How to move your iCloud Photos library to a NAS

By Isaac Griffiths, developer of SMBDrop · 15 October 2026

If your photos live in iCloud Photos, the full-resolution originals are on Apple's servers, and your iPhone may only be holding smaller versions. Getting the whole library onto a NAS means getting those originals down first, then copying them across. There are six realistic ways to do it, and which one suits you depends mostly on what other computers you have.

Two things to know before you start. First, iCloud Photos isn't a backup: Apple itself says photos "are not duplicated in your iCloud backup, so keep backup copies of your library", and deleting a photo on one device deletes it everywhere. Second, the order matters: copy, verify, then delete. Never the other way round.

No official NAS import: I couldn't find any first-party tool from Synology or QNAP that pulls your iCloud Photos library down. Synology users in the community forum describe being "forced to use fragile third-party tools". UGREEN says its app only backs up what's on the phone, and recommends turning on Download and Keep Originals first. So one of the routes below is how it's done.

Route 1: through the iPhone

Best if you don't have a computer, and your iPhone has enough free space for the whole library.

Go to Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Photos, tap iPhone Storage and choose Download and Keep Originals. (Apple's wording; on some iOS versions the iPhone Storage step may look slightly different.)
Stay on Wi-Fi and power until the downloads finish. With a big library this can take a long time.
Copy the originals to the NAS. You can select photos in Photos, tap Share, choose Export Unmodified Originals and save to a server you've added in the Files app. Or use an SMB app that reads the library directly.
Optionally switch back to Optimise iPhone Storage afterwards.

If your phone doesn't have room for everything, don't force it. The free up storage guide covers exporting in batches with Optimise left on. Either way, before you delete anything, check every exported item is the full original, by file size and resolution, not a smaller optimised copy.

Route 2: through a Mac

In Photos, go to Photos → Settings → iCloud and choose Download Originals to this Mac.
Wait for the downloads to finish.
Connect to the NAS share in Finder (Go → Connect to Server, then smb:// and the NAS address).
Select all, then File → Export → Export Unmodified Original. Pick a subfolder format (by Moment works well) and export to the share. Apple says a Live Photo exports as two files, a still and a video. There's an optional Export IPTC as XMP tickbox.

Don't move the Photos library itself onto the NAS. Apple says not to keep a Photos library on a device shared over your network, and warns that if the drive isn't there when Photos opens, Photos "will create a new empty library". The NAS should hold exported files, not the live .photoslibrary.

Route 3: through a Windows PC

Install iCloud for Windows and turn on iCloud Photos.
In File Explorer, open iCloud Photos, select everything, right-click and choose Always keep on this device. Until you do, photos are only thumbnails.
When the downloads finish, copy the files to the NAS share.

That copy step matters. Apple warns that if a photo is deleted on another device with iCloud Photos on, "it is deleted from your computer as well, even if it is pinned", and says to copy to a different folder if you want a backup.

Route 4: iCloud.com, for small sets

At icloud.com/photos you can select up to 1,000 items at a time, then choose More Download Options → Unmodified Originals. That gives you files in the format they were captured in. Unzip, copy to the NAS, repeat. Fine for a few thousand photos, painful for a big library, which is why r/DataHoarder has a thread asking how to get past the 1,000 limit. Apple doesn't say whether this download keeps both halves of a Live Photo.

Route 5: Apple's data copy

At privacy.apple.com, choose Request a copy of your data and tick iCloud Photos. Apple verifies it's you, then emails when it's ready. Apple says photos and videos come "in their original formats", and you then have 14 days to download. Unzip and copy to the NAS. Two catches: availability varies by country and region, and if you use Advanced Data Protection, end-to-end encrypted data isn't included.

Route 6: icloudpd on the NAS itself

icloudpd is an open-source command-line tool that runs on Linux, Windows, macOS and NAS boxes, including in Docker. It's what Synology community members use in place of an official tool, and it downloads Live Photos as separate files.

On the iPhone, turn on Access iCloud Data on the Web in your iCloud settings, and make sure Advanced Data Protection is off. icloudpd works by simulating web access, so ADP isn't supported.
Run icloudpd --auth-only and complete two-factor authentication. Hardware security keys aren't supported.
Run it with --directory pointing at a folder on the NAS. --watch-with-interval 3600 keeps checking for new photos.
Re-authenticate when Apple's session expires, currently about every two months.

Leave the default copy mode alone. Its --keep-icloud-recent-days option deletes photos from iCloud, which you don't want until you've verified everything. Also note the project's README currently says it's looking for a maintainer, so it may not keep up with changes on Apple's side.

Verify, then delete

Whichever route you take, check the copy before you delete anything from iCloud: compare counts, check sizes and formats, open a sample of photos and videos, and check the dates survived. The originals and Live Photos guide explains what to look for. Then make a second copy, because once photos are only on the NAS, the NAS isn't a backup any more. Deleting from iCloud Photos deletes from every synced device, and Recently Deleted keeps items for 30 days before they're gone for good.

If you're doing this because you've run out of space, iCloud storage full: your options covers downgrading safely.

Where SMBDrop fits

Disclosure: I make SMBDrop. It's useful for Route 1. Once the originals are on the phone, it reads them from your library and sends them to a NAS share as the original files, with both halves of each Live Photo, in the background with a retry queue for anything that fails. It's £9.99 once, no subscription, no account, iOS 17 or later. It doesn't sign in to iCloud or download your library by itself; for that you need one of the other routes. The best SMB apps for iPhone compares it with PhotoSync and others, and backing up without iCloud covers the bigger picture.

SMBDrop's photo picker with several photos and videos selected to send to a NAS

FAQ

Can my Synology or QNAP download my iCloud Photos library directly?

Not with an official tool that I could find. Synology users run the open-source icloudpd in Docker instead, or export the originals from an iPhone, Mac or PC and copy them to the NAS.

How do I download more than 1,000 photos from iCloud.com?

iCloud.com only lets you select up to 1,000 at a time. For a whole library, use Download Originals on a Mac, Always keep on this device in iCloud for Windows, Download and Keep Originals on the iPhone, or request a copy of your data at privacy.apple.com.

Can I keep my Photos library on a NAS?

Apple advises against it. Its guidance is not to store a Photos library on a device shared over your network. Keep the library on the Mac and put exported originals on the NAS.

Does icloudpd work with Advanced Data Protection?

No. icloudpd simulates web access, which Advanced Data Protection disables. You also need Access iCloud Data on the Web turned on, and you have to re-authenticate about every two months.

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