Icloud Photos For Mac

Apple's photo management software for the Mac, Photos, has grown to be a fairly competent all-purpose storage locker.But as your photo and video library grows — and especially if you've taken advantage of iCloud Photo Library — you may find that your Photos library strains to fit on your Mac's hard drive. Sign in to iCloud to access your photos, videos, documents, notes, contacts, and more. Use your Apple ID or create a new account to start using Apple services. ICloud Photos works with the Photos app to keep your photos and videos securely stored in iCloud, and up to date on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple TV, and iCloud.com. How it works iCloud Photos automatically keeps every photo and video you take in iCloud, so you can access your library from any device, anytime you want.

With iCloud Photos, you have the freedom to access every photo and video in your library — from any device, anytime you want. So you can view a photo from last week or last year no matter where you are. ICloud Photos keeps every photo and video you take all in one place, and you can access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac, on. How to Download iCloud Photos on a Mac If you have a Mac, your best option is to download your library of photos onto it before uploading them to another server. This way you have your own copy of.

Using iCloud is a simple and effective way to make sure the photos you take with your iPhone are backed up somewhere. But accessing those photos from different devices can be a bit confusing. We’ll go over how to find and view your iCloud photos on your iPhone, Mac, or PC.

How to access iCloud photos on iPhone

As long as you have iCloud Photo Library turned on on your phone, then the pictures you see in the Photos app are your iCloud photos. It's that simple. However, if you have Optimize Storage turned on, then the photos on your iPhone are just compressed, lower-resolution versions. The full versions are stored in iCloud. You can check if this setting is turned on by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos.

Regardless of your iCloud storage plan, there’s a limit of some kind. And there’s no sense wasting the space you’re paying for on pics you don’t want anymore. Use Gemini Photos to quickly scan your library and delete similar photos, blurry images, and other clutter.

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Icloud Photos For Mac

Why can’t I see my iCloud photos on iPhone?

One of the most common reasons your iCloud photos might not be showing up on your phone is because you don’t have iCloud Photos on. To check:

  1. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
  2. Tap Photos.
  3. If you need to, tap on the toggle to turn on iCloud Photos.

Office 2008 for mac el capitan. Driver android for macbook. Another reason could be that iCloud Photos has been restricted to update over Wi-Fi only. To check or allow it to update using your cellular data:

My Icloud Photos

  1. Go to Settings > Photos > Cellular Data.
  2. Turn on Cellular Data if it’s off.

How to view iCloud photos on your Mac

Icloud Photos For Mac

It’s easy to take pictures and view them on your iPhone, and when you want to see those pictures on your Mac, it’s just as easy. There are actually two ways you can do it, with the Photos app or in your browser via iCloud.com

Access iCloud photos in the Photos app

As long as both your Mac and your iPhone are signed in to the same iCloud account, then similarly to the Photos app on your iPhone, you’ll be able to view your iCloud pictures from the Photos app on your Mac.

  1. Open the Photos app.
  2. Tap the Photos tab.

Another way to access your iCloud photos on all your devices is My Photo Stream, but that feature also shows you the most recent photos. Check out our guide to using My Photo Stream on iPhone and Mac.

View iCloud photos in the browser (Safari, Firefox, or Chrome)

  1. In your browser of choice, go to iCloud.com.
  2. Sign in with your iCloud account.
  3. Tap Photos.

Why can’t I see my iCloud photos on my Mac

If you’re not able to see iCloud Photos when you’re using the Photos app, here are a couple things to check.

  • Make sure you’re running the operating system Mac 10.10.3 or later, which is a system requirement to use the Photos app and sync it with iCloud Photos.
  • Verify in System Preferences that iCloud Photos is turned on.
  • Make sure your Mac is connected to the internet.
  • Check which iCloud account you’re signed into. You have to be logged into the same account on all of your devices for iCloud Photos to sync properly.

If you’re having issues with pictures not appearing when you view them through the browser, make sure you have iCloud Photos turned on on your iPhone.

How to access iCloud photos on a PC

Similar to the Mac, you can view your iCloud Photos in two places on your PC. One way is through the Files Explorer and the other is using your browser.

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View iCloud photos in File Explorer

To look through your iCloud Photos in File Explorer you’ll first need to download iCloud for Windows. Once you’ve got it installed and have iCloud Photos turned on, then you can view your pictures when you:

  1. Open a File Explorer window.
  2. Under Favorites in the sidebar, there’ll be an iCloud Photos folder. Open it.
  3. Click to open the Downloads folder.
  4. You can view your photos by year or move them to another folder on your PC.

If you don’t see iCloud Photos listed under your Favorites, then you may need to re-install iCloud for Windows.

Access your photos in the browser

  1. In your browser of choice, go to iCloud.com.
  2. Sign in with your iCloud account.
  3. Tap Photos.

iCloud is a great tool not only for backing up your photos and videos, but also for keeping all your devices in sync. iCloud takes the hassle out of having to send photos back and forth between devices you own, and with these simple instructions, you’ll be able to access your iCloud photos on your Mac, PC, or any other device.

Apple has morphed iCloud from a back-end cloud storage bucket for apps to a front-facing cloud storage container for users. Still, how to access iCloud folders and files can be tricky.

Best ways to access iCloud from your Mac

Here, we’ll show you how to login to iCloud, access iCloud drive on Mac, and access iCloud from anywhere.

One-stop tool for managing iCloud data

Access your iCloud content, set up automatic storage clearing, and transfer your data anywhere with a single toolkit for Mac.

How to access your iCloud drive using Finder

When you’re on your Mac, follow these instructions to add iCloud to your Finder:

  1. In the top left of your screen, in the menu bar, select the Apple icon.
  2. Select System Preferences.
  3. Select Apple ID.
  4. Select iCloud.
  5. Make sure the ‘iCloud Drive’ box is checked. If not, select it.

This will make your iCloud Drive storage appear in Finder. By default, iCloud Drive on Mac has access to all your apps, as well as your iCloud desktop and documents folders on the Mac. This allows your documents to be viewable and editable on all of your Apple devices. If you want to view or edit documents on an iPad or iPhone, it’s important to have this option selected.

Because iCloud Drive is still treated as a sort of storage container by most (including Apple), it’s easy for your iCloud storage to get full. You may store files in it without thinking about how full it’s getting. This can be because you’re not aware iCloud is accessing your documents and desktop on Mac; your Mac might have a terabyte of storage, but chances are your iCloud account doesn’t.

Keep in mind the Photos app also uses iCloud for storage. If you take a lot of pics and don’t manage them later on, it’s eating into your data cap for iCloud.

One great method for keeping iCloud trimmed down is to use CleanMyMac X. It’s an app that allows you to manage your Mac’s files and folders on a consistent schedule, and can let you know when your iCloud is getting overly full of old documents or other files.

How to access iCloud drive via browser

iCloud is also accessible via the browser. If you’d rather manage your iCloud files online, any browser will do! It’s a handy backup for those times you may be away from home and need to use a desktop, or if a file won’t sync to your other devices.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Using any browser, go to icloud.com
  2. Login with your Apple ID and password.

Yup, that’s really it! Here, you can manage your calendar, desktop, Photos, email, reminders, notes, contacts, as well as Apple apps like Keynote, Numbers, and Pages. It’s also the web-based home for Find Friends and the Find iPhone services.

Your iCloud Drive on the Web will have the same files and folders synced to all your devices.

How to access iCloud Photos on iOS devices

On any iPhone, simply access the Photos app. This will show all photos in your library, synced across your devices.

As we mentioned above, your Photos are also available on the web, and of course on the Mac via your Photos app on Mac.

And remember, Photos is likely the reason your iCloud drive storage may be getting full. Most of us simply snap photos, or save screenshots, but don’t manage these images later on. The Photos app makes it simple by giving screenshots their own folder you can quickly empty, but that doesn’t always solve the issue.

There may be a lot of duplicate images taking up storage in your Photos app, which means those duplicates are eating into your iCloud storage, too. You could scroll through your Photos app to find duplicates on your own, but that can be a tedious process.

A smarter method is to use Gemini. It’s a duplicate file finder that scans your Photos app, too. When duplicates are detected, Gemini offers to delete them for you. It also finds pictures that are similar, and offers to delete one of them. This is particularly handy for parents who snap multiple photos of a child to capture a moment, but forget that moment means many pics are stored in the cloud.

More info about how to use iCloud on mac

How to access iCloud backup

Careful observers will note iCloud also keeps backups. This serves one purpose: to have a way to restore a device without much loss of data.

For most of us, an iPhone or iPad backs up when it’s charging. Macs may use Time Machine to create similar ‘images’ to restore from. All of these are fallbacks, and not the best options for securing your data.

More to the point, it may not have what you need. Let’s say you wanted to restore to a point months ago where your device had files, folders, or pictures you’ve since lost. Apple can’t help you; it only saves the most recent backup to iCloud. Again, this is for restoration.

Icloud Photos For Macbook Pro

A better way to treat backups is with AnyTrans. It’s a backup manager that lets you create and store backups of any iOS device created via iCloud.

We like this for several reasons. First, you might need to restore to a previous backup, not the most recent. If you’ve got some sort of malware on your device, restoring from a backup may also restore your malware. If you’re limiting yourself to Apple’s methods, the only option is to start a device from scratch and sync your iCloud data. That means hours (or maybe days) of signing in and waiting for files and folders to sync properly.

With AnyTrans, you could restore to a previously store backup, and skip all of those issues. It also means you won’t lose access to files or photos that are synced to iCloud. While they may not be part of the backup, they’ll sync to your device once it’s restored and linked to your iCloud account again!

Conclusion

Accessing iCloud has never been easier. Be it via Mac, iPhone, iPad, or the web, iCloud is now a full-fledged consumer-facing service.

But it’s imperfect. It offers a comparatively limited free storage option to Google Drive, and its paid versions aren’t much more advantageous. iCloud Drive also fills up fast if you don’t manage it carefully.

Icloud Photos For Mac

That’s why Gemini is suc a great app to have. It does the heavy lifting of managing iCloud for you. AnyTrans is great for restoring from backups, for whatever reason. And if you’re serious about keeping your iCloud storage tidy, file management and backups should be a routine you perform regularly.

Transfer Icloud Photos To Mac

Both are available for free via a seven-day trial of Setapp, which is only $9.99 per month thereafter. Along with Gemini and AnyTrans, you’ll get access to a lot of other great productivity apps for Mac.

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