How to merge two iCloud Photo Libraries

lulu0915 wrote:

I'm not sure exactly what you want. Do you want one of the iCloud Libraries to have all the pictures, or not? In any case, you should make backup copies of both Libraries on an external drive. There are lots of ways you could get end up with a mess.

Exporting pictures and re-importing individual picture files throws away lots and lots of information. I wouldn't do that.

How can I get the rest of his photos from iCloud onto library B and then merge the two A & B so it’s one library? Does he need a separate login on my MacBook and then set up library B to download his originals? can I then merge the two?

It sounds like you know what you're doing. I think I would set up a UserHusband and do just as you suggest-- just so you don't have to switch machines. Then you have two complete local versions. Or you do as -Bubba- says, and get his complete Library on his drive.

If you want all the pictures on your account on iCloud.com, then the easy way to merge them is to let iCloud do it for you. On your machine, change the System Library to Library B (on computer A signed in to iCloud A). Then Photos will send all the new pictures (B) to your iCloud A, and then Photos will copy all the old pictures (A) to Mac A's Library B. Mac A's Library B will be fully merged as will iCloud A. No pictures will be deleted, and Photos will do its best to avoid duplicates. [Man, that sounds complicated, but it's really just the A and B that makes it hard to keep straight!)

If you want to merge the Libraries but not put the husband set on iCloud, then you can use the trusted 3rd party app PowerPhotos ($40) to merge the Libraries. Outside of using iCloud, this is the only way of merging two Libraries without losing album and folder organization. If you end up with more than one Library, PowerPhotos is best way to handle them.

While it sounds like you have experience, this may have useful information:

Make a New System Library connected to iC… - Apple Community

Let us know what you're doing…

lulu0915 wrote:

I have one photo library A in an external drive connected to my iCloud account.

I have another photo library B on the external drive that used to be connected to my husband’s iCloud account and has in it half of the photos from his iCloud account. It hasn’t been downloaded to for a while.

How can I get the rest of his photos from iCloud onto library B and then merge the two so it’s one library?

Your husband needs to log in with his Apple ID on your/a Mac, then open Photos > Settings > iCloud and choose 'Download Originals to this Mac' to download all the photos to his library. Then, log back in with your account and import his photos library into yours with these instructions (he'll need to turn off his iCloud Photos first).

If for some reason that doesn't work, you can always export his entire photo library as loose files and import them into your library like normal.

lulu0915 wrote:

when he logs into my MacBook with his Apple ID how do we designate the library B on the external drive as the one to download to?

Make sure the Photos app is closed, then find his photos library on the external drive (should look like "[name].photoslibrary") and double click it to open.

Also Is there no option to merge two photos libraries rather than import one into the other?

There is, it's the first option I suggested: Import photos from another library in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

Downloading the files and importing them manually was just mentioned as a possible backup if the merge didn't work.