How to use iCloud Photo Sharing in Photos for Mac

Using, sharing, and organizing your photos with iCloud is a lot easier than you think. Here's how!

Whether you're looking to access and share photos to your iCloud account, wanting to share, comment, and like albums and photos with other people, or simply want to send your photos and videos to Facebook and Flickr, there are quite a number of ways to take advantage of Photos for Mac.

Here's how you can use iCloud Photo Sharing in Photos for Mac, and so, so much more!

• How to access iCloud Photo Sharing in the Photos app for Mac
• How to add photos to iCloud Photo Sharing in Photos for Mac
• How to add someone to a stream with iCloud Photo Sharing and Photos for Mac
• How to like or comment on shared images and videos in Photos for Mac
• How to share a single image or video with Photos for Mac
• How to share multiple images and videos at once with Photos for Mac

How to access iCloud Photo Sharing in the Photos app for Mac

Once you've shared to iCloud Photo Sharing, or someone has shared with you, it's just as quick and easy to find those pictures and videos in Photos for Mac. You can even like or comment right from your Mac. All you need to know is where to look!

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.

2. Click an option under Shared in the menu.

   

Here you can access any shared stream you are a part of. You can like, comment, and add photos just as you normally would in iOS too!

How to add photos to iCloud Photo Sharing

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
2. Right-click on a photo. If you'd like to, select multiple photos by clicking one and command-clicking or shift-clicking others.
3. Click Share.
4. Click iCloud Photo Sharing.
5. Optionally add a comment.

6. Click an existing album or create a new one.

   

The photo(s) will now appear in that shared album and those with access to it will be able to view.

How to add someone to a stream with iCloud Photo Sharing and Photos for Mac

Whether you've created some new shared Photo Streams or want to add someone to an existing one you already manage, adding them with the Photos app on your Mac is pretty straight forward. They'll then receive an invitation to iCloud Photo Sharing they can join on any iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Before continuing, remember that in order to invite someone to a shared Photo Stream, you must be the owner of that stream. You can not invite new members to a shared stream that you do not own.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.

2. Click on Shared Albums in your side menu.

   

3. Double-click on the shared album you'd like to add someone too.

4. Click on the members button in the top right of the menu. It looks like a little person in a circle.

   

5. Click inside the Invite People box and type the name of the person you'd like to add. If they're in your address book, they should automatically come up. If they aren't, you can enter their email instead of their name.

6. Hit Enter on your keyboard to save changes and send the invite.

   

How to like or comment on shared images and videos in Photos for Mac

Shared Photo Streams are pretty much a private version of an a photo album you'd post on a regular social media site. Only the people invited can view and add photos. But like social networks, you can also comment and like photos and other people in the group will get a notification.

You've always been able to do this in the Photos app for iPhone and iPad, and now you can do it right on your Mac with Photos for Mac!

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.

2. Click on Shared Albums in your side menu.

   

3. Click on the Shared album you'd like to view.

4. Double-click the photo you'd like to comment on or like.

   

5. Click on the comment icon in the lower left corner of the image. It looks like a speech bubble with a plus sign in it.

6. Either click on the smiley icon to like the photo or leave a comment and hit Send.

   

How to share a single image or video with Photos for Mac

Either way, you can do it quickly and easily right from Photos for Mac! Simply find the picture or video you want to share — or multiple pictures or videos — choose the way you want to share them, and you're good to go.

Thanks to Mac sharing extensions, other services can plug in as well. It's the fastest, easiest way to get your pictures and videos from where they are to where you want them to be.

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.

2. Double-click the image or video you want to share.

   

3. Click on the Share button in the upper right hand corner.

4. Click the sharing method you'd like to use.

   

Fill out any necessary info and send it on its way!

How to share multiple images and videos at once with Photos for Mac

1. Launch the Photos app on your Mac.

2. Click on an image or video and then either shift-click or command-click on other images and videos.

   

3. Click on the Share button in the top menu bar, it's off to the right.

4. Click a sharing option.

   

Fill out any necessary info and send it on its way!

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below.

Updated January 2018: Added a section on how to add photos to an iCloud Photo Sharing album and updated screenshots and steps for other sections.