3. Launch Photo Exifer and click the Photo Library tab to load all your photos and videos.
4. Go to Photo Exifer -> Settings -> Preferences Settings, and change the changed location to a folder on your external hard drive. Click Save Changes to apply.
5. Use the Filter option: select Showing: Undownloaded iCloud Photos option to list photos stored only in iCloud. Select the photos, then click Quick Action > Download Full-resolution iCloud Photos. This will download the originals directly to your selected external hard drive folder.
2. Download iCloud Photos via iCloud.com to Mac Downloads Folder
You can also manually download photos from the iCloud website:
1. Visit www.icloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID. Open the Photos tab and go to Library.
2. Select the photos and videos you want to download, Click the More Download Options... button and choose Unmodified Originals.
3. The selected items will download to Mac's Downloads -> iCloud Photos folder on your Mac.
Note: For stability, avoid selecting more than 500 photos at a time. If you have a large photo library, Solution 1 is a more efficient approach.
3. Download iCloud Photos to Mac Photo Library
If your Mac has enough free storage, you can download all iCloud originals to your local photo library and then transfer them to an external drive. Steps:
1. Open Photos on your Mac. Go to Photos -> Settings (or Preferences).
2. Under the iCloud tab, enable Download Originals to this Mac instead of Optimize Mac Storage. Photos will begin syncing and downloading in full resolution to your Mac.
Once downloaded, you can manually copy the photo library or selected photos to your external hard drive.
Final Thoughts
Whether you choose to store your photos on iCloud or on an external hard drive, each option has its pros and cons. iCloud offers easy access and syncing across devices, while external drives provide more control and offline access. Choose the method that best suits your backup needs and storage capacity.
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