Apple's 'My Photo Stream' Service Shuts Down on Wednesday, Here's What You Need to Do

Apple last month announced that its "My Photo Stream" service is set to shut down on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, which means customers who are still using that feature need to transition to using iCloud Photos before that date. Keep reading to learn what it means for you and whether you need to take action.

icloud photos

What is My Photo Stream?

Originally launched in 2011, My Photo Stream is a free service that when enabled temporarily uploads images (up to 1,000 at any given time) to iCloud, making them accessible across your Apple devices and available for importing to your library on any device. Photos remain in My Photo Stream for 30 days and are then automatically deleted from ‌iCloud‌.

My Photo Stream was later replaced by iCloud Photo Library (now ‌iCloud Photos‌) and Apple is now shutting down the My Photo Stream service on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

macos mojave photos my photo stream
To prepare for the shutdown, Apple stopped photo uploads to My Photo Stream on June 26, 2023, so any images uploaded to the service before that date will remain in ‌iCloud‌ for the usual 30 days until the shutdown point.

What Do I Need to Do?

If you already use ‌iCloud Photos‌, you don't need to do anything – your photos are already uploaded and stored in ‌iCloud‌. However, if you're not sure, you can check that ‌iCloud Photos‌ is enabled on all of your devices.

On iPhone and iPad

  1. Open the Settings app and tap your Apple ID at the top of the menu.
  2. Tap iCloud.
  3. Make sure that it says "On" next to Photos.

settings

On Mac

  1. Click the Apple symbol () in your Mac's menu bar and choose System Settings.
  2. Click your ‌Apple ID‌ name at the top of the sidebar.
  3. Click iCloud.
  4. Make sure that it says "On" next to Photos.

settings

What to Do If You Don't Use iCloud Photos

‌Photos‌ in My Photo Stream are already stored on at least one of your devices in their original format, so as long as you have the device, you won't actually lose any photos when the service shuts down.

However, what you will lose is the ability to access these images on any device. If any photos you want aren't already in your library on a particular iPhone or iPad, one option is to turn on ‌iCloud Photos‌ using the steps above.

Note that ‌iCloud Photos‌ requires a paid ‌iCloud‌ subscription to go beyond the free 5GB ‌iCloud‌ storage limit, and it‌ is only available on iPhones and iPads running iOS 8.3 or later and Macs running OS X Yosemite or later.

Alternatively, you can save photos in My Photo Stream to your library on a particular device, as long as you do it before July 26. The following steps show you how.

Saving 'My Photo Stream' Photos to Your Photo Library

  1. Open the ‌Photos‌ app and tap Albums.
  2. Tap My Photo Stream, then tap Select.
  3. Tap the photos that you want to save, then tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing out).
  4. Choose Save Image.

If you own a Mac, you don't have to do anything – My Photo Stream photos automatically import to your library.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...

Top Rated Comments

nissan.gtp Avatar
23 months ago
I really like the current/old system. Synching photos from my phone to my Mac automatically was great (when it worked, which it didn't always do). I don't want my photos in the cloud, so the new solution is useless to me. Back to physical synching for me I guess.
Negative progress.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TarkinDale Avatar
23 months ago
This does seem to be aimed at forcing subscription take up by killing the basic feature of syncing between devices.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kaycrystal626 Avatar
23 months ago
Apple is getting so stingy on free stuff. That free 5GB cloud space is a joke compared to Google's 20GB for years!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayducharme Avatar
23 months ago
I wasn't at all happy about this. I sent feedback to Apple and I wrote to Craig Federighi. Photo Stream was one of those seamless and useful Apple creations that just worked. It was a perfect backup for my photos when I was on the road. I already have the premium iCloud storage option, but if I activated iCloud Photos, that entire storage would be instantly gobbled up because I shoot a lot of 4k video. And right now, iCloud Photos has no options except on or off. I'd use it if I could specify that only photos are synced, not videos. Then it would be useable for me.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ersan191 Avatar
23 months ago

This is one of my pet hates with all of these Tech Companies. They start up these services, want buy in, and then half of them end up closing down within 5 or less years.
I mean, this post explains that it was around for 12 years.

--

It's not exactly the same as My Photo Stream but you can just turn on automatic wifi syncing with your iPhone on your Mac/PC and enable photo syncing. Your phone has to be on the same network and the auto sync isn't instant (manual is) but otherwise it's pretty similar.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orbital~debris Avatar
23 months ago
I think this post would have less potential for spreading incorrect information if the main Photos app icon wasn't emblazoned across the top.

I can see this post possibly leading to some people thinking Apple are shutting down Photos the app, or iCloud Photo Library.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)