Ensuring photo sync safety when switching from Finder to iCloud on iPad

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Level 2

229 points

Ensuring photo sync safety when switching from Finder to iCloud on iPad

I recently decided to start using iCloud... Three involved devices, a MacBook Pro, an iPhone 14 Pro and iPad Pro (12.9 inch). I've always backed up the iPhone and iPad to the Finder on my MacBook Pro. And I've always (to date) turned ON Finder sync for the Photos on the iPad (not the iPhone but only on the iPad).

Now I want to change that and turn OFF the Finder sync for the iPad's Photos so I can turn ON the iPad Photos sync in iCloud. When I go into iCloud on the iPad and go to iCloud Photos, I have, for the moment, clicked to turn ON "Sync this iPad"... That immediately puts up the message (see attached photo) "Photos and Videos Synced from Finder will be removed"... My two choices there are "Remove Photos and Videos" or "Cancel"... So far, I've just said "Cancel" and when I do the Sync button reverts back to the OFF position....

My concern is this... The way all these devices are simply interconnected these days, I have a great fear saying yes to this might remove nearly 20,000 photos from EVERYTHING, including my iPhone, where pretty much all the photos originated... That would be HORRIBLE...

I'm hoping it simply means it would remove the Finder sync'd photos FROM ONLY THE IPAD and would then replace them from iCloud sync'd photos... That would be great and eventually that's what I want... But I can't risk having all the photos vanish from all three devices... If it simply said "Remove Photos and Videos FROM THE IPAD" I'd be ok... But it doesn't add those three simple words... It just speaks of removing them but doesn't verify from WHERE!!!!!

Can anyone help me to understand how I can be sure I'm going to be able to save my photos (hopefully on both the iPhone and the MAC) when I turn OFF the Finder Sync on the iPad??? Any help would be much appreciated...

[Edited by Moderator]

Original Title: How to turn OFF iPad photo sync to Finder and instead turn ON iPad photo sync to iCloud

iPad Pro (5th generation)

Posted on Nov 5, 2025 7:04 PM

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Answer 1

muguy

Level 10

91,148 points

Nov 5, 2025 7:23 PM in response to Robert Paris

When you enable iCloud photo sync, anything synced using finder is removed from the device. The warning message lets you know this. Your finder synced photos are removed and replaced with the photos synced using iCloud.

Reminder: iCloud is a synchronization service. If. you delete, add, or modify a photo on any connected device or at iCloud.com, the change is made everywhere.

Be sure to continue to backup using your Time machine (or similar) backup.

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Answer 2

muguy

Level 10

91,148 points

Nov 6, 2025 5:36 AM in response to Robert Paris

Yes. Items will be removed from the iPad as those were synced using finder.

yes, simply enable iCloud Photos on the Mac.

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Answer 3

Nov 6, 2025 7:30 AM in response to Robert Paris

Robert Paris wrote: …But the way "photos" are stored are in .photoslibrary large files makes turning those back into individual photos not hard but not automatic either...

Off the subject, but I just want to comment here that, in Photos, pictures are not stored as "large files." The image we see on the screen is a combination of the Original picture file and information in the database. So the Original files exist in the Photos Library exactly as they were imported, but Edited and Commented pictures don't exist as files until they are exported.

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Answer 4

Robert Paris Author

Level 2

229 points

Nov 5, 2025 9:37 PM in response to muguy

thanks for the quick response... My followup question is about your phrase "removed from the device"... I'm assuming you're saying the "device" in my case is ONLY my iPad... Removed the Finder sync'd photos and replace them with what I have stored in iCloud, right??? But I won't lose what is currently in iCloud or on the iPhone (sync'd to iCloud currently) or on my Mac (which is NOT currently connected to iCloud but that will be next)... Like I said, if the message said "will be removed from the iPad", that would be much more informative and helpful than what it instead says, which is just "will be removed".... From what??? I ask... And you say, only from the iPad (Finder sync'd) and they will then be replaced by iCloud Photos, right???

And is it simple, next step, to just click to ON this button (see attached) on the MAC itself??? To add all my Mac photos to iCloud??? What is on my Mac is the largest group of photos I have as I also have some much older (than the iPhone) pictures stored in Photos on the Mac... those are the ones I want to be sure not to lose...

I don't use Time Machine but I do have all photos backed up both through an online backup service AND by cloning my hard drive often... But the way "photos" are stored are in .photoslibrary large files makes turning those back into individual photos not hard but not automatic either...

Appreciate the help!!! thanks...

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Answer 5

Robert Paris Author

Level 2

229 points

Nov 6, 2025 11:23 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Richard.Taylor wrote: Off the subject, but I just want to comment here that, in Photos, pictures are not stored as "large files." The image we see on the screen is a combination of the Original picture file and information in the database. So the Original files exist in the Photos Library exactly as they were imported, but Edited and Commented pictures don't exist as files until they are exported.

Not quite following... When I clone my Mac hard drive (do so quite often) what I would end up with (on the clone) is what you see in this screenshot, a nearly 100 GByte "file" called "Photos Library.photolibrary"... All my photos are in that file... But to recall them, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I would need to move that file from the clone to an operational MAC that had the application "photos" running on it, in order to see one or all of the nearly 20,000 photos (and videos) in that .photolibrary file... That file is what I was alluding to above... Correct or wrong??? See screenshot...

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Answer 6

Nov 7, 2025 6:53 AM in response to Robert Paris

The Photos Library is not a file -- it is a "Package." A package is a folder, really, with a bit of protection to keep people from messing around with the files inside it. The package contains the "Original Unmodified" picture files and a database (consisting of a number of files) that has the recording of the results of all the edits, comments, and scans that have been used to produce the final picture. The Library package also contains thumbnail images and small preview versions to make scanning through pictures faster.

So, with some care, the "Original Unmodified" picture files can be accessed directly without any special app. Those original files have their original metadata. However, it's a bit hard to tell which is which-- Photos changes the filename to a unique identifier, like BFDC382A-ECB0-4F1E-B81F-3FCEAB982142.jpeg, that is so long that probably no other picture in the world has the same name. The original "IMG_1234.jpg" filename is stored in the database. Otherwise the original picture file is untouched, so any app that can interpret jpeg or heic or tiff or whatever coding can be used to view the image.

But to see the edited versions, you need an app that interprets the database properly. Photos does that, of course, as well as the trusted 3rd party app PowerPhotos ($40) which adds more functionality to Photos. PowerPhotos is an example of another app that can show the edited pictures as well as other information in Photos Library.

When you export an image from Photos, you can get an Original Unmodified version, or you can get an edited version, but neither has all the information that's available to Photos. Exporting the two versions takes more storage space, and it has less information, than the Photos Library itself. That's why, like you, I save a copy of the Photos Library to an archive drive periodically. I also use Time Machine to make daily incremental backups, as well.

I hope that helps…

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