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

iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Rumors Faster Wi-Fi Support The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
macbook pro blue green

M5 MacBook Pro No Longer Coming in 2025

Thursday July 10, 2025 12:38 pm PDT by
Apple does not plan to refresh any Macs with updated M5 chips in 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are now planned for the first half of 2026. Gurman previously said that Apple would debut the M5 MacBook Pro models in late 2025, but his newest report suggests that Apple is "considering" pushing them back to 2026. Apple is now said to be...
iphone 16 pro pro max

iPhone 17 Pro Models With BOE Displays Will Be Sold in China Only

Thursday July 10, 2025 11:59 pm PDT by
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models with displays made by BOE will be sold exclusively in China, according to a new report. Last week, it emerged that Chinese display manufacturer BOE was aggressively ramping up its OLED production capacity for future iPhone models as part of a plan to recapture a major role in Apple's supply chain. Now, tech news aggregator Jukan Choi reports...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Will Expand to These 8 U.S. States

Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:26 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
iPhone 17 Air Colors Thumb 2

iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air Rumored to Come in These 9 Colors

Friday July 11, 2025 12:30 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air will be available in a total of nine color options, according to new information coming out of Asia. The iPhone 17 Air's expected color options. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean blog Naver, accessory manufacturers are now producing camera protector rings for the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air in colors to match their...

Top Rated Comments

nissan.gtp Avatar
26 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
26 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
26 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
26 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
26 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
26 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)