Apple’s Photos app is perfect for previewing photos and videos or applying light edits, but there’s so much more that it can do. Here are some of the other features you should definitely be using.
1
Get Details About Photos and Videos
An obscure yet invaluable feature is the ability to view metadata for photos and videos. Metadata, for those unaware, is essentially data that tells you more about an image or video, like what settings the camera was using and where the photo was taken.
To view an image or video’s metadata in Photos, double-click it, and it will open it in full view. Then, click the “i” button at the top. This will bring up the Info window with plenty of details about the image photo or video, depending on what was recorded at the time you shot it. You can also use Command+I when an image is selected.
You can control what metadata the Photos app displays. Click “View” in the menu bar, choose “Metadata,” and tick or untick the details you want to see or hide respectively.
2
Use Markup in Photos
Similar to the Preview app, Photos also supports markup, which lets you draw and type on an image. This is useful for times when you want to both edit and mark up photos, as it eliminates the need to use two separate apps.
In Photos, open the photo you want to mark up and click “Edit” in the top-right corner. Click the extensions button (a three-dot encircled icon) and select “Markup.”
Now, you’ll see all the markup tools in a row at the top. (The markup tools are the same on Photos and Preview, so you’ll find yourself at home if you switch to Photos for markups.) You can hover over a tool’s icon to see its name.
Click on a tool to select it. Then, based on your selection, act accordingly. Hit “Done” to save the changes.
Photos applies edits non-destructively, which means you can add scribbles or text to an image then use the “Revert to Original” button to remove everything again.
3
Remove Objects From Photos
Undesirable elements and random people can ruin your photos. Luckily, with the Clean Up tool in the Photos app, you can easily remove distractions from photos without much editing know-how.
Using Clean Up in the Photos app on your Mac is easy, access it via the “Edit” button on the “Clean Up” tab. Most of the time—when the elements are small or there’s a clear distinction between the foreground and the background—the tool manages to clean up elements really well.
Clean Up is an Apple Intelligence-powered tool available on all Mac models powered by Apple’s M1 or later chips and running on macOS Sequoia 15.1 or above. You can also use Clean Up on your iPhone to remove distractions from photos.
4
Copy Text in Photos and Videos
If you want to grab text from a photo or video—an email, phone number, address, or a longer passage of text—the Live Text feature in the Photos app can save the day. This allows you to easily select and copy text to the clipboard.
To copy text from an image or video, open it in Photos. Then, select the text using your Trackpad or mouse and press Command+C to copy it. Alternatively, you can Control+click the selected text and choose “Copy” from the context menu. Once copied, you can paste the text into any app.
You can also click on the small Live Text icon in the lower-right corner of an image to highlight any selectable text (or copy it all). This feature is available across the macOS operating system, in apps like Preview and Safari.
Another nifty Photos app feature is the ability to lift subjects from photos. This can be useful in various scenarios, like designing artwork, preparing reports or presentations, or creating stickers. To copy a photo’s subject, open it in Photos. Then, Control+click the subject and select “Copy Subject” from the menu. This will copy the subject to your clipboard.
Go to the app where you want to use the copied subject, then Control+click and select “Paste,” or use the Command+V shortcut to paste it.
6
Find and Merge Duplicates
Photos can scan your library and find media that are exact copies or nearly identical (with some differences in their metadata), so you can delete the duplicates and declutter your library.
In the Photos app, click the “Utilities” option in the left sidebar to expand it and reveal all the available utilities. Click on “Duplicates.” Photos will now show you all the duplicates in your library, with the option to merge them next to their dates.
Click the “Merge X Items” button.
When prompted, click the “Merge X Exact Copies” button again, and Photos will merge the duplicate photos.
7
Protect Personal Photos and Videos
If you share your Mac with someone and have certain photos and videos in the Photos app that you don’t want them to see, you can hide them and restrict their access behind a password. This is a two-step process.
First, you need to add the photos and videos you want to protect to the Hidden album. To do this, go to your Photos app library, then while pressing the Command key, click on the photos or videos you want to move to select them.
Next, Control+click on any selection and select “Hide X Photos.”
Click the “Hide” button when prompted, and the selected photos and videos will now be moved to the Hidden album and hidden from the library.
To access the album, click the “Utilities” collection in the left sidebar and click “Hidden.” If you don’t see the album, click “View” in the menu bar and select “Show Hidden Photo Album” to enable it.
Once done, it’s time to lock the Hidden album. Click Photos in the menu bar at the top of the screen and select “Settings.” Go to the “General” tab and enable the “Use Touch ID or password” checkbox.
Now, when you (or someone) try to access the Hidden album, they will need to authenticate using Touch ID or password. If you want, you can hide the Hidden album from the Photos app. Click “View” and select “Hide Hidden Photo Album.”
You can use filters in the Photos app to find specific photos and videos in your library. However, if you want to access them frequently, you should use smart albums. This way, you’ll save yourself the hassle of applying filters every time and have the media organized so you can access it easily.
A smart album is essentially a saved search that fetches photos based on a set of criteria. The best part is that, unlike a standard album, you don’t need to populate it, as the media gets automatically added when it’s added or removed from your library.
Creating a smart album in the Photos app on a Mac is easy, get started by clicking File > New Smart Album then give it a name and settle on your desired criteria. Use the “+” plus button to add more filters until you’re happy.
Once created, you can access it under “My Albums” in the left sidebar. You can also change the criteria later as required.
9
Import Photos and Videos From Devices
While apps like LocalSend and LanDrop offer a convenient way to transfer photos and videos from your smartphone to your Mac, there are times when a wired method is better. Not to mention, it’s the best approach for transferring media from your camera.
The macOS Photos app simplifies the whole experience, allowing you to transfer photos and videos to your Mac easily. Simply connect the device to your Mac with a cable and launch Photos. Then, click the device name under “Devices” in the left sidebar. If you don’t see the device, make sure it’s in the mode that allows importing media.
You should now see all the media files on your connected device. Select the files you want to import. Click the “Import To” drop-down button and choose where to save the imports.
Finally, click “Import Selected,” and Photos will automatically add all the photos and videos from your device to the selected album.
Or click “Import All New Items,” and it will import all the media files that haven’t been added to the Photos app library.
That said, Photos doesn’t let you save imported media outside the app. For that, you’ll need to use Image Capture to import photos to any folder on your Mac.
10
Add Plugins to Expand Functionality
Last but not least, Apple lets you expand the editing capabilities of the Photos app on your Mac by adding plugins (also called extensions). This allows for a seamless editing experience by eliminating the need for you to switch apps between edits.
For example, if you need to markup photos regularly—and use a tool like Skitch—you can integrate it into the Photos app. By doing so, you can edit and markup photos right inside Photos.
Adding a plugin to Photos is easy. Most of the time, you just need to enable it. Head to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions. Choose “Photos Editing” under “Extensions and click the “i” button.”
Now, toggle on the button next to the plugins you want to enable and hit “Done.”
Once enabled, open the photo you want to markup in edit mode, click the extensions button, and select the app from the menu.
This will open the photo within that app’s interface, where you can perform the edits. Click “Save Changes” when you’re done to save the photo in your Photos app library.
Photos is full of features to help you manage your media library. It works seamlessly with iCloud Photos library and can be used to access shared photo libraries too.
