Apple Photos and iCloud migration guide
Move photos from Apple Photos or iCloud with the useful dates intact.
Choose the best available originals, test a small export, and avoid letting the day you downloaded a photo become its new history.
Before you begin
Keep the originals, then make a copy.
If your family archive is in Apple Photos, your best starting point is usually the photo library that holds the originals, not a screenshot, a message attachment, or an image dragged from a preview. Apple’s export choices can be different depending on whether you are using Photos on a Mac or iCloud in a browser, so read the current labels carefully and choose an original or unmodified file when that is what you want to preserve.
Do not delete anything from Apple Photos or iCloud while you are moving. Treat the first import as a second home for the files, then check a handful of old, new, and edited photos before making any cleanup decisions.
The practical route
Move photos from Apple Photos or iCloud in four calm steps.
- 1. Choose a small album or month in Apple Photos or iCloud Photos and export or download a copy using the original or unmodified option when it is available.
- 2. Save the files to a new folder without editing, screenshotting, or re-sharing them first.
- 3. Open several files and check their capture date in Finder or your computer’s photo information panel. Compare them with the date you see in Apple Photos.
- 4. Import the tested folder into Our Pear Tree. If the sample lands correctly, continue a month or album at a time.
The date check
Do not let a transfer rewrite your history.
The date in your Photos app and the date attached to an exported file are not always the same thing. A downloaded or edited copy may have a new file-created date even when its original capture metadata survived. Check the capture date field, not only the folder order or download timestamp.
Our Pear Tree reads an image’s embedded capture date when the file includes one, then places the photo on that day. If there is no usable capture date, the import labels the lower-confidence filename or file-date clue for review instead of treating it as a fact. You can correct the photo yourself before you rely on its place in the timeline.
A five-minute safety check
Before you import the whole archive.
- Use a small album or month as a trial instead of exporting years at once.
- Check one Live Photo or edited photo separately if those matter to you, because export options can create different file types.
- Keep the original Apple Photos library available until you are happy with the import.
- Do not use screenshots as a migration method unless you are happy to set their dates manually later.
When the sample looks right, bring in the rest. On the web you can drop a folder; on iPhone you can choose from the camera roll. See the full explanation of how date-preserving import works.
Questions
Moving from Apple Photos or iCloud, answered.
Should I export edited photos or unmodified originals?
Choose based on what you want the archive to hold. An unmodified original is the closest copy to what the camera recorded. An edited export preserves the version you made, but may have different metadata. Test both if you want both versions in your keepsake.
Can I move photos straight from my iPhone?
Yes. On iPhone, you can choose from your camera roll. For a large, older archive, moving a tested folder on the web can be easier to pause and check in batches.
What if the capture date is missing?
The photo can still be added. We leave the uncertainty visible and let you set the correct day, rather than inventing one from a filename or download date. Read the date-preserving import guide.
Sources and review
Use the current instructions from the service you are leaving.
We checked these public sources on 2 August 2026. Their menus, export options, and account rules can change, so use them as the final word before you move a large archive.
Bring the story over without starting it again.
Start free, keep the originals, and make sure the dates still mean what they meant.
Start freeFree to start · No credit card · Your photos stay yours