How To Upload Photos From Mac To Icloud Photo Library
- Upload Photos From Mac To Icloud Photo Library
- Transfer Photos From Mac To Icloud Photo Library
- How To Upload Photos From Mac To Icloud Photo Library Download
Want to transfer iCloud photos to PC but don’t know how? Here in this post, we summarized a few ways to help you transfer photos from iCloud to PC.
iCloud Transfer Tips
Transfer Data to iCloud
Jun 19, 2019 Before you move photos to iCloud. Another thing you’ll want to do before turning on iCloud Photos is decluttering and cleaning up your photo library. By using an app like Gemini Photos, you can quickly scan your iPhone for similar and blurry pictures.
Export Data from iCloud
Mar 18, 2020 Your Photos library holds all your photos, albums, slideshows, and print projects. If your library is large, and you want to free up storage space on your Mac, turn on iCloud Photo Library and use Optimize Mac Storage, or move your library to an external drive. Before you start, be sure to back up your library. Mar 30, 2020 Photo Library uploads all photos to iCloud and keeps them up to date across devices and you also can get access to them through iCloud.com. To transfer photos from the iCloud Photo Library to Mac, please refer to the two methods below. Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to Mac Through iCloud Preference Panel. Jul 09, 2019 iCloud Photos only uploads and syncs the photos and video in your System Photo Library. So if you have additional photo libraries in the Photos app, you need to back those up manually to an external drive or manually upload them to iCloud. To upload photos from Mac to iCloud Photo Library, open the Photos app on your Mac either by clicking on the Photos Icon located in the Dock of your Mac or by using Launch Pad. Once the Photos App is open, click on the Photos option in the top menu-bar of your Mac and then Click on Preferences in the drop-down menu.
Sync iCloud with Other Sources
The most amazing thing about iCloud is its tight integration with all iOS devices and Mac computers. It could automatically upload content to the server and sync them to all iOS devices and Mac computers, but not to PC.
Recently, a lot of PC users emailed us, asking how to transfer iCloud photos to PC. Here in this post, we summarized a few ways that could help you transfer photos to PC both from My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Library.
You may wonder: What are My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Library and how do they relate to iCloud photos? Actually photos from My Photo Stream and iCloud photo Library are all can be called iCloud photos. My Photo Stream only syncs 1000 maximum photos of recent 30 days to all your iOS devices and Mac computers. iCloud Photo Library, however, uploads all photos to iCloud and keeps them up to date across devices. To decide which way to go, you can go to Settings on your iDevice, click on the iCloud, select Photos and scroll down to check if iCloud Photo Library or My Photo Stream is enabled. If iCloud Photo Library is enabled, then you can transfer photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC. If My Photo Stream is enabled, you can transfer photos from My Photo Stream to PC.
Since now you have known which kind of photo you can transfer to PC, please choose one way below to make it.
Part 1. Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC
This part focuses on ways of transferring photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC. Please adopt one of the methods below to transfer photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC.
Method 1. Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library though AnyTrans
AnyTrans for iOS is specialized in managing iCloud content. It allows you to selectively transfer iCloud content to computer without data loss and it is easy to transfer iCloud photos to PC. Besides, AnyTrans could help you view, edit and delete iCloud content in an easy way. What’s more, it supports transferring iCloud content to another iCloud account directly.
Now, let’s see how AnyTrans helps you transfer photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC.
Step 1. Download AnyTrans for iOS and launch it on PC > Run AnyTrans on your PC/Mac > Click on iCloud Manager tab > Sign in with your iCloud account (Apple ID).
Transfer iCloud Photos to External Hard Drive with AnyTrans – Step 1
Step 2. Click on Photos on the managing content by category page. Does the indianapolis library carry mac software.
Transfer iCloud Photos to External Hard Drive with AnyTrans – Step 2
Step 3. Select photos you want to transfer and then click the To PC tab.
Method 2. Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC via iCloud Control Panel
Step 1. Download iCloud Control Panel to PC, log in your iCloud account and then click on Options next to Photos.
Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC via iCloud Control Panel – Step 1
Step 2. Select iCloud Photo Library and click Done, then iCloud Photo Library is enabled on your PC.
Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC via iCloud Control Panel – Step 2
Step 3. After iCloud Photo Library is enabled, a folder named iCloud Photos will be created. Click on Download, then you can select photos to download to your PC.
Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC via iCloud Control Panel – Step 3
Method 3. Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC via iCloud.com
Step 1. Go to iCloud.com, log in your iCloud account.
Step 2. Click on the Photos.
Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC via iCloud.com – Step 2
Step 3. Select the photos you want to download, click the Download tab on the upper right.
Transfer Photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC via iCloud.com – Step 3
Also Read:
Differences between My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Library >
How to Transfer Photos from iCloud to Mac >
Part 2. Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to PC
Here are two methods of transferring photos from My Photo Stream to PC.
Method 1. Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to PC via AnyTrans
Step 1. Download AnyTrans for iOS and start it on your computer > Connect your iDevice to computer with USB cable > Choose Device Manager mode > Click on Photos option as the screenshot shows.
Transfer Multiple or Selected Photos from iPhone to Computer – Step 2
Step 2. Click on Photos and then select “My Photo Stream” at the left panel
Transfer Multiple or Selected Photos from iPhone to Computer – Step 3
Step 3. Select the photos you prefer > Click on the “To PC” button at the top-right corner to transfer the photos to your PC.
Transfer Multiple or Selected Photos from iPhone to Computer – Step 4
Method 2. Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to PC though iCloud Control Panel
This method is actually quite similar to the method of transferring photos from iCloud Photo Library to PC. The main difference is, enabling My Photo Stream instead of iCloud Photo Library.
Step 1. Download iCloud Control Panel and log in your iCloud account.
Step 2. Click the Options next to Photos, then check the box of Upload to My Photo Stream.
Transfer Photos from My Photo Stream to PC via iCloud Control Panel – Step 2

Step 3. After My Photo Stream is enabled, a folder named iCloud Photos will be created. My Photo Stream will automatically download any new photos that you take on iOS devices to the Downloads folder just like method 2 in part 1.
The Bottom Line
Here are five ways of transferring iCloud photos to PC, hope these five ways could solve your problem. If you have any problems about this article, please don’t hesitate to let us know by email or leaving comments below. Last but not least, AnyTrans can also do well in managing data on your iDevices and iTunes.
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When it comes to iCloud, people generally think of it as an automated way to wirelessly backup an iPhone. And if you've ever used it to back up the contents of your iPhone, then you know how easy that is. But iCloud can also be used to sync and store your photos, either as a backup of all your pictures or as a way to save storage space on your iPhone.
After a quick setup to enable iCloud Photos, all your new photos will automatically back up to iCloud the next time you connect to Wi-Fi. Or, you can let iCloud help you save space on your iPhone by only keeping smaller, compressed photos on your device.
Upload Photos From Mac To Icloud Photo Library
In other words, uploading photos to iCloud makes a lot of sense. We’ll show you how to get it set up, and explain all the things to look out for along the way.
Uploading your photos to iCloud
Turning on iCloud Photos honestly couldn’t be any easier. The biggest thing to be aware of is that it can take some time depending on how many pictures you have on your iPhone. But before you make any big changes like this, it’s always smart to back up your device, either to iCloud or through iTunes and then make sure your iPhone iOS is up-to-date.
Before you move photos to iCloud
Another thing you’ll want to do before turning on iCloud Photos is decluttering and cleaning up your photo library. By using an app like Gemini Photos, you can quickly scan your iPhone for similar and blurry pictures.
Those similar looking photos can use up a lot of storage on your device, and then ultimately in iCloud. Using Gemini before your first sync will not only help you save iCloud storage, but also make the transfer much faster.
How to upload photos to iCloud from your iPhone
Now that you’ve backed up and cleaned up, you’re ready to start uploading your photos to iCloud. In addition to making sure your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi, you might also want to connect it to power. Once everything is set up, do the following:
- Go to Settings > Photos.
- Tap on the toggle next to iCloud Photos to turn it on.
- Choose either Optimize iPhone Storage or Download and Keep Originals.
Optimize iPhone Storage is the feature that we briefly mentioned earlier. It’s when the original versions of your photos is stored in iCloud, and only lower-resolution previews are available on the device. Because the file sizes of the pictures are typically smaller when you have this turned on, it means the transfer times are a bit faster as well.
Download and Keep Originals is exactly what it sounds like. The highest possible resolution your iPhone is capable of shooting at is what’s stored on your device. There’s no compression whatsoever added. The obvious pro to this is that if you want to connect your device to a larger screen and show your pictures, they’ll likely be at a resolution suitable for that screen.
Transfer Photos From Mac To Icloud Photo Library
How long does it take to save photos to iCloud?
The speed of transferring photos to iCloud is entirely dependent on two things: the size of your photo library and the speed of your Wi-Fi connection. If you know you’re on a slow connection, you might want to consider pausing the upload and running an app like Gemini Photos, if you haven’t already, to help shave a gigabyte or two off your photo library.
And if your upload is still taking some time after that, try letting it run overnight. Even then, for some users with very large photo libraries it can take multiple nights to successfully upload the entirety of their pictures.
How to upload only certain photos to iCloud
Turning on iCloud Photos will upload all of the photos on your iPhone, so you won’t be able to only upload selected ones. A workaround for this is to turn on iCloud Shared Albums. To do that:
- Open Settings > Photos.
- Tap the toggle next to Shared Albums to turn it on.
Then, to upload the photos you want:
- Open the Photos app.
- Select the pictures you want to upload.
- Tap the Share button.
- Select Shared Album.
- Choose which album you want to add it to or create a new one.
- Tap Post.
While this process is more manual than uploading your entire Photo Library, it does give you the freedom to selectively choose what you’re putting in iCloud.
Why are my photos not uploading to iCloud?
If you log into iCloud via a browser on your computer and you do not see the pictures you’ve recently taken with your iPhone, there are a couple of common things that could be causing this.
- iCloud Photo Library is not enabled. Follow this guide to iCloud Photo Library to learn how to enable and disable it.
- You’re out of iCloud Storage. To see how much space is available in your iCloud, go to Settings > Your name > iCloud on your iPhone.
- You’re having a network issue. Make sure you’re connected to Wi-Fi or enable Cellular Data syncing in Settings > Photos > Cellular Data.
- There’s a login issue with your iCloud account. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Your name and make sure you’re logged into iCloud.
How To Upload Photos From Mac To Icloud Photo Library Download
Just like the rest of iCloud, the experience of uploading your Photo Library is an easy and seamless one. After your initial upload, all of your photos are backed up, and you can easily access them on a different iPhone, or even on a Mac or iPad for that matter. And all that without having to give it a second thought.