View photos and videos in iCloud for Windows
With the iCloud for Windows app, you can see photos stored in iCloud directly on your computer when you turn on iCloud Photos and Shared Albums on your PC. You can also turn on My Photo Stream if you are using iCloud for Windows version 7 (not available for new accounts). Find out which version of iCloud for Windows you have.
Photos and videos are stored in the folder you specify during setup. See Set up your devices to use iCloud with the Photos app. Once they are downloaded to your computer, you can also view them in apps such as Microsoft Photos.
View photos and videos stored in iCloud Photos
On your Windows computer, open File Explorer (Windows 8 or later) or Windows Explorer (Windows 7), then click iCloud Photos in the Navigation pane.
If you do not see iCloud Photos, click Pictures in the Navigation pane, then double-click iCloud Photos.
Find out which version of iCloud for Windows you have, then do one of the following:
iCloud for Windows version 11 or later: thumbnails of all the photos and videos stored in iCloud Photos appear here. Double-click a thumbnail to download and view it.
iCloud for Windows version 10 or earlier: any photos or videos added to iCloud Photos after you set it up on your PC appear in the Downloads folder. If you want to see photos and videos that were added before you turned on iCloud Photos on your PC, you can download them by year.
To refresh your photos and videos after you download them so you can see the latest edits made on your other devices, do one of the following:
iCloud for Windows version 10 or later: if a photo or video is edited on an Apple device or on iCloud.com, the changes appear here automatically — photos and videos are kept up to date.
iCloud for Windows version 7: if changes are made to a photo or video on another device or on iCloud.com, you must re-download the file to see the changes on your PC.
For more information on how to download photos and videos to your PC or check the download status of a photo or video (iCloud for Windows version 11 or later), see Upload and download photos in iCloud for Windows.
Note: If you edit a photo or video on your Windows computer, those edits do not appear on your Apple devices or on iCloud.com. If you want the edited file added to iCloud Photos, upload it as a new file.
View Shared Albums
You can see both albums you share and those friends share with you.
On your Windows computer, do one of the following:
iCloud for Windows version 10 or later: choose Start menu > iCloud Shared Albums.
iCloud for Windows version 7: open File Explorer (Windows 8 or later) or Windows Explorer (Windows 7), then click iCloud Photos in the Navigation pane. Double-click the Shared folder.
View photos stored in My Photo Stream
You can only use My Photo Stream (not available for new accounts) in iCloud for Windows version 7.
On your Windows computer, open File Explorer (Windows 8 or later) or Windows Explorer (Windows 7), then click iCloud Photos in the Navigation pane.
If you do not see iCloud Photos, click Pictures in the Navigation pane, then double-click iCloud Photos.
Double-click the Downloads folder.