Backing Up iCloud Photos to PC

Fun Facts About Apple iCloud

As of September 2024, nearly two-thirds of smartphone users in the United States own Apple's iPhone; and on average, each iPhone user stores between 2,000 and 3,000 photos or videos on their device.

Apple, of course, being the savvy company that it is, decided to capitalize on this years ago (June 2021) and expanded their iCloud services to include iCloud+. Users were given the option to purchase iCloud storage space from Apple to provide a safe home for all of their priceless photos and videos. 

I'm one of those people.

The entry cost (currently) is $0.99/month to get a whopping (sarcasm) 50 GB of storage space, but this also includes other information in your iCloud, like phone backup data, etc. Well, $12/year seemed reasonable to me; so I signed up. Then I did the same for my wife, and then my oldest son. Now $12/year became $36/year. Then that 50 GB filled up, and the next service level of 200 GB is $2.99/month. 

You might be thinking I'm cheap, and you're not really wrong; but I get that money is necessary to do what you need and want to do in life. However, I also learned that Apple raked in $24.2 billion in Q3 2024 from services & subscriptions (source). 

Let me say that again. In 3 months, Apple received ~$24,200,000,000 from iPhone user subscriptions and services. 

If I were an Apple stock owner, I'd be gleeful; but I'm not (yet). 

As I contemplated all of this along with the horrendous inflation of the past few years, I realized that storing photos and videos (which truly are priceless) would soon become unpleasantly expensive. 

So, what do I do?

The "What"

My plan is fairly simple. 

1. Keep paying $0.99/month for 50 GB (per iPhone), which I can justify as necessary since the free service gives you just slightly less than a thimble worth of storage (5 GB).

2. When photos and videos accumulate and get near the edge (or blow past it), I back them up to my Windows PC for safe keeping.

The "How"

As a bit of commentary, I often find that doing things like this (that don't generate revenue for a company) are not very streamlined, which is a nice way of saying it is more challenging than it needs to be. I found that to be the case with this as well. Apple is not excited about telling you how to avoid paying them, and Microsoft isn't excited about telling you how to use your Apple device and software; so, they don't.

Step 1: Download & Install Apple iCloud to Windows PC

To ensure this post is not outdated before I post it, I'm not going to provide links. Use your favorite search engine and search "how to download iCloud for Windows." You will need to know what version of Windows you're running to select the right download.

Step 2: Sign In to iCloud Using Your Apple ID

Depending on how savvy you are with your password management, you may find this step annoying; but it's necessary. Look up your password; or if you don't manage passwords well, reset/change your password.

Step 3: Sync iCloud Photos to Your PC

Once you are signed in, the software will ask you what items you want to sync with your PC. You should select iCloud Photos during that setup process. If you didn't do that, don't worry! You can change it. Open the iCloud software, and you will see a list of items that the iCloud service can backup and sync to your PC. Check to ensure you see the green "On" signal next to iCloud Photos (see screenshot below).

If you don't see the green "On" signal, click on the ">" arrow, which takes you to Photo Settings. Click the toggle button next to "On".

The box below the "On" toggle button shows you were your synced iCloud photos and videos will be stored on your PC. You can change this folder location if you want; but it's important to know where it is.

IMPORTANT: When you locate your photos and videos in the synced iCloud folder, be aware that changes you make will impact your iCloud on every device you have that uses iCloud (e.g. iPad, iPhone, etc.). In short, be very careful.

Once iCloud realizes it needs to sync with your PC, it will take some time. The length of time will depend on the strength and quality of your internet connection and the amount of data (photos & videos) that you have stored in your iCloud. For this, I suggest you change your PC power settings to ensure it stays on for several hours during the sync, allowing you to walk away and get other things done while you wait.

Step 4: Transfer iCloud Photos and Videos to a Local Storage Device

Open File Explorer (type "File Explorer" into the search on the taskbar) and locate "iCloud Photos" folder in the left pane. 

Notice the green check marks under "Status" (refer to screenshot above). That means the files are downloaded to your PC. If you see a blue cloud icon instead, that means the file still needs to be downloaded.

Select the files that you want to backup and either drag/drop or copy/paste them into a folder that is located on your PC's hard drive. How you structure the folders is entirely up to you, but I do it by year. For example, I select all the files from 2023 (refer to "Date" column in File Explorer) and transfer them into a folder named "2023" on my hard drive.

Transfer will take time, especially if you're moving large amounts of data (if you love videos). Be patient. As long as the PC stays "awake" (doesn't enter power saving mode(s)), you can walk away and let the transfers happen by themselves.

Step 5: Transfer iCloud Photos and Videos to a Secondary Storage Device (Optional)

I'm pretty paranoid about my photos and videos, and I'm even more paranoid about my wife's because I want to keep living; so, I added Step 5.

Hard drives die. Laptops get lost. The list goes on.

I have an external hard drive for mitigating these risks. Once I have all the files copied to my PC's hard drive, I start a secondary transfer to copy (not move) these files to the external drive. This usually goes very quickly since USB transfer rates are much faster than most internet connections.

Note: External hard drives are also not invincible. The can be damaged by heat (fire), water, electrostatic shock, magnetic fields, etc. I keep mine in a sealed plastic bag and put that in a "fire box" when I'm not using it. 

Step 6: Delete Backed Up Photos and Videos from iCloud

I strongly recommend that you wait until Step 5 is 100% complete before doing this. 

It can be tedious to go through each folder to ensure you have all the files from the iCloud, but it's worth the extra time. 

As I said earlier, changes you make to files in the iCloud Photos folder will directly impact your iCloud storage; and that's good because that's the whole point of this! You're trying to free up space on your iCloud and avoid paying more money to Apple. 

Select the files you want to remove and delete them using the 'Delete' button on your keyboard or the 'Delete' option from the right-click menu. In either case, iCloud software will start removing these files and making space for more.

When you do this, your photos and videos will no longer be available for viewing on your Apple devices. That was a bit sad for us, because we enjoy scrolling old photos & videos now and then; so, I added another step.

Step 7: Upload Photos for Viewing on Other Devices

We happen to have Amazon Prime, which comes with unlimited photo storage (not videos) and allows those photos to be displayed on devices that can access Amazon Photos (e.g. Fire TV, any TV with a Firestick, Echo Show, etc.). I uploaded hundreds of photos and have them set as a slideshow on our Amazon devices. Now we can reminisce without additional charges.

You can just as easily do this with Google, Meta (Facebook), and other smart home devices. Instructions for how to do it will vary with each company's platform; but the idea is the same.

Outro

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends using the 'Share' link above or directly copying the address from your browser. I appreciate your support.

Let's connect online (see 'Connect' section on left sidebar).