Dilos Photo archives the photos you don't need in iCloud to a folder on your Mac, verified and organized, then frees their iCloud space when you say so.
Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later · iCloud Photos
Keep everything. Cloud only what matters.
Full Access. Dilos Photo can read and manage your library.
/Volumes/Photo Archive
1.4 TB available
Today 9:41 AM
Checks for changes hourly
The Trade-off
An iCloud Photos library only grows. Until now, the options were all bad.
Upgrade to the next iCloud plan, again, for photos from years ago you rarely open.
Hunt through thousands of photos, delete some, and hope you never want them back.
Keep every original on a drive you own. Keep in iCloud only what you actually want on all your devices.
How It Works
Archiving runs on its own in the background. Removing from iCloud only happens when you click Remove and confirm.
Decide how long photos stay in iCloud: the last two years, Favorites forever, a Travel album for five years, screenshots for three months.
Photos past their rules are copied to your folder in full quality, each copy checked against the original. Your library stays untouched.
See exactly what's archived and how much space you'll get back. Click Remove, confirm with macOS, and the photos go to Recently Deleted.
Retention Rules
Set one default, then add exceptions for what matters to you. When several rules apply to a photo, the most protective one wins, so a favorite in a short-lived album is still kept.
Built Carefully
Every step is designed so nothing leaves iCloud until a verified copy is safe on your drive.
Every archived file is checked against the original's size and opened to confirm it's a readable image or video before the photo counts as archived.
Nothing is ever deleted automatically. You review, click Remove, and confirm in macOS's own dialog. Removed photos wait in Recently Deleted.
Originals in their own format (HEIC, RAW, ProRes), plus your edits and the video half of Live Photos. Bursts are kept together.
Plain files in year and month folders, each with a small details file: date, location, albums and favorite. No database, no lock-in.
Photos in your Hidden album are never archived or removed. Edited a photo after it was archived? It's archived again first.
Checks for library changes on your schedule, pauses on battery if you like, and stops before your archive drive fills up.
Your Archive
Choose any folder: on your Mac, an external drive or a NAS. Dilos Photo files everything by the month it was taken, so finding a photo from a summer five years ago takes seconds in Finder.
Each file keeps its capture date, so it sorts correctly anywhere. Back up the folder like any other, with Time Machine or your favorite tool.
Dilos Photo works entirely on your Mac. It has no account, no servers and no analytics. Your photos move between iCloud Photos, which Apple runs, and the folder you choose. Nowhere else.
Questions
Can't find your answer? Ask in the form below.
Dilos Photo offers a photo for removal only after its archived copy has been written and verified. When you remove, macOS asks you to confirm, and the photos go to Recently Deleted in Photos, where they can usually be recovered for 30 days. Keep your archive folder backed up: once photos are removed from iCloud, it holds their copies.
Yes. Removing from iCloud Photos removes the photo from every device using that library. That's what frees the iCloud space. The archived copy stays in your folder on your Mac or drive.
No. Any folder works, including one on your Mac's internal disk. An external drive or NAS is a good choice for large libraries. Avoid folders that sync to iCloud Drive, since the archive would use iCloud space again; Dilos Photo warns you if you pick one.
Edited photos are archived with both the original and your edited version. Live Photos keep their video. Bursts are archived and removed as one, never partially. If you edit a photo after it was archived, it's archived again before it can be removed.
Any Mac with macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel, using iCloud Photos as its System Photo Library.
Dilos Photo is coming soon to the Mac App Store. Leave your email in the form below if you'd like to hear when it's out.
Feedback
Ideas, questions, a bug, or just a note: every message is read by the people who build Dilos Photo.