How To Access My Icloud Photo Library On Mac

iCloud Photos uploads new photos and videos from your Windows PC so you can view them in the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac, and on iCloud.com. New photos that you take automatically download from iCloud Photos and you can choose to download your entire collection by year.

How to Access iCloud Photos on Mac? Activate both the iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream. As long as the computer is connected to the internet and it has enough space, your iCloud photos should be downloaded to the computer where you can access them easily. Apr 01, 2020  Designate a System Photo Library in Photos If you have multiple photo libraries on your Mac, you can choose one to be the System Photo Library. The System Photo Library is the only library that can be used with iCloud Photos, Shared Albums, and My Photo Stream.

Here's what you need

Before you get started, you need to sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID. Just follow the set up instructions for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch or Mac. Then follow these steps to turn on iCloud Photos on your PC with Windows 7 or later.

Learn more about iCloud system requirements.

Turn on iCloud Photos

  1. Download iCloud for Windows.
  2. Open iCloud for Windows.
  3. Next to Photos, click Options.
  4. Select iCloud Photo Library.
  5. Click Done, then click Apply.
  6. Turn on iCloud Photos on all of your Apple devices.
Mac

You can also choose to use My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing (Shared Albums), and customize the location of your upload and download folders.

When you turn on iCloud Photos on your PC, My Photo Stream is turned off automatically. If you want to send new photos to your devices that don't use iCloud Photos, you can turn My Photo Stream back on.

Upload your photos and videos to iCloud Photos

You can upload your photos and videos from your PC to iCloud Photos when you follow these steps:

  1. Open a File Explorer window.
  2. Under Favorites, click iCloud Photos.
  3. Click Upload photos and videos.
  4. Choose the photos and videos you want to upload and click Open.

How To Access Icloud Photo Library On Mac

You can also drag and drop photos and videos from your PC into the Uploads folder in iCloud Photos. You can view the photos and videos you uploaded in the Photos app on iCloud.com and on all your Apple devices.

Download your photos and videos from iCloud Photos

New photos and videos you add to iCloud Photos will automatically download to your PC. You can also download your collection by year when you follow these steps:

  1. Open a File Explorer window.
  2. Under Favorites, click iCloud Photos.
  3. Click Download photos and videos.
  4. Choose the photos and videos you want to download and click Download.

Your photos and videos download to the location you set in iCloud Photos Options.

Learn more

If you need help managing and using iCloud Photos with your Windows PC, you can learn more.

Photos in your System Photo Library are available in apps like iMovie, Pages, and Keynote. How to check android studio project libraries mac. You can also sync them to iOS devices and view them on Apple TV. And if you want to use your own images as your desktop picture or screen saver, the images need to be in your System Photo Library before you can select them in System Preferences.

If you have only one photo library, then it's the System Photo Library. Otherwise, the first photo library that you create or open in Photos will become the System Photo Library. If you have more than one library, you might need to designate a System Photo Library, so other apps can access the photos and videos you want them to use.

Follow these steps to designate a System Photo Library:

How to upload photos to icloud
  1. Quit Photos.
  2. Hold down the Option key and open Photos. One of the photo libraries is already designated as YourLibraryName (System Photo Library).
  3. Choose the library you want to designate as the System Photo Library.
  4. After Photos opens the library, choose Photos > Preferences from the menu bar.
  5. Click the General tab.
  6. Click the Use as System Photo Library button.

If you open a second or different library in the Photos app, and you haven't designated it as the System Photo Library, other applications will use photos from the original System Photo Library. Hold down the Option key when you open Photos to see which library is set as the System Photo Library.

How To Open Icloud Photo Library On Mac

iCloud and the System Photo Library

How To Access My Icloud Photo Library On Mac Download

You can use iCloud Photos, Shared Albums, and My Photo Stream only with the System Photo Library. Watchtower library. If you choose a different library in Photos without designating it as the System Photo Library, the iCloud tab in Photos preferences is disabled:

View Icloud Photos On Mac

If you designate a new library as the System Photo Library and then turn on iCloud Photos, the photos and videos in the new library will merge with those already in your iCloud Photos. If you want to keep the contents of your photo libraries separate, don’t turn on iCloud Photos for more than one library in Photos.