When you have enabled iCloud backup, iPhone Photo Library, iCloud will automatically store the photos you’ve taken. As soon as you take a photo, it’s uploaded to iCloud. But some users may be confused about how to download photos from iCloud to iPhone, PC, Mac, or external drive. Here we will show you three methods to download photos from iCloud.
Method 1: How to Download Photos from iPhone to Mac/PC via iCloud Downloader?
iPhone Data Recovery is recommended to download iCloud photos. With the iCloud downloader, you can download iPhone photos from iCloud to a PC or Mac.
Since this iCloud downloading software requires no iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when you choose to retrieve photos from iCloud or iCloud backup, you can still download photos from iCloud even if your iPhone is lost/ stolen/ damaged.
Free download the trial version of iPhone Data Recovery on Windows/Mac. The program can download iPhone photos from iCloud backups.
Download and install the iCloud downloader on your computer. Then, launch it and click “Recover from iCloud “. Now, you need to sign in to the iCloud account.
After entering the iCloud account, you can choose to download the photos from iCloud Backup or iCloud Photos.
- iCloud Photos
If you choose to download the photos that have been synced on iCloud, check Photos and click Start to begin the scanning. Wait till the process finishes and the photos you want will be shown in the scan result.
Click Recover and choose the save location. Your photos will be saved in the folder that you have chosen.
- iCloud Backup
You can also choose to download the photos from iCloud backup. Just click the iCloud Backup and your iCloud backup files will be displayed. Choose the one that contains photos you want to retrieve and download.
In the pop-up window, you should choose to download photos from Camera Roll, Photo Library, and App Photos to download all photos stored in iCloud. Click “Next”.
After scanning, click Camera Roll, Photo Library, and App Photos respectively to view all these found photos on iCloud. Choose the ones you need or tick Photo Library to select all iCloud photos. Then click “Recover” to export iCloud photos in bulk to your computer.
Tip: If you want to download all photos from iCloud backup, tick the “Camera Roll”, “Photo Library”, and “App Photos” folder to download all iCloud photos.
See! How easy it is! Your iCloud photos are now transferred to your Mac or Win computer.
Method 2: How to Download Photos from iCloud to PC
It’s also a good idea to ‘transfer’ photos from iCloud to Windows 7/8/10/11 PC with iCloud Photo Library. What’s the iCloud Photo Library? It’s a feature that is able to sync your photos at full resolution with iCloud service, including small touches you made on the picture. By taking advantage of the iCloud Photo Library, photos can be shared on Win/Mac enabling the iCloud Photo Library with the same Apple ID.
Step 1. Download iCloud for Windows in the first place.
Step 2. Open the panel and sign in with your Apple ID.
Step 3. Choose desired services on the left side of the interface and click “Apply”.
Step 4. Click “Options” after setting up the iCloud Photo Library.
Step 5. Then, choose to download the desired pictures to the computer.
Method 3: How to Download Photos from iCloud to Mac
You can also enable the iCloud Photo Library on Mac to sync iCloud photos to Mac.
Step 1. Go to the “Apple” menu and select “About This Mac” > “Software Update” to upgrade to the latest version.
Step 2. Click the “Apple” menu and choose “System Preferences”.
Step 3. Touch “iCloud” and enter your Apple ID.
Step 4. After logging in, pick up the desired service on the left side.
Step 5. Select “Options” after “Photos” to enable “iCloud Photo Library”.
Step 6. Then, the iCloud service will sync photos on your Mac and you can check out pictures directly.
Method 4: How to Download iCloud Photos to Computer Online
You can also download photos from iCloud.com, either download photos one by one or download all photos at once.
Tip 1: Download Photos from iCloud.com One by One
- Log in to iCloud.com with your Apple ID and password.
- Click “Photos”. Then search and find the photos you need. Select the photos or choose all photos on iCloud. Click the download icon to get the photo saved on your computer.
Tip 2: Download All Photos from iCloud.com
There is no such thing as the “Download All Photos” option on iCloud.com. But you can still download all photos at once with this trick.
- Again, log in to your iCloud account.
- Go to “Photos” and choose the “All Photos” album.
- Then scroll down to the bottom of the album and click the “Select Photos” button on the top.
- Press the “Shift” key and click on the very last picture in the album, then all the photos in the album will be selected.
- Now you can click the download icon to download all photos on your PC.
As compared to downloading photos from iCloud.com/iCloud Photo Library, iPhone Data Recovery stands out because you can download old/deleted photos from both iCloud and the backup with the program, while iCloud.com only contains the photos that currently exist on your device. If you want to download old photos from iCloud backup, you’ll need to restore the whole backup, while with iPhone Data Recovery, you can download the old photos selectively. For a clear outlook, check out the chart below.
These methods help you to easily download iCloud photos to your computer with ease. If you want to transfer photos from a computer to iPhone, it’s not as hard as you might think.
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