1. Check the Sync Status

If your photos and videos on your Mac won't sync to iCloud Photos, don't turn it off just yet. iCloud Photos might pause syncing for many reasons. The best way to troubleshoot it is to look at the status message in the Photos app.

To check, open the Photos app and select Library from the sidebar. Select the All Photos tab from the top. Scroll to the bottom to see the iCloud syncing status. You might see "Waiting to Sync" here, which indicates that you don't have an active internet connection, or "Uploading to iCloud Paused" if you lost connection midway.

2. Activate iCloud Photos

If you've just finished setting up your Mac, your photos won't sync unless you activate iCloud Photos. Here's how to do that:

Open the Photos app.

Select Photos > Settings from the menu bar.

Switch to the iCloud tab and check the box next to iCloud Photos .

You can then switch between the Download Originals to this Mac and the Optimize Mac Storage sub-options. The former option downloads all original copies of your photo library to your Mac, while the latter uses low-resolution placeholders to conserve disk space. Syncing your iCloud photo library to your Mac for the first time can take a while, so don't expect your images to appear right away.

You can also disable and re-enable iCloud Photos to force Photos to sync your images to iCloud. The process is the same as above.

3. Check Your Apple ID

Do you use multiple Apple accounts? It's a good idea to confirm that you're signed in to your Mac using the same account you use on other devices you want to sync photos with.

To do that, go to Apple menu > System Settings from the menu bar. Click on your Apple ID name at the top to see if the email address matches what's on your other devices. You can also scroll down to the bottom of this menu to see the list of devices using the account.

On iOS or iPadOS devices, open the Settings app and tap your profile to reveal your Apple ID.

If you've signed in to another Apple ID on your Mac, scroll to the bottom and click Sign Out . Then, sign in again with the same Apple ID you use on your other devices.

4. Force Quit the Photos App

Sometimes, the Photos app on macOS can stop syncing for no reason. Force quitting the app and reopening it usually helps fix that. Here's how:

Click the Apple menu and select Force Quit .

Select Photos and click Force Quit .

Relaunch the Photos app from the Dock or Launchpad and check if it starts syncing your photos again.

You can also access this window by pressing Command + Option + Esc .

5. Check Your Internet Connection

You need an internet connection to sync your photos and videos to Apple's cloud servers and to download iCloud files to your devices. So, if you see a Waiting to Sync status message in the Photos app, ensure that your device has a stable internet connection before resuming iCloud syncing.

To check if you're still connected to the internet, open Safari or any other browser and try to load a webpage because it's possible that your Mac is connected to Wi-Fi without an internet connection.

6. Turn Off Low Power Mode

Low Power Mode may be another potential reason why your Mac isn't syncing iCloud Photos. Low Power Mode reduces your Mac's energy use and minimizes background activities, including iCloud syncing. If you see a Low Power Mode status message in Photos, click Sync Now next to it to resume syncing for an hour.

Alternatively, you can turn off Low Power Mode by going to System Settings and selecting Battery from the sidebar. Select the appropriate option on the dropdown menu beside Low Power Mode .

7. Charge Your Device

Aside from Low Power Mode, your Mac will also turn off background activities like iCloud syncing if your device is low on power.

You might see a Saving Battery Power sync status message in Photos or see it stuck on a status message that says Syncing [number] of Items to iCloud or Syncing with iCloud . If so, plug your Mac into a power source first before resuming syncing.

8. Check the iCloud System Status

It's also a good idea to confirm that nothing's wrong with iCloud Photos on the server side. To do that, open Apple's System Status page and check the status next to Photos . If you see any issues listed, you'll need to wait it out until Apple resolves them.

9. Restart Your Mac

Rebooting your Mac can fix random app- and network-related problems. If you haven't already, open the Apple menu and select Restart . Uncheck the Reopen windows when logging back in box before clicking Restart again.

10. Free Up Some Storage Space

If your Mac is close to running out of storage, freeing up some space in macOS might get photos stored on iCloud to sync properly again.

The Storage section in System Settings is an excellent place to start. Go to System Settings > General > Storage and work your way through each item listed under Recommendations before digging into the storage categories on the sidebar.

However, if photos stored on your Mac aren't syncing to iCloud, you may want to check your iCloud storage as well, which you can do by going to System Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud and clicking Manage at the top. You can delete old backups and other app data from here or upgrade your iCloud storage plan if needed.

11. Flush the DNS Cache

A corrupt or obsolete DNS (Domain Name Service) cache can prevent your Mac from connecting to Apple's iCloud servers. Thankfully, deleting the DNS cache forces your Mac to resolve each web address from scratch. Here's how you can do that:

Launch the Terminal app on your Mac using Spotlight search ( Command + Space ).

Type the following command:

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Press the Return key.

12. Repair the Photo Library

If none of the solutions above help, it's time to fix potential errors within your photo library. Apple's Photos app is capable of detecting and correcting them by itself. But you can manually do the same by following these steps:

Exit the Photos app. If the app appears frozen, force quit it instead.

Press the Option and Command keys simultaneously and double-click the Photos icon on the Dock or Launchpad.

Select Repair from the screen that appears.

Depending on the size of the library, the Photos app may take a while to carry out repairs. Check if your photos have begun syncing after that.

13. Delete the Sync Index

You can also try deleting the index files that hold the Photos app's sync data. That will prompt your Mac to sync your entire photo library from scratch. If you want to go ahead, here's how:

Quit the Photos app.

Click Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar. Type Pictures and click the result to go to the Pictures folder.

Control-click the Photos Library file and select Show Package Contents .

Go to the folders labeled resources > cpl > CloudSync.noindex .

Delete all files within the CloudSync.noindex folder.

Now, simply relaunch the Photos app to sync your entire library again.

14. Update macOS

Updating your Mac's operating system helps mitigate problems caused by a buggy instance of the Photos app. If iCloud Photos still isn't syncing, try doing that now by going to System Settings > General > Software Update . If a new macOS version is available, click Update Now .

Get the Photos App on Your Mac to Sync Again

The fixes above should help you get the Photos app to start syncing images as usual on your Mac. If you run into the same issue again, make sure to run through some of the quicker fixes above another time.

For example, force quitting Photos, restarting your Mac, or repairing the photo library can get things moving in the right direction most of the time.

14 Ways to Fix iCloud Photos Not Syncing on Your Mac