Back up and sync your photos and videos with iCloud

You can use iCloud Photos to keep your photos and videos securely stored in iCloud. If you turn on iCloud Photos on all your devices, you can see the photos and videos you took on iPad on any device. You can also access your iCloud photos and videos in a web browser.

When iCloud Photos is turned on, the photos and videos you take are uploaded automatically and stored in their original format at full resolution. Any changes you make to your photo collection on one device are reflected on your other devices, too.

Note: Make sure that you’re signed in to the same Apple Account on all your devices, and that your devices meet these minimum system requirements: iOS 8.3, iPadOS 13.1, macOS 10.10.3, or later, or a Windows device with iCloud for Windows 7.x or later.

To learn more, see Set up iCloud Photos on all your devices.

Turn on iCloud Photos

Go to the Settings app on your iPad.
Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
Tap Photos, then turn on Sync this iPad.

iCloud automatically uploads every photo and video you take to iCloud, so your photos are backed up and in sync, and you can access your library from any device, anytime.

Check if your photos and videos are backed up to iCloud

You can check that iCloud Photos is syncing your photos to iCloud, so that you have copies if something happens to your iPad. If syncing is paused, it means your photos are not being backed up to iCloud.

Go to the Photos app on your iPad.
Tap Collections.
In the top-right corner of the screen, you can see a preview of your syncing status. You may see any of the following:
- Yellow badge: iCloud syncing is paused. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Yellow warning icon: Your iCloud storage is almost full. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Red exclamation mark: Your iCloud storage is full. See Get more iCloud storage.
- Blue badge: You have notifications from a shared library or shared album. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Partially filled blue circle around your account icon: Photos are actively uploading to iCloud. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Partially filled gray outline around your account icon: Uploads are paused. Tap your account icon to see the details.
Tap your account to see more details. The last time your iPad synced with iCloud appears below the account profile.

Sync iCloud Photos immediately

iCloud Photos prioritizes syncing items that are added to your library after Sync Immediately is turned on.

Go to the Photos app on your iPad.
Tap Collections, then tap your iCloud account profile at the top of the screen.
Tap Sync Immediately, then tap For Today.
To turn off syncing, tap Off. Sync Immediately automatically turns off after one day.

Note: Sync Immediately may affect battery and cellular usage and will pause if Low Power Mode or Low Data Mode are turned on.

Turn off Optimize Storage on your iPad

iCloud Photos can help you make the most of the storage space on your iPad. When Optimize iPad Storage is turned on, all your full‑resolution photos and videos are stored in iCloud in their original formats, with storage-saving versions kept on your iPad. Optimize iPad Storage is turned on by default, but you can turn it off.

Go to the Settings app on your iPad.
Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
Tap Photos, tap iPad Storage, then tap Download and Keep Originals.

Get more iCloud storage

If your uploaded photos and videos exceed your storage plan, you can upgrade to iCloud+ for more storage and additional features. See Subscribe to iCloud+.

Helpful?

iPad User Guide