Add content to an iCloud Shared Photo Library in Photos on iPhone

After you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library in the Photos app , you can continue to add photos and videos in several ways:

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: iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16.1, macOS 13, or later are the minimum system requirements to use iCloud Shared Photo Library. Photos and videos added to a shared library won’t be available on devices with earlier versions of the software.

Manually add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library

You can add individual photos and videos from your personal library to the iCloud Shared Photo Library.

Tap the photo or video you want to add to view it in full screen on your iPhone. Or, to add multiple photos and videos at the same time, tap Select, then tap the thumbnails you want to add.
Tap , 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 at the top of the screen to let you switch between saving the photos and videos you take directly to your personal library or to the shared library. By default, shared library is off and Camera saves to your personal library. To switch, tap to save to the shared library; tap to switch back to your personal library.

The Camera screen is open and a subject fills the frame. At the top of the Camera screen, the shared library button is turned on.

To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, go to Settings > Photos > Shared Library > Sharing from Camera, then turn Sharing from Camera on or off (green is on).

Add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library when participants are nearby

When you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library, you can choose an option to automatically turn on the shared library button in Camera when other shared library participants are nearby, so you can always add the photos and videos you take together directly to the shared library.

To detect when participants of your shared library are nearby, participants need to be signed in to their device with their Apple ID and have Bluetooth turned on in Settings > Bluetooth.

To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, go to Settings > Photos > Shared Library > Sharing from Camera, then tap Share Automatically or Share Manually.

Automatically add photos and videos taken at home to an iCloud Shared Photo Library

When you set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library, you can choose an option to automatically add photos and videos you take at home to the shared library.

To turn the feature on or off after you complete the setup process, go to Settings > Photos > Shared Library > Sharing from Camera, then turn on Share When At Home (green is on).

Add photos and videos to an iCloud Shared Photo Library with sharing suggestions

Sharing suggestions recommends photos you might want to add to your iCloud Shared Photo Library, such as photos you took with participants of the shared library, photos you took when participants were nearby, or photos of people you indicated interest in during the setup process. iPhone sends a notification to review sharing suggestions. Or, follow these steps:

Open the Photos app , then tap For You.
Scroll down to For Your Shared Library, then tap See All.
Tap Move All or tap Select to manually choose the photos you want to add to the shared library.

If you want to get sharing suggestions for additional people, go to Settings > Photos > Shared Library > Shared Library Suggestions, tap Add People, tap a person, then tap Add. The person doesn’t have to be a member of the shared library. See Identify people and pets in photos on iPhone.

To turn off sharing suggestions, go to Settings > Photos > Shared Library > Shared Library Suggestions, then turn off Shared Library Suggestions.

For more information about accessing content in a shared library, see the Apple Support article If you are missing photos after joining an iCloud Shared Photo Library.

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