Once again, Apple uses iCloud to achieve this. If it will be your primary image library . NY 10036. Quit Photos. You will likely receive a prompt that warns you that you will delete your iCloud Photo library folder. There are other things you can offload from iCloud such as mail, contacts, etcbut I found that once files/photos/videos were offloaded to our Synology that we just did not need to pay for iCloud storage anymore. If it's an external drive, click on it in Finder. Using the cloud and backing up to an external fast drive is fairly painless. There are two ways to back up your iCloud Photo Library to an external drive: backing up your Photos library automatically or manually. So, what to do? . And if you really want to be on the safe side, you can run the above compose with skip_check=false AGAIN. It's pretty easy, and we always recommend keeping everything backed up on an external hard drive, as well as an off-site service as well. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Copy everything from the iCloud desktop and documents folders to your Apple user home desktop and documents folders and let drive do the magic. The wiki on github explains that pretty well. #backup #cloud #icloud photos #library #nas #synology, App Tip: Screenie 2 OCR for screenshots, IKEA hack: Using Skdis to tidy up networking gear, How to import photos from your camera onto your iPhone, Using TP-Link HS-100 smart plugs with HomeKit, Synologys Cloud Station Backup Mac client, Synology Cloud Station Backup mac client app, The Mac Mini downloads a copy to its Photos Library, The Synology app copies the photo into its backup. This means that all your photos and videos stay firmly on your Synology but Apple Photos (for the most part) works exactly like it used too and nothing goes to iCloud (except your new stuff from your devices which also appears.) I then go to the Apple Photos File menu and select "Import." Step 1. Once your logs indicate that your back-up is complete, you can validate the success of your back-up by comparing your image count on the iPhone Photos app vs. number of images that have been downloaded to your NAS. upload photos to a cloud service like Google Photos or iCloud; Option 1: Whole Computer Backup. Click " Photo Backup Not Enabled " and then " Enable Photo Backup " to allow the Photos app to access the storage. Second: Documents and Desktop. So far, the most reliable back-up solution I have come across. My library was just over 1TB at the time, so Ive been paying for the 2TB plan ever since(Ive been collecting photos in my library since 2001 and while it could definitely use a bit of trimming, I dont think theres much I want to get rid of). Note that this is not just a one time copy. Ok so this is by far the easiest way of doing it, but it does require you have a desktop Mac or a MacBook that, a) has a full copy of your photos library, b) Is awake and connected to your network at regular intervals to run the backup. iCloud Backup is a one-way backup of your current photo library on your device. Preview and check the data you need > click OK. Then I uploaded them via the photos app in the NAS (not my iPhone). The first run took a couple days, but it worked. You can check the status of your request at privacy.apple.com/account. Good news: If you already use a service to back up your hard drive and you've already synced your full iCloud Photo Library to your Mac, it's easy to back it all up there too. The free 5GB individually is actually enough. If I delete stuff off my iCloud account, will this remove the matching entry from my local storage? Note: Synology Cloud Station Suite is not supported on DSM 7.0 and above. To run as a scheduled back-up solution, once all images have been downloaded: Also a note here that if you are running the container for the first time, you'll need to go through the proper authentification using 2FA. If you cancel your transfer request before its complete, and somephotos or videos have already been transferred, they remain in Google Photos. If you've turned on the Download Originals option for your Photos library, you can back up your Photos library as part of your regular backup routine with Time Machine or even an online clone service like Carbon Copy or BackBlaze. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. I do use iCloud. Now, the magic, I go into the Apple Photos preferences menu and uncheck "Importing: Copy Items to the Photos library." Don't want to back up your entire library? Depending on how big your iCloud Photo Library is, it may take a while just be patient. You can for instance, directly transfer from OneDrive to a NAS or from SMB to a USB device. Except, all the photos and videos are now "referenced." I have the script set to run once a day via DSM Task Scheduler, and it looks like it takes about 30 minutes for icloudpd to scan through my whole (already imported) library. I'm sticking with Synology C2 as that for me is under European data protection. If you don't store your iCloud images locally, this is a bit trickier: you can use the external drive method we mentioned above to export portions of your library to an external drive, and then sync that drive to your preferred online backup service, but it's a bit more labor-intensive. I only keep 3 versions and use inteliversioning. Once I backup all of my photos to the NAS, would I then delete a large portion of my iCloud library before disabling iCloud photo backup since I dont have enough space to store all of the originals. Apple has dramatically improved the functioning of the referenced photos and videos in Apple Photos and continues to do so. I use a second Synology off site and use it strictly as a hyperbackup vault. Transfer photos & videos directly between targets without having to first import them into the iOS Photo Library / Android Photo Gallery. 2. I considered posting this myself after I wrote up the guide, but, alas, I was too lazy! 2. I am writing this post because I want to give those who are considering or approaching Synology from my perspective a clear path. If you add, update, or delete content after the transfer starts, or if your images and videos are still uploading, these changes or additions might not be included in the transfer. Also, Apple's iCloud photo and video transfer works so well that we really do not want another app. Its configured to only add files, not delete them. (Note: Why isnt this enough backup? But, I minimize its use (free tier) because it is another monthly fee, my family storage requirements have grown past what they offer, and I want the ability to have control of my data independent of any platform. I don't know if it's still the case, but I read previously that there were issues with Live Photos in that app. For Mac/iOS apps the create their own storage/folders there will be a folder in here for them. My approach is a combination of Moments and Apple Photos with my iMac. The thing that gets me is the way iCloud Photo surfaces old photos on my Home Screen and Photos widget. One is all photos based on their added date (the date added to your library in photos on icloud) back to the "date_from" date in config.ini. I am in a near identical situation to you guys here, 320gb library nearly full on my 512 MacBook pro. This will force the container to perform a comparison of downloaded images (on file) vs images in your cloud. Its important to note that this is a sync if you delete a photo from iCloud, itll also delete from your Synology. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed. In fact, the Apple Photo library does not even really like external storage unless it is formatted a certain way and has adequate size to do file swap. I also went down this path this week but soon discovered that icloudpd doesnt work if advanced data protection is turned on, which is a huge bummer and dealbreaker for me. If you go this route, it's highly recommended to set up bi-weekly reminders for the following steps to keep the Photos library backed up regularly. For some reason Synology CloudSync can't sync from Apple iCloud - probably because Apple does not allow this. Open any folder. It retains a full copy of your photos in iCloud (accessible on iCloud.com as well). It's easy! These instructions assume youre using a Mac, but Windows users should be able to accomplish this with WSL (Windows Systems for Linux) terminal commands. At $0.99 per month, you can enjoy 50 GB storage for your photos, videos, and files to back up the data on your devices. I use a second Synology off site and use it strictly as a hyperbackup vault. A somewhat pricey solution is a NAS box. - Go to File --> Export --> Export . I use Nextcloud and when activating the auto upload feature you can make it upload the entire library first, That windows iCloud app defaults to C drive to download the whole thing. They're cheaper now. Select the photos and video you want to back up. Second, they strip ALL exif data off your images, which is a big no no.. Avoid this method to be honest, it was a waste of my time. The kids create incredible amounts of digital content even after it has been cut, scaled, and compressed. Apple Photos 1.0.1. If youre a digital pack rat with every photo youve ever taken, this is for you. Some posts say that it requires Photo Station installed as well but this is not the case. Read more SynoForum.com is not owned by, or affiliated with Synology Inc. Lots of software will backup your Mac to it. We each then pointed our Synology Drive desktop and documents folders at our respective "empty" Apple user home folders. I use iCloud photo library so i can view the pics on my apple tv but absolutely want to have a local backup of full res photos. Select an option for File Name and Subfolder Format, and then input your text as desired. With 'iclouddp', once the photos are downloaded, do the files' timestamps show the original time that the pictures were taken or the time that the files were downloaded? I have it sync all of the photos/folders on my iPhone and every so often I open the app and it syncs all new photos. First, a huge thank you to the community here. Get the best of iMore in your inbox, every day! I ask because every time I log into iCloud to download the original full resolution image, the timestamps do not have the original time, but they have the time when the download is done. The best way to back up the images and video in iCloud Photo Library is to make sure you're downloading all your content onto your Mac. I did consider that when I was first installing this, but I went this route since it was just installing some python packages within a venv, so it's entirely self-contained and not modifying any system bits. Hi fredbert and sorry for the delayed response. Don't worry though, it is all still in iCloud. That's why if you are truly serious about keeping all of your pictures and video safe, you want some redundancies in your backup process. In some cases, the vulnerabilities in the Bulletin may not yet have assigned CVSS scores. I run this docker container on my Synology to have it download a backup of my iCloud Photo Library (You can also export sections of your library if you don't want to back up the whole thing.). Over time, you're going to end up with a lot of photos especially if you have kids and pets but even your best iPhone only has so much space. 442,769 points. Well, that is it. iCloud Photos can feel like a backup. My concern is that if my photos are wiped on one device accidentally, the Mac Minis library would also be wiped). In setting everything up on my Synology, I drew from this community, the YouTuber mydodads, and the excellent writeup at wundertech.net. Click to select a folder. Tip: You can also try the option iPhone to PC from Phone Transfer to transfer photos, music, etc. With iCloud Photo Library enabled, your photos get . i will check out those alternatives. I then enabled Moments on Synology and turned on the "Shared Photo Library." New York, Once transferred to Google, the filenames of albums and videos start with "Copy of.. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apples smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. Also, this will work even if your phone is not connected to the network with your NAS and you don't have your NAS exposed externally or through a VPN. I found a simple solution. So I decided to make this post to give it greater visibility. That, in turn backs up to . Transfer a copy of your iCloud Photos collection to another service. While Pixel owners will still get some perks, those with larger digital libraries will have to choose whether to pay for the extra storage or ditch Google altogether.If you're leaning towards the latter, that's where .