Copies only what’s new
Later runs add only what’s missing: new photos, new edits, renamed albums. Never a full re-copy of the library, even months later.
Feature · Apple Photos Archive
Your Apple Photos library, finally yours
Years of memories live inside Apple Photos, but they aren’t your files: they sit in a closed library, often only in iCloud, behind a monthly fee. Apple Photos Archive brings them out: it copies originals and current edits to a drive you choose, verifies every file by reading it back from disk, and keeps everything searchable with PhotoCore, even with the drive unplugged.
Verified file by fileNever deletes anythingCopies only what’s newSearchable offline
See it live
The flow, screen by screen
One decision to make: where to save. Everything else is sensible defaults, always-visible status and a final report you can read anywhere.
The problem
A library that won’t give your files back
Apple Photos is convenient as long as you stay inside. Try to leave: the library is a sealed package, originals often live only in iCloud, and manual export leaves you with thousands of files without dates, without albums, and with no guarantee the copy is intact. So years of memories stay hostage to a storage meter and a monthly fee.
Apple Photos Archive is the orderly way out: a verified copy of your whole library, in folders by year and month, made of regular files that open in Finder, with or without PhotoCore. And because PhotoCore makes it, it stays searchable by meaning, even with the drive unplugged.
How it works
Copied, verified, organized
Verified, not just copied
Every file is written to the destination and then read back from disk, byte for byte, against the fingerprint computed during the copy. When PhotoCore says ’verified’, the archived file is identical to the original: no blind copies, no surprises ten years from now.
- SHA-256 fingerprint computed during the copy
- Read back from disk after writing
- Safe pause and resume, even after a restart
Regular files, organized by date
The archive is folders by year and month, with readable names. Current edits sit next to the originals, albums become open metadata, and every run ends with an HTML report. Everything opens without PhotoCore: that’s the point.
- Folders by year and month you can browse in Finder
- Albums and metadata in open formats
- A final report readable in any browser
Never from scratch
It updates, it doesn’t start over
Never deletes anything
Deleting in Apple Photos never touches the archive: those shots stay, marked ’No longer in Photos · preserved in your archive’. Removing is only ever your own action.
Edits, with history
When you retouch an already-archived photo, the new version updates the archive and the previous one is kept alongside. The space used by previous versions is always in the report.
iCloud
From iCloud to your drive, sensibly
Downloads originals, never uploads
Photos stored only in iCloud are downloaded through Apple Photos during archiving: when it’s done, you have a local copy that didn’t exist before. PhotoCore never uploads anything to the cloud: down only, never up.
- iCloud originals downloaded during archiving
- You end up with an extra local copy
- No uploads, ever
Careful with your Mac’s space
If free space on the system disk drops below the threshold, iCloud downloads pause on their own while the rest of the run continues. And the destination is checked before starting: exFAT warning, FAT32 and network drives declined.
- Downloads pause automatically when space runs low
- Destination checked before starting
- An archive created on another Mac is never touched
After archiving
A source like any other, searchable offline
It indexes itself
When the run ends, the archive joins your PhotoCore sources and gets indexed with no extra steps. It has its own row in the sources menu, with a status that’s always clear.
Search with the drive unplugged
Put the archive on an SSD or a NAS and keep searching by meaning, with thumbnails, even while the drive sits in a drawer. Reconnect only for the originals.
RAW included
CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF and DNG appear in the grid, in search and in Stories. The embedded preview is read without developing the file: fast even with thousands of shots.
New in 1.10
Your albums, as folders on a disk you own
From the archive to real folders
Once the archive exists, Export albums as folders (in the source menu and in the archive summary) writes its albums as plain folders on a disk you choose: one folder per album, the folders you created in Photos as subfolders, a photo that sits in two albums in both. Inside each album, Originals and Current edits if you want them apart; photos outside any album in Unfiled. All albums, or only the ones you pick.
- One folder per album, hierarchy as in Photos
- Files numbered in album order, if you ask for it
- HTML report and JSON manifest at the end
Verified again, never overwritten
Every exported file is written, read back and checked against the fingerprint stored in the archive. On the same APFS disk the copy is instant and takes no extra space. Each export creates a new dated PhotoCore Albums folder: nothing in Photos, in the archive or in a previous export is touched. Unplug the disk or quit the app and the export pauses; from the source menu it resumes where it stopped.
- Every copy read back and checked
- A new folder per export, previous ones untouched
- Pause and resume, without copying again
Details in What’s new in 1.10.
Keep exploring
Related pages
Phone Archive
Archive iPhone and Android photos to a drive you own, verified and searchable offline.
Offline photo search
Keep finding your images when the drive or NAS is unplugged.
Photos on external drives
Index a drive once and search it even while it sits in a drawer.
Photo archive software
Build a personal photo archive designed to last for decades.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do the photos stay usable without PhotoCore?
Yes. The archive is regular files organized in folders by year and month: they open in Finder, they copy, they move. Albums and metadata are open, readable files. No proprietary format, no lock-in.
Can I get my albums as folders, not just files by date?
Yes, since 1.10. Export albums as folders writes the albums of your archive as plain folders on a disk you choose: one folder per album, subfolders as in Photos, a photo in two albums in both, Originals and Current edits apart if you want. Every copy is verified, the export goes into a new dated folder, and you can pause and resume it.
What happens if I delete a photo in Apple Photos?
Nothing, in your archive. Later runs never delete: those shots stay in place, marked ’No longer in Photos · preserved in your archive’. Removing anything from the archive is always and only your own manual action.
What about photos that only live in iCloud?
They’re downloaded through Apple Photos during archiving, so you end up with a local copy you didn’t have before. If your Mac runs low on space, downloads pause on their own while the rest continues.
Do I need the Full version?
You can install PhotoCore for free, open the flow and see the preflight with your library’s numbers. Archiving the whole library requires PhotoCore Full, a one-time purchase with no subscription.
Is it a backup of Apple Photos?
No, it’s an archive: it copies photos and videos with their current edits into regular, verified files, built to last decades and to be read without any app. It doesn’t restore the Photos library: it’s the way out, not the spare copy.
Start free
Bring your library to a drive you own
Download PhotoCore for free and open Apple Photos Archive: see your library’s numbers right away, and what bringing it out really means. Full archiving is included in PhotoCore Full, a one-time purchase with no subscription whatsoever.