Why are my iPhone photos not showing up on my Mac?

Find out what to do if photos aren't appearing in My Photo Stream on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or Apple TV.

I can't see photos from My Photo Stream on my iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or Apple TV

If you've turned on My Photo Stream on all of your devices, your last 30 days of photos will be available in the My Photo Stream album so that you can view or add them to your library on each device.* If you've recently created your Apple ID, My Photo Stream may not be available. Use iCloud Photos to keep your photos and videos in iCloud. Find out more about iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream.

If you can't find your My Photo Stream images in the Photos app, follow these steps on each of your devices:

iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

1. Tap Settings > Wi-Fi on all of your devices. Check that Wi-Fi is turned on and you have an internet connection.
2. Tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. Make sure Upload to My Photo Stream is turned on. If you can't see this option, turn on iCloud Photos to keep your photos and videos in iCloud instead.
3. On the device that captured the photo that you're looking for, close the Camera app. (Nothing will be uploaded to My Photo Stream until you've done this.)
4. See if your iOS device is below 20% battery power. If it is, My Photo Stream will disable itself temporarily to save battery life.

Mac

1. Make sure that your Mac is connected to the internet. 
2. From your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click iCloud. Make sure that you're signed in with the same Apple ID on all of your supported devices. 
3. Open the Photos app. Then choose Photos > Preferences. Click iCloud (or Photo Stream).
4. Make sure that My Photo Stream is selected. If you can't see this option, turn on iCloud Photos to keep your photos and videos in iCloud instead.
5. On the device that captured the photo that you're looking for, close the Camera app. (Nothing will be uploaded to My Photo Stream until you've done this.)

Apple TV

1. In Settings > Network > Wi-Fi, check that Wi-Fi is turned on and you have an internet connection.
2. In Settings > Accounts > iCloud, check that My Photo Stream is turned on.
3. On the device that captured the photo that you're looking for, close the Camera app. (Nothing will be uploaded to My Photo Stream until you've done this.) If you still can't see all of your My Photo Stream photos, it may be due to storage capacity on your Apple TV.

* For iCloud to share photos or videos with your other Apple devices, you'll need to sign in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on every device. 

I see different photos in the My Photo Stream album on each of my devices

Your device will keep up to 1,000 photos, even if they're older than 30 days. Photos older than 30 days will be removed from iCloud, so depending on when you enabled My Photo Stream, your devices may not have the same photos. Due to capacity, your Apple TV may only display your most recent photos.

Follow these steps to delete older photos from My Photo Stream and put your most current photos on all of your devices:

1. If you have photos in the My Photo Stream album that you want to keep, save them to your device. Then save copies of your photos and other data.
2. Turn off My Photo Stream. Here’s how: 
   • On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and turn off Upload to My Photo Stream.
   • On your Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open the Photos app, then in the menu bar, choose Photos > Preferences. Click iCloud, and turn off My Photo Stream. 
   • On your Apple TV, go to Settings > Accounts > iCloud and turn off Upload to My Photo Stream.
3. Confirm that you want to Delete Photos.
4. Turn on My Photo Stream again.
5. Repeat these steps for each device.

I can't see my imported photos in My Photo Stream

1. Make sure that your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac has an active internet connection.
2. Check if you're using iCloud Photos in the Photos app. If you've turned on iCloud Photos, photos from other devices using My Photo Stream won't appear on your device.

Learn more

• Find out more about My Photo Stream and Shared Albums.
• Get help if your iCloud Photos won't load on your Windows PC.
• Find out how to delete photos from My Photo Stream.
• Find out how to download your photos and videos from iCloud. 

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Published Date: July 06, 2021