Get started with Photos on Mac

Use Photos on your Mac to browse and organise your photo collection and find, perfect and share your best shots. Here’s how to get started.

Open Photos for me

An iPhone, MacBook and iPad all showing memories from the same photo library.
The image above shows a feature that uses Apple Intelligence. *

Bring photos to your Mac from iCloud

If you use iCloud, turn on iCloud Photos on your Mac, iPhone and iPad to see your photos on all your devices. In Photos on your Mac, choose Photos > Settings, click iCloud, then select iCloud Photos.

The Photos app with an iPhone selected in the sidebar and the Import window open.

Import photos

You can also import photos from an iPhone, iPad or camera. With Photos open on your Mac, connect your device or camera and turn it on. If you’re importing from a camera, set it to download photos. Click the device in the sidebar, click the photos you want to import, then click Import [X] Selected.

The Photos main window showing Library selected in sidebar on the left, photos organised in a grid on the right, and Years, Months and All Photos buttons in the toolbar at the top.

Browse your photos

To browse your photos by when they were taken, click Library in the sidebar, then click Years or Months in the toolbar — or click All Photos to browse your entire library. To see photos of specific people or pets, click Collections in the sidebar, then click People & Pets. You can also click Memories to watch curated collections of photos set to music.

A photo in editing view, with Crop selected in the toolbar and cropping and straightening tools on the right.

Crop and straighten photos

Crop photos to remove unwanted areas, or straighten photos shot at an angle. Double-click a photo, click Edit in the toolbar, then click Crop. Drag the selection rectangle to enclose the area you want to keep. Drag the Straighten slider to adjust the photo’s angle.

A photo in editing view, with Adjust selected in the toolbar and adjustment tools on the right.

Improve the look of photos

Quickly brighten photos, adjust colour and more. Double-click a photo, click Edit, then click Adjust in the toolbar. Click the arrow next to Light or Colour, then drag the slider to get the look you want — or click Auto above the slider and let Photos do it for you.

The Photos app window with All Albums selected in the sidebar and albums shown on the right.

Organise photos in albums

Create albums to organise your photos your way. Choose File > New Album, type a name for the album, then press Return. To add photos to the album, click Library in the sidebar, then drag photos to the new album in the sidebar.

Want to learn more?

*Apple Intelligence is available in beta with support for the following languages: English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions. For more information on language and feature availability and system requirements, see the Apple Support article How to get Apple Intelligence.
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