How to download all photos from iCloud [Quick and easy ways]

With my phone constantly in reach, there’s often not a special moment I miss documenting — even if it’s just my pet taking a nap. But it’s safe to say that some of us still store all these photos in our local Photos app despite cloud storage being accessible, cheap, and, in the case of iCloud, offering seamless sync.

In a sense, it’s even better to clear storage on an iPhone from clutter if you have an iPhone with less storage and upload all your media to the cloud instead. 

But, of course, you’ll want to be able to access, edit, and share your images, too, so there comes a time when you need to know how to download all photos from iCloud for offline use. Let’s walk through the whole process.

Quick ways to download photos from iCloud

Let’s take a quick look at how to download photos from iCloud before we get into the details:

How to download photos from iCloud to iPhone

There are plenty of reasons why you might need to download photos from iCloud. Maybe you’re looking to print a couple of vacation pictures or want to save specific photos on your iPhone. To download photos to your iPhone, first, you need to sync your iPhone with iCloud:

To do so:

1. Go to Settings > Apple Account > iCloud > Photos.
2. Turn on Sync this iPhone to sync your photos across your devices, including your iPhone.
3. Tap Download and Keep Originals for offline storage on your device.

I’ve yet to renew my iCloud+ subscription, as I’ve not personally synced my iPhone to the cloud. The amount of clutter this generates is just another spitting example of why you should really take advantage of the service. While you get 5 GB free, you can simply upgrade to 50 GB, 200 GB, or 2 TB — that’s nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Download photos manually from iCloud on iPhone

If you don’t want to sync all your photos across your Apple devices and want to download specific images to your iPhone, you can do that, too. 

Here’s how to download specific photos manually:

1. On your iPhone, go to iCloud.com.
2. Sign in to your account.
3. Go to Photos > Tap on a photo or video to open it.
4. Tap three dots at the top right and choose Download.

How to download photos from iCloud to Mac

If you want to download photos from iCloud to your MacBook, the process is as simple as it is. Grab your Mac and sync it with your iCloud so that all your new photos will automatically upload to your cloud storage, where you can extract them at any time.

Here’s how to do this:

1. Click the Apple menu > System Settings > Apple ID > iCloud.
2. Click Photos and make sure Sync this Mac is turned on.
3. Open the Photos app on your Mac.

All your iCloud photos will appear and download to your Mac automatically through iCloud sync.

Download specific photos to Mac manually

If you’re trying to download specific photos from iCloud to your Mac on a photo-by-photo basis, this is how you do it:

1. On your Mac, go to iCloud.com.
2. Sign in to your account.
3. Open Photos and find the photo(s) you want to download.
4. Click three dots at the top right > Download.
5. Choose a destination folder to save the photos to your Mac.

How to download all photos from iCloud at once

Let’s say you’ve got a pretty small selection of photos up on the cloud and you want to download all of them to your device. 

Here’s how to download all iCloud photos at once on Mac:

1. On your Mac, go to iCloud.com.
2. Sign in to your account > Open Photos and the folder.
3. Press Command + A or batch-select the files you want to download.
4. Click the Download icon at the top > Choose a destination folder on your Mac.

Note: Downloading large numbers of photos may take some time, depending on your internet speed, so be patient!

Download iCloud photos to Mac in a few clicks

Perhaps it was once a bit of a hassle to figure out, but now, you should know how to download photos from iCloud to Mac like a seasoned pro! Whether you’re downloading all your iCloud photos or a select few to your iPhone or Mac, it only takes a few clicks to do so. And with extra third-party tools like CloudMounter, CleanMy®Phone, and DropShare, you can make everything from managing your files in the cloud to keeping your Photos storage organized a breeze.

These three apps and plenty more iOS and macOS apps in other categories can be accessed through a 7-day free trial of Setapp — a useful subscription service to a range of apps to aid your productivity, creativity, and overall digital life for the better.