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Get started with Photos on Mac
Learn the basics to get started quickly with Photos.
Import your photos
New to Photos? There are several ways to add your photos and videos to your Photos library. You can turn on iCloud Photos on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad to have your photos appear seamlessly across all your Apple devices. Or, you can manually import photos from a camera, iPhone, or iPad.
View your photo library
You can see your photos organized by date and location, look through curated albums in the sidebar, and quickly find photos using search terms like “beach” or “dog.” To see details, double-click a photo to view it individually.
![The Photos main window showing the sidebar on the left, photos organized by days on the right, and Years, Months, Days, and All Photos buttons in the toolbar at the top.](https://help.apple.com/assets/64138DF07271BD55D6410CB8/64138DF87271BD55D6410CC0/en_US/1b958efe9f3bebc4c0bca78dae9d73dc.png)
Improve your photos
You can enhance and improve the look of your photos. Learn photo editing basics or use professional-quality photo adjustments to change exposure, color, and more. You can apply filters, crop and straighten photos, and retouch problem areas to remove marks or blemishes.
![A photo in editing view, with Adjust selected in the toolbar and adjustment tools on the right.](https://help.apple.com/assets/64138DF07271BD55D6410CB8/64138DF87271BD55D6410CC0/en_US/5698d36081f7687e7cc39fa9705b9a82.png)
Create slideshows and fun projects
Create slideshows for family and friends. And for special occasions, create cards, calendars, books, and more.
Share photos with others
Use Shared Albums and iCloud Shared Photo Library to let family and friends browse photos of special occasions and other events. To share a few photos, you can text, email, or use AirDrop.