If your iCloud Photos aren’t loading on your PC
Find out how to use iCloud Photos with your Windows PC, upload and download your photos and videos so you can view them on your Apple devices, and delete the ones you no longer want.
How can I see the photos and videos I’ve uploaded to iCloud Photos from my PC?
How do I download all of my photos and videos to my Windows PC?
What should I do if I see a “We detected that you are using an older version of Windows” message?
What do I need to use iCloud Photos on my PC?
Windows 10 or later
Your Apple ID
How can I see the photos and videos I've uploaded to iCloud Photos from my PC?
After you’ve uploaded the photos from your PC to iCloud Photos, you can view and manage your photos and videos in the Photos app on iCloud.com and your Apple devices.
How do I download all of my photos and videos to my Windows PC?
In iCloud for Windows 11.1 and later, optimised versions of all photos and videos are downloaded to your PC automatically after you've enabled iCloud Photos. Open the photo or video to download the full version.
In iCloud for Windows 10 and earlier, after you’ve turned on iCloud Photos on all of your devices, any new photos and videos you add to your library will be downloaded to your PC automatically.* You can also download your photos and videos by year. You can find the download button by clicking iCloud in the Windows Notification Area.
* New photos and videos are downloaded automatically to your PC at C:\Users\your name\My Pictures\iCloud Photos\Downloads.
How can I see the status of my uploads or downloads?
You can add iCloud for Windows to your status bar to see the progress of your iCloud uploads and downloads. Click the iCloud icon in the Windows Notification Area on your PC. You may need to click Show hidden icons in the Notification Area to see iCloud.
How can I view edited versions of photos on my PC?
In the latest version of iCloud for Windows, edits and deletions are downloaded automatically.
In iCloud for Windows 10 and earlier, iCloud Photos on your Windows PC downloads your photos once. If you make edits to photos after they've been downloaded to your PC, the edited version won't be downloaded again. If you want to save the edited version to your PC, you can download individual photos and videos from iCloud.com or download them by year.
Click the iCloud icon in the Windows Notification Area on your PC.
Click Download Photos.
Choose the photos and videos you want to download and click Download.
If you edit a photo on your PC that you've already uploaded to iCloud Photos, you can change the filename of the photo and upload it to iCloud Photos again.
How do I copy photos to an iCloud folder?
Open a File Explorer window.
In the Navigation pane (sidebar), click on iCloud Photos. If you’re using an earlier version of iCloud for Windows, go to Favourites > iCloud Photos.
In another window, open the folder where the photos you want to add to iCloud Photos are currently stored.
Select the photos you want to add.
Drag them into the iCloud Photos folder. In earlier versions of iCloud for Windows, drag them into Favourites > iCloud Photos > Uploads.
Why am I seeing duplicate photos?
In iCloud for Windows 7.x, you see both a video and a key still image for each Live Photo downloaded from iCloud Photos. Upgrade to the latest version of iCloud for Windows to see a JPEG or MOV file for each Live Photo currently stored in iCloud Photos instead of both a video and a still image.
You may also see extra copies of photos when they've been edited in the iOS or macOS Photos app before being downloaded to your PC. Find out more about edited photos in iCloud Photos.
How do I delete photos and videos in iCloud Photos?
In iCloud for Windows 11.1 and later, photos and videos you delete from your Apple device or iCloud.com will be deleted from your PC unless you have chosen to pin them. And when you delete a photo or video on your PC, one of the following happens:
iCloud for Windows 14 or later: the files will be removed from your PC and from iCloud Photos. If a file is deleted from Microsoft Photos, it will also be removed from iCloud Photos.
Earlier versions of iCloud for Windows: the files and thumbnails will be removed from your PC but will still be stored in iCloud Photos. If you edit a photo or video on another device, the thumbnail will reappear on your PC.
Find out more about how to delete or recover photos and videos in iCloud for Windows
How does iCloud Photos handle RAW photos?
iCloud Photos keeps all of your RAW photos with embedded JPEGs stored in their original formats. You can view thumbnail versions on your Mac, or download and edit them on your Mac or PC.
What should I do if I see a “We detected that you are using an older version of Windows” message?
If you're running an older version of Windows 10, you may see a message that states "We detected that you are using an older version of Windows. iCloud Photos capability will be slightly limited on this version of Windows." To get full iCloud Photos capabilities, upgrade to Windows 10 build 18363 or later and download and install the HEVC decoder and HEIF plug-in from the Microsoft Store.
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