How can I offload photos on my MacBook when Optimize Storage isn’t freeing up space?

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Level 1

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How can I offload photos on my MacBook when Optimize Storage isn’t freeing up space?

I have paid apple storage (which is not anywhere close to full) and I have optimize photos turned on on my macbookm but my photos are taking up so much space on my computer that I am having issues downloading or running certain programs - my photos are clearly the biggest file block. I'm not sure how to offload photos because all of my settings look like they are accurately set.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Optimize Mac Photos not working

Posted on Aug 29, 2025 02:22 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 30, 2025 08:05 AM in response to emilylan

Can you give us more information?

What model is your Mac? What macOS does it use?

Do you see all your iPhone pictures at iCloud.com?

Do you have more than 10% free storage on your iCloud account? How much total do you have, and how much free?

How much storage (in GB) does Photos use at iCloud?

How much storage (in GB) does Photos use on the Mac?

What is your storage on this Mac? At System Settings>General>iStorage, what does yours say? Do you have more than 10% free storage on your Mac?

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