Set up iCloud Drive

Files and folders that you store in iCloud Drive stay up to date across all of your devices, and you can access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC, and on iCloud.com.

Before you begin

  1. Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest iOS or iPadOS, and your Mac to the latest macOS.
  2. Set up iCloud on all of your devices.
  3. Make sure that you’re signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all of your devices.
  4. If you have a Windows PC, update to Windows 7 or later and download iCloud for Windows.

If you have a device that can't update to the latest iOS or macOS, see the minimum system requirements to use iCloud Drive.

Get started

Set up iCloud Drive everywhere that you want to access and edit your files.

On your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

  1. Go to Settings > [your name].
  2. Tap iCloud.
  3. Turn on iCloud Drive.
    Look for iCloud Drive in the Apps Using iCloud section.

You can find your iCloud Drive files in the Files app. 

On your Mac

  1. Go to Apple menu  > System Settings or Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Apple ID. 
  2. Select iCloud.
  3. Sign in with your Apple ID, if you need to.
  4. Turn on iCloud Drive.
    iCloud Drive is listed below the Optimize Mac Storage section.

To add the files from your Mac Desktop and your Documents folder to iCloud Drive, turn on Desktop and Documents. 

  • You can then find your Desktop and Documents folder in the iCloud section of the Finder sidebar. 
  • If you add a second Mac Desktop, you can find the files in your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive, in a folder with the same name as your second Mac. The files from your second Mac won't automatically merge with the files on your first Mac.

If you already use a feature from another cloud provider that syncs or manages your Desktop and Documents folders, you need to turn it off to use Desktop and Documents. Desktop and Documents requires macOS Sierra or later. 

On iCloud.com

  1. Sign in to iCloud.com.
  2. Select iCloud Drive or Pages, Numbers, or Keynote. 
  3. Click Upgrade to iCloud Drive, if you're asked to upgrade. 

On your Windows PC

After you set up iCloud Drive on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, and download iCloud for Windows from the Microsoft Store, you can set it up on your Windows PC.

  1. Go to Start, open Apps or Programs, and open iCloud for Windows.
  2. Enter your Apple ID to sign in to iCloud.
  3. Select iCloud Drive, then click Apply.
    iCloud Drive is listed on the right.

What's next

After you set up iCloud Drive, any documents that you've already stored in iCloud are automatically moved to iCloud Drive. Your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch keep your files in the Files app in addition to the Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps. If you don't see your files in these apps, they might be on a device that doesn't have iCloud Drive turned on.

Learn more about using iCloud Drive.

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