With the iCloud Shared Photo Library feature, you can set up or join a shared library to share photos and videos with up to five friends or family members. You and those close to you can collaborate on the photo collection and enjoy more complete memories, all in one place. You can belong to one shared library at a time.
When you join a shared library, the photos and videos that you contribute move from your personal library to the shared library, and all members can view, edit, and delete them. Shared library photos and videos appear in the Photos app alongside your personal content, and a filter lets you quickly switch between your personal and shared libraries.
Note: The minimum system requirements for iCloud Shared Photo Library are iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16.1, macOS 13, or later. On devices with earlier versions of the software, photos and videos added to a shared library aren’t available.
Before you begin
Make sure iCloud Photos is turned on before you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library.
- Start the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
- Tap Photos and then make sure Sync this iPhone is on.
Note: To set up a shared library, you don’t need Family Sharing turned on.
Set up an iCloud Shared Photo Library
Whoever sets up a shared library is its organizer.
- Start the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap Collections.
- Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Shared Library and then follow the onscreen instructions to add participants and move photos and videos into the shared library.
Note: Your personal library doesn’t show the photos and videos you add to the shared library.
Before you invite participants using Messages or a web link, you can preview and change the photos and videos you add to the shared library.
Join an iCloud Shared Photo Library
To join an iCloud Shared Photo Library, tap the invitation sent from the organizer, tap Get Started, then follow the onscreen instructions. During setup, you can add photos and videos to the shared library the same way as the organizer.
Once you’ve joined a shared library, you can add photos and videos to it in several ways and access the same content as the organizer and other participants.
Add participants to an iCloud Shared Photo Library
The organizer, the person who sets up an iCloud Shared Photo Library, can add new participants.
- Start the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap Collections.
- Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Manage, then tap Add Participants.
Note: Up to six participants, organizer included, can share a library, and you can only belong to one shared library at a time.
Delete or leave an iCloud Shared Photo Library
Organizers of an iCloud Shared Photo Library can delete it, while anyone who isn’t the organizer can leave the shared library.
- Start the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap Collections.
- Tap your account in the top-right corner.
- Tap Manage, then tap one of the following:
- Delete Shared Library: When a shared library is deleted, participants who have been members of the shared library for more than 7 days can copy everything from the shared library into their own libraries. Participants who have been members for less than 7 days can copy only the content they contributed.
- Leave Shared Library: When you leave a shared library, you can copy everything from the shared library into your own library, or just the content you contributed.
Everything added to a shared library counts toward the library organizer’s iCloud storage space.
