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'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. Photos (latest release that is on Mac Appstore as of 2015-04-10) Problem. Uploading status of Photos to iCloud Photo Library seems to be stuck at 'Updating'. No change of progress bar despite hooking up my Mac through wired ethernet for 24 hours. I've tried turning off Photos in iCloud settings and then turning them back on. Once All Photos are selected, click on the Download icon to begin the process of downloading all iCloud Photos to your computer. Unless you have changed the default settings, all iCloud Photos will be downloaded to ‘Downloads’ Folder on your computer. Select all photos in iCloud Go to iCloud.com on your Mac or PC, log in and click Photos. The default view puts you in Moments, where photos are subdivided into days (or parts of days).

Photos in macOS Catalina has an immersive, dynamic look that showcases your best photos. Find the shots you’re looking for with powerful search options. Organize your collection into albums, or keep your photos organized automatically with smart albums. Perfect your images with intuitive built-in editing tools, or use your favorite photos apps. And with iCloud Photos, you can keep all your photos and videos stored in iCloud and up to date on your Mac, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and even your PC.

A smarter way to find your favorites.

Photos in macOS Catalina intelligently declutters and curates your photos and videos — so you can easily see your best memories.

Focus on your best shots.

Photos emphasizes the best shots in your library, hiding duplicates, receipts, and screenshots. Days, Months, and Years views organize your photos by when they were taken. Your best shots are highlighted with larger previews, and Live Photos and videos play automatically, bringing your library to life. Photos also highlights important moments like birthdays, anniversaries, and trips in the Months and Years views.

Your memories. Now playing.

Memories finds your best photos and videos and weaves them together into a memorable movie — complete with theme music, titles, and cinematic transitions — that you can personalize and share. So you can enjoy a curated collection of your trips, holidays, friends, family, pets, and more. And when you use iCloud Photos, all edits automatically sync to your other devices.

The moment you’re looking for, always at hand.

With Search, you can look for photos based on who’s in them or what’s in them — like strawberries or sunsets. Or combine search terms, like “beach 2017.” If you’re looking for photos you imported a couple of months ago, use the expanded import history to look back at each batch in chronological order. And in the My Albums tab, you’ll find your videos, selfies, panoramas, and other media types automatically organized into separate albums.

Fill your library, not your device.

iCloud Photos can help you make the most of the space on your Mac. When you choose “Optimize Mac Storage,” all your full‑resolution photos and videos are stored in iCloud in their original formats, with storage-saving versions kept on your Mac as space is needed. You can also optimize storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, so you can access more photos and videos than ever before. You get 5GB of free storage in iCloud — and as your library grows, you have the option to choose a plan for up to 2TB.

Make an edit here, see it there. When you make changes on your Mac like editing a photo, marking a Favorite, or adding to an album, they’re kept up to date on your iPhone, your iPad, and iCloud.com. And vice versa — any changes made on your iOS or iPadOS devices are automatically reflected on your Mac.

All your photos on all your devices. iCloud Photos gives you access to your entire Mac photo and video library from all your devices. If you shoot a snapshot, slo-mo, or selfie on your iPhone, it’s automatically added to iCloud Photos — so it appears on your Mac, iOS and iPadOS devices, Apple TV, iCloud.com, and your PC. Even the photos and videos imported from your DSLR, GoPro, or drone to your Mac appear on all your iCloud Photos–enabled devices. And since your collection is organized the same way across your Apple devices, navigating your library always feels familiar.

Resize. Crop. Collage. Zoom. Warp. GIF. And more.

Create standout photos with a comprehensive set of powerful but easy-to-use editing tools. Instantly transform photos taken in Portrait mode with five different studio-quality lighting effects. Choose Enhance to improve your photo with just a click. Then use a filter to give it a new look. Or use Smart Sliders to quickly edit like a pro even if you’re a beginner. Markup lets you add text, shapes, sketches, or a signature to your images. And you can turn Live Photos into fun, short video loops to share. You can also make edits to photos using third-party app extensions like Pixelmator, or edit a photo in an app like Photoshop and save your changes to your Photos library.

• Light
  Brilliance, a slider in Light, automatically brightens dark areas and pulls in highlights to reveal hidden details and make your photo look richer and more vibrant.
• Color
  Make your photo stand out by adjusting saturation, color contrast, and color cast.
• Black & White
  Add some drama by taking the color out. Fine-tune intensity and tone, or add grain for a film-quality black-and-white effect.
• White Balance
  Choose between Neutral Gray, Skin Tone, and Temperature/Tint options to make colors in your photo warmer or cooler.
• Curves
  Make fine-tuned contrast and color adjustments to your photos.
• Levels
  Adjust midtones, highlights, and shadows to perfect the tonal balance in your photo.
• Definition
  Increase image clarity by adjusting the definition slider.
• Selective Color
  Want to make blues bluer or greens greener? Use Selective Color to bring out specific colors in your image.
• Vignette
  Add shading to the edges of your photo to highlight a powerful moment.
• Editing Extensions
  Download third-party editing extensions from the Mac App Store to add filters and texture effects, use retouching tools, reduce noise, and more.
• Reset Adjustments
  When you’ve made an edit, you can judge it against the original by clicking Compare. If you don’t like how it looks, you can reset your adjustments or revert to your original shot.

Bring even more life to your Live Photos. When you edit a Live Photo, the Loop effect can turn it into a continuous looping video that you can experience again and again. Try Bounce to play the action forward and backward. Or choose Long Exposure for a beautiful DSLR‑like effect to blur water or extend light trails. You can also trim, mute, and select a key photo for each Live Photo.

Add some fun filters.

With just a click, you can apply one of nine photo filters inspired by classic photography styles to your photos.

Share here, there, and everywhere.

Use the Share menu to easily share photos via Shared Albums and AirDrop. Or send photos to your favorite photo sharing destinations, such as Facebook and Twitter. You can also customize the menu and share directly to other compatible sites that offer sharing extensions.

Turn your pictures into projects.

Making high-quality projects and special gifts for loved ones is easier than ever with Photos. Create everything from gorgeous photo books to professionally framed gallery prints to stunning websites using third-party project extensions like Motif, Mimeo Photos, Shutterfly, ifolor, WhiteWall, Mpix, Fujifilm, and Wix.

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.

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.

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:

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

How to view iCloud photos on your 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.

Icloud Photos For Mac High Sierra

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.

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 Photos For Mac Desktop

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.