ICloud problems

[denetoet]

Hello Helpers!

I don't fully understand iCloud.

Al my photos are on the MacBook Air harddisk.

• How do you determine which photos go to iCloud? Or do they go there all together?
• Are the photos in iCloud in fact copies of the photos on the Mac harddisk?
• Once photos are in the iCloud, can you delete their originals on the Mac harddisk? That would create space on the Mac harddisk.

I see that photos on the Mac take 124GB. Photos in iCloud take only 2,8GB.

• Is this because there are less photos in iCloud?
• Or is this because in the iCloud photos are stored in an other 'format'?

Five questions, many.

Thank you in advance for your reactions! Dirk
MacBook Air 2020 M1
macOS Monterery 12.6.1

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

I personally don't use iCloud Photos, as I don't take many photos and prefer to manage them manually.

That said, have you reviewed the following Apple Support articles:
Set up and use iCloud Photos
Get help with iCloud Photos

Also, are you paying for additional iCloud Storage, as the free version only gives you 5 GB?

C

 

[denetoet]

Thanks Cory, Yes, I know these articles, but interpretation is unsure - at least for me. If you 'move' the photos to iCloud: does that mean that you just make a copy? If so, is 'gain of space' obtained just because the 'format' in iCloud is such that it takes less space there AND you can erase these photos on the Mac disk?
Of course I could store my photos on a separate harddisk, but then they are more difficult to share.
Thanks again, Dirk