iCloud a cloud storage and cloud computing service from Apple Inc, offer 5 GB of storage for free (Every user with an Apple ID) to back up apps and settings on their iPhone, iPad, iPod. And this service also syncs your photos, documents, and email with your PC and mobile devices. The iCloud Photos provides a convenient way to gain access to any photos taken from your iOS devices. But sometimes users report “iCloud photos not syncing to PC” while using iCloud Photo Library or My Photo Stream with Windows PC. Many users have reported problems like “My Photo Stream is not syncing to my PC” or “iCloud photos not syncing to PC in Windows 10”. And for some other iCloud photos not downloading to pc windows 10.
iCloud photos not syncing to PC
If you are also suffering from this problem Mac or Windows 10/8/7 iCloud cannot sync photos, iCloud Photos Not Downloading to PC, Apply troubleshooting steps below.
Setup iCloud sync images with your other devices
When you enable iCloud Photo Library, your photos and video will by default automatically upload to iCloud, and eventually sync with your other iOS devices and PC. however, you can enable My Photo Stream, That automatically sync any images you take to your other devices when you (and they) are connected to a Wi-Fi network.
- Open the iCloud application.
- In the box that pops up, click on the Options button next to Photos.
- Check the box labeled My Photo Stream to enable this option.
Update iCloud
You can either download the update here or you can also do it from within Windows itself.
- Enter ‘Apple’ in the Cortana search box and select Apple Software Update to open the window below.
- Wait while the updater searches for available updates.
- If there’s an update for iCloud, select it and click Install.
- Also, consider updating any other Apple software such as iTunes while you’re at it.
Enable iCloud Photos
Make sure the iCloud Photo Library is turned on the computer, To do this open
- On iPhone/iPad in iOS 11: Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and then toggle on iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream.
- On PC: Click the iCloud icon in your taskbar and choose Open iCloud Settings. Make sure Photos option is checked and tap on Options next to it. Then click the checkbox next to iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream.
Sign out from iCloud and then sign back in
If you find there is nothing wrong with your iCloud settings or network connection but you still can’t sync your iCloud photos to your PC, try to sign out of iCloud on your devices and then sign back in.
On iPhone/iPad:
- Go to Settings > [your name] and scroll down to choose to Sign Out.
- Enter your Apple ID password if you have turned on Find My iPhone and then follow the prompt to sign out of iCloud.
- Force restart your iPhone. (You’d better back up your iPhone to computer to avoid data loss.)
- Go to Settings to sign in to iCloud and then see whether iCloud photos are synced to your iPhone.
On PC:
- Tap on the iCloud icon in your Windows taskbar and choose Open iCloud Settings.
- Click Sign Out in the iCloud window.
- Tap on the iCloud icon in the taskbar and choose Sign In.
iCloud photos not downloading to pc
Also if you notice iCloud photos not downloading to pc on windows 10, try solutions below.
Configure iCloud photos
If you’ve set up iCloud Photos to download your photos properly, you need to dive into the Photos Options panel. To do this click the iCloud icon on the system tray, and then click Open iCloud Settings.
Here Click Options next to Photos to open the Photos Options panel.
And Make sure that both iCloud Photo Library and Download New Photos and Videos to My PC are enabled.
Enable my photostream
If you’ve got certain iOS devices with just My Photo Stream enabled, iCloud Photos won’t download newer photos from such devices unless your PC also has its own photostream turned on. To enable the feature, simply head over to the Photos Options pane again, and then check the box next to My Photo Stream. Once done, click Done to save the changes.
You need to remember that with My Photo Stream, only photos, and not videos, are synced between devices. Also, the photostream should appear directly under the Downloads folder — instead of sub-folders by year — once you access iCloud Photos.
Restart iCloud Processes
Again if iCloud has a number of processes that involve everything from iCloud Drive, iCloud Photo Library, to iCloud Services. Force-quitting these processes from memory forces iCloud to shut-down, which is pretty useful since the application provides no way to exit normally.
To do this Right-click the taskbar, and then select Task Manager.
Here Under the Processes tab, select and end the processes labeled iCloud, iCloud Drive, iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Photo Stream, and iCloud Services.
That should quit iCloud from memory. Simply load the application again, and it should sign in automatically. Hopefully, any stuck downloads should now resume automatically.
Change iCloud Photos storage location
If the storage in the disk where stores your iCloud photos is overloaded then of course iCloud photos will not download to PC. You can easily change the path to store iCloud photos to another disk that has efficient space.
- Go to iCloud > Photos on your PC, then click the Change… the button next to the option “Download new photos and videos to my PC”.
- Choose or create a folder on another disk and click OK to apply.
Force iCloud to Download photos
You made sure that iCloud Photos was set up properly, had My Photo Stream enabled, and even restarted iCloud. But still, you don’t find newer photos let’s force the application to re-initiate a download.
Click the iCloud icon on the system tray, and then click Download Photos.
You should now find a Download Photos and Videos pop-up box, where you can select photos available on iCloud for download grouped by year.
Simply select All to select the entire iCloud Photo Library for download. Alternately, you can choose to download files by year, which is pretty useful if you just want a download of recent photos — selecting photos by month would’ve been better, but this is the best you’re going to get.
Click Download to initiate a download. It should take a while, but your photos should start appearing within the Downloads folder in iCloud Photos.
Did these solutions help to fix iCloud photos not syncing to PC or iCloud photos not downloading on Windows 10? let us know which option worked for you.
In latest windows 10 iCloud app, you should uncheck and check the Always keep on device option. That would sync again.
The only thing that finally worked for me was to uninstall the current iCloud from Windows and download a much older version (I downloaded 7.12 from the softonic website) that still has a “Download all” button.