Is there a way I can take pictures and videos out of iCloud without losing metadata?

I'm sure there isn't a way to do this w/o losing data, but is there a way I can take pictures and videos out of iCloud (I have over 100 GB of media) download it, with lossless size and metadata (live effects/edits) intact? If not, what's the next best option? I'm done paying $9 a month for storage.


If you have Photos set to keep the originals on your Mac you already should have everything in your Photos library. Nevertheless syncing may fail sometimes so to be on the safe side you can request the content of your iCloud library directly from Apple:

  • Go to https://privacy.apple.com/
  • Log in with the Apple ID used for iCloud
  • Select the option to request a copy of your data
  • Scroll down to request your photos (and other iCloud content if applicable)
  • You can select the size of the ZIP files Apple creates. As you will have to select each file individually afterwards, go with the largest size (if your Internet connection is stable)

It will take up to seven days for Apple to prepare your downloads, you will get a mail with a link.