While you can easily share one photo at a time, if you want to share multiple photos in an album with friends or family, the Shared Albums feature is for you.
Shared Albums are ideal for sharing vacation photos with family, honeymoon photos with your spouse, or night on the town photos with pals.
We’ll show you how to work with Shared Albums in the Photos app to make it all a bit easier.
Working with Shared Albums
Shared Albums on iPhone and iPad
Enable Shared Albums
Turn on the Shared Albums option on your iPhone or iPad by doing the following.
1) Open Settings and select Photos.
2) Turn on the toggle for Shared Albums.
Create a blank Shared Album
To create the Shared Album first and add photos later, follow these steps.
1) Open Photos and select the Albums tab.
2) At the top, tap the plus sign.
3) Select New Shared Album.
4) Name your album and tap Next.
5) Tap the plus sign to invite people and tap Create.
Create a Shared Album from a photo
If you have one or more photos that you want to create a Shared Album from, follow these steps.
1) With the photo(s) selected, tap the Share button.
2) Choose Add to Shared Album.
3) Tap Shared Album at the bottom of the pop-up and pick New Shared Album.
4) Follow the same steps as above to name your album and invite people.
Add photos to a Shared Album
You have a couple of ways to add photos to a Shared Album.
- Tap and hold the photo, select Share, choose Add to Shared Album, pick the album, and tap Post.
- Open the photo, tap the Share button, choose Add to Shared Album, pick the album, and tap Post.
- Open the album from the Albums tab, tap the plus sign, select the photos, tap Done, and then Post.
Invite more people, receive notifications, or delete a Shared Album
You can invite more people, remove people, make the album public, enable others to add photos to the album, and receive notifications. You can also delete a Shared Album if you need to. And you can do any of these things from one place on iPhone or iPad.
Open the album from the Albums tab. Tap People at the bottom and you’ll see all of these options.
Like and comment on Shared Album photos
To like or comment on a photo that’s in a Shared Album, tap the open the photo. At the bottom of the picture, tap to Like or Add a Comment.
Delete photos from a Shared Album
To remove a photo from a Shared Album, open the photo in the album, tap Delete (trash can icon), and confirm by tapping Delete Photo.
Remember, deleting a photo from a Shared Album only removes the photo from the album. It does not delete the photo from your library.
Shared Albums on your Mac
Enable Shared Albums
Make sure that you enable the Shared Albums option on your Mac.
1) Open Photos and click Photos > Preferences from the menu bar.
2) Select the iCloud tab.
3) At the bottom, check the box for Shared Albums.
Create a blank Shared Album
If you want to start by creating the album and then add the photos to it later, follow these steps.
1) On the left, go down to Shared.
2) Next to Shared Albums, click the plus sign.
3) In the pop-up that appears, give your album a name, optionally add a comment, and click the plus sign in the Invite People section to invite contacts.
4) Click Create.
Now your Shared Album is ready and waiting for some photos!
Create a Shared Album from a photo
If you have a photo that you want to create a Shared Album from, follow these steps.
1) Click the Share button in the toolbar, File > Share from the menu bar, or right-click the photo and go to Share. Select Shared Albums.
2) Click New Shared Album.
3) Complete the album name, optional comment, and add contacts to share with.
4) Click Create.
That photo will pop into your new album and from there you can add more pictures.
Add photos to a Shared Album
You have a few handy ways to add photos to a Shared Album that you create.
- Select a photo, and then click the Share button in the toolbar, File > Share from the menu bar, or right-click the photo and go to Share. Choose Shared Albums and pick the album from the list.
- Drag and drop photos and videos from the Photos window into the album in the sidebar.
- Open the album by selecting in the sidebar on the left. At the top, click Add Photos and Videos. Select the ones you want to add and click Add when you finish.
Invite more people, receive notifications, or delete a Shared Album
You can invite more people to your Shared Album, remove them, or make it public so anyone can view it. You can also enable others to add photos to the album and receive notifications when they do. And of course, you can delete a Shared Album if you need to. All of this can be done in one spot in Photos on Mac.
Open the album by selecting it in the sidebar and click the People button in the toolbar.
You’ll see all of these options in one convenient spot. While there, you can also change the name of the album if you like.
Like and comment on Shared Album photos
You and others you invite can click to Like or make a Comment on a photo that’s in a Shared Album. To do this yourself, open the album and double-click on a photo.
At the bottom of the picture, you’ll see a plus sign in a speech bubble. Go ahead and click it.
Click Like to like it or Add a Comment to type a note.
Delete photos from a Shared Album
To remove a photo from a Shared Album, simply right-click and pick Delete From Shared Album. You’ll then need to confirm this action by clicking Delete.
Deleting a photo from a Shared Album only removes the photo from the album. It does not delete the photo completely.
Wrapping it up
Working with Shared Albums really is easy and depending on what you want to do with them, it should only take a few taps or clicks.
Are you going to create a Shared Album in Photos on iOS or Mac now? If so, let us know what types of photos you plan to share with it!
