You can keep adding to an iCloud Shared Photo Library after you set up or join one in the Photos app. Anything you move there leaves your personal library and becomes visible to all participants. Here are the ways to add more photos and videos:
- Manually move photos from your personal library
- Save photos and videos you take directly to the shared library from Camera
- Share photos you take when other members of the shared library are nearby
- Share photos and videos you take at home
Note: iCloud Shared Photo Library works on iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16.1, macOS 13, or later. Earlier versions of the software can’t show photos and videos added to a shared library.
Manually add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library
Individual photos and videos from your personal library can go into the iCloud Shared Photo Library.
- Start the Photos app on your iPad.
- Tap the photo or video you want to add. Or to add multiple photos and videos at the same time, tap Select. Tap the thumbnails you want to add.
- Tap the More button. Then tap Move to Shared Library.
After content is moved to the shared library, it’s no longer in your personal library and is visible to all of the shared library participants. To move content from the shared library back to your personal library, follow the steps above, but tap Move to Personal Library instead of Move to Shared Library.
Add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library directly from Camera
After you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library, when you open Camera, a Shared Library button appears on the side of the screen to let you switch between saving photos and videos to your personal library and saving them to the shared library. By default, Camera saves to your personal library. To switch, tap the Personal Library button to save to the shared library; tap the Shared Library button to switch back to your personal library.
To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, go to Settings > Apps > Photos > Shared Library > Sharing from Camera, then turn Sharing from Camera on or off.
Add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library when participants are nearby
While you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library, there’s an option to automatically add photos you take when you’re near other people in the shared library.
To allow iPad to detect when participants of your shared library are nearby, participants need to be signed in to their Apple Account on their device and have Bluetooth® turned on in Settings > Bluetooth.
To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, do the following:
- Start the Photos app on your iPad.
- Tap Collections. Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Shared Library, then tap Sharing from Camera.
- Tap Share Automatically.
Automatically add photos and videos taken at home to an iCloud Shared Photo Library
You can also have photos and videos you take at home added to the shared library automatically, an option you choose when you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library.
To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, do the following:
- Start the Photos app on your iPad.
- Tap Collections. Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Shared Library, then tap Sharing from Camera.
- Turn Share When At Home on or off.
Turn iCloud Shared Photo Library sharing suggestions on or off
Sharing suggestions recommends photos you might want to add to your iCloud Shared Photo Library, such as photos you took when participants of the shared library were nearby, or photos of people you indicated interest in during the setup process. iPad sends a notification to review sharing suggestions. To turn suggestions on or off, follow these steps:
- Start the Photos app on your iPad.
- Tap Collections. Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Shared Library, then turn Shared Library Suggestions on or off.
If you want to get sharing suggestions for additional people, tap Add People, tap a person, then tap Add. The person doesn’t have to be a member of the shared library.
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