How to download photos from iCloud

With iCloud Photos, you can view your entire photo library from any device. But you need to download photos from iCloud if you want to edit or do anything else. There are several ways to download photos from iCloud to devices like iPhone, Mac, and even Windows PC.

Download photos from iCloud website

No matter what device you're using, you can sign in to your Apple ID account to download photos directly from the iCloud website. You can download up to 1,000 photos at a time. If you need to download more, split it into multiple downloads.

This method creates a copy of the photo in your iCloud. This means the original photo remains in iCloud, and any edits you make to the downloaded photo won't affect your iCloud library.

To download photos from the iCloud website to your iPhone:

1. Open Safari, go to iCloud.com .
2. Sign in to your iCloud account, then go to the Photos page .
3. Click Select and choose the photos you want to download.
4. Click the More (...) button below and select Download . Confirm again.
5. Your photos will be saved in the Downloads folder in iCloud Drive, which you can access using the Files app.

To download photos from the iCloud website to your Mac or Windows PC:

1. Go to your web browser and select iCloud.com .
2. Sign in to your iCloud account and select Photos .
3. Select the photos you want to download.
4. Click the Download icon in the right corner to start downloading.
5. If you upload multiple photos at once, iCloud saves them in a ZIP file.

How to Download Photos from iCloud Photos on iPhone or Mac

When you choose to expand your device storage with iCloud Photos, your iPhone or Mac will only store compressed files of your photos on your phone. If you want to download full-resolution photos when they're opened in the Photos app.

You can see the download progress from the circular icon that appears in the bottom right corner of the Photos app. When it's done, your photos will be converted to full-resolution versions.

However, this is only a temporary download. Your iPhone or Mac will convert the photos to a compressed file as soon as it runs out of space.

If you want to download photos from iCloud permanently, use one of the following methods.

Export or save from Files to Photos

Just like downloading photos from the iCloud website, you can use the Photos app to download copies of your photos. These will be saved in the Downloads folder on your Mac, or the Files app on your iPhone.

To do this on iPhone, open Photos and tap Select. Select the photos you want to download and tap the Share button , scroll down and tap Save to Files .

On your Mac, open Photos and select the photos you want to download. Hold Shift to select multiple consecutive photos or Cmd to select multiple non-consecutive photos. Then go to File > Export > Export Photo and choose where you want to save the photos on your Mac.

Download and keep the original in Photos settings

You can stop freeing up iCloud Photos space to download all your photos to your device. Your photos will still be available in iCloud and will be accessible on your other devices. Depending on the size of your photo library, downloading all your photos may take up to a few hours.

On iPhone, open Settings, scroll down to Photos. Select Download and Keep Originals.

On Mac, open Photos and go to Photos > Preferences from the menu bar. Select Download Originals to this Mac .

Turn off iCloud Photos

If you no longer want to upload photos to iCloud, turn this feature off. You can choose to download your entire photo library. Of course, this adjustment is only possible if you have enough space on your device.

Turning off iCloud Photos won’t delete any photos from your iCloud account. It will also just download copies of the photos to your device and stop syncing with iCloud. Downloading your entire photo library can take up to a few hours. It’s best to connect your device to WiFi and wait overnight for all downloads to complete.

On your iPhone, open Settings and select Photos . Turn off iCloud Photos and select Download Photos & Videos on the next screen.

On your Mac, open Photos and choose Photos > Preferences from the menu bar. Uncheck iCloud Photos and select Download your photos.

How to Download Photos from iCloud to Windows PC

Download and install iCloud for Windows to access all your iCloud data including photos from your Windows computer.

After signing in with your iCloud account, open File Explorer to transfer photos from iCloud to your PC. Select iCloud Photos from the sidebar, then click Download photos and videos .

Select the photos you want to download, then click Download. You can find your downloaded photos at Pictures/iCloud Photos/Downloads .

To automatically download new photos, open iCloud for Windows, click Options . In this setting, turn on Download new photos and videos to my PC .