How to transfer photos from external hard drive to icloud

iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone/iPad or Mac can automatically upload and store the entire library in iCloud to aces photos and videos from all your devices. However, as we all know, there is only 5GB free for iCloud at the very beginning and the photo library can quickly eat up space. Therefore, many users will choose to transfer photos from iCloud to external hard drive to free up iCloud space. Today, on this page, we will show you how to transfer photos from iCloud to external hard drive on Windows PC and Mac. Meanwhile, at the end of this page, we also recommend EaseUS MobiMover Free to help you transfer photos from PC or Mac to your iPhone if you have carelessly deleted some valuable images on your iPhone and won't get them back. 

How to download photos from iCloud to PC and Mac

Transfer photos from iCloud to PC or Mac is easy by following tips below. Except for pictures downloading, you also can delete all iCloud photos if you don’t need them anymore instead of saving them to another place.

1. Open a browser on your PC or Safari on Mac, and go to www.icloud.com.

2. Log into your Apple ID account username & password and access the main interface like below.

How to transfer photos from external hard drive to icloud

3. Click on Photos in the main interface. Then, choose All Photos album.

4. Press Ctrl on your PC or Command on Mac and choose multiple or total photos in iCloud.

5. Go to the right upper corner and click the Download button in cloud shape and click Download to save the photos on your Windows PC or Mac.

How to transfer photos from external hard drive to icloud

How to transfer photos from PC/Mac to external hard drive

After you have downloaded the photos from iCloud on your Windows PC or Mac, you can start to transfer them to your external hard drive.

1. Plug in your external hard drive to your computer via a USB cable.

2. Find the photo files saved from iCloud and copy them to your external hard drive with ease.

How to transfer photos from Mac/PC to iPhone

If you have deleted some important photos from your iPhone and want them back. You can choose to use EaseUS MobiMover Free to help you transfer files from PC/Mac to iPhone, including photos, music, contacts, videos, playlists, ringtones, and books. Besides, MobiMover Free also allows you to transfer photos from iPhone to PC/Mac at one lick and sync data between two iOS devices without any intermediate operations.

Download and install EaseUS MobiMover Free on your computer by clicking the download button below, then follow the steps to copy photos from computer to iPhone within minutes.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC, run EaseUS MobiMover, and choose "PC to iDevice". Then, click the "Select Files" to continue.

How to transfer photos from external hard drive to icloud

Step 2. On this interface, you can select unlimited photos to transfer. Then, click "Open" to move to the next step. 

How to transfer photos from external hard drive to icloud

Step 3. Check the genres you have selected. If the folders/files you selected cover other supported categories, you can transfer them all together with photos from the computer to your iPhone.

How to transfer photos from external hard drive to icloud

  • You can upload photos to iCloud from your iPhone, iPad, PC, or Mac computer and easily sync photos across all of your devices.
  • To use iCloud Photos in Windows you need to download and install the iCloud desktop app. 

iCloud does more than just backup your iPhone and iPad. iCloud can keep your photos in sync across all your devices, for example – iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC. You can set up your devices to automatically place a copy of all photos in iCloud, and you can manually upload photos from your Mac or Windows PC to iCloud as well.

How to turn on iCloud Photos on an iPhone or iPad

To get started with iCloud Photos, you should ensure that it's turned on and set to upload your mobile photos to the cloud. 

1. On your iPhone or iPad device, start the Settings app.

2. Scroll down and tap "Photos."

3. If it's not already on, turn on iCloud Photos by swiping the button to the right, turning it green.

When turned on, this uploads your mobile photos to iCloud and synchronizes them with the photos on other Apple mobile devices. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Repeat for every Apple mobile device device you want to sync with iCloud. All your iPhone and iPad photos should now be automatically uploaded to iCloud. Note: if you want to delete certain photos from your iPhone but not from iCloud, follow our how-to guide to do so. 

How to turn on iCloud Photos on a Mac

1. Start the Photos app.

2. In the menu bar at the top left of your screen, click "Photos" and then click "Preferences…"

3. Be sure the "iCloud" tab is selected at the top of the window and then turn on "iCloud Photos" by clicking the checkbox.

Turn on iCloud Photos in the Photos app's preferences. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

How to turn on iCloud Photos on a PC

Before you can upload photos to iCloud from your Windows computer, you need to turn on iCloud using the iCloud desktop app. 

1. Download and install iCloud for Windows 10. If you are using an older version of Windows, get the iCloud app from Apple.com. 

2. Restart your computer. After it reboots, iCloud might start automatically. If it doesn't, click the Start button and start iCloud from the Start menu. 

3. Sign in using your Apple ID.

4. Choose the features you want to back up and synchronize across your devices. Be sure to choose "Photos" and then click "Apply." 

Check "Photos" and click "Apply." Dave Johnson/Business Insider

After installing the iCloud desktop app, you can use it to choose how photos are backed up and synchronized, if you want to share your desktop browser bookmarks with Safari on your iOS device, and more. 

How to upload photos from your computer to iCloud

Once you've turned everything on, uploading photos to iCloud is easy: 

  • If you are using Windows, open a File Explorer folder and click "iCloud Photos" in the pane on the left. Drag photos into the iCloud Photos folder. They'll be immediately uploaded to iCloud and copied to your other synced devices. 
  • If you are using a Mac, start the Photos app and drag photos into the app. They'll be immediately uploaded to iCloud and copied to your other synced devices. This method will let you upload specific photos to iCloud, rather than your entire iCloud library, which can be done by accessing your Photos Preferences, as detailed above.
To upload a photo from the Mac or PC, just drag the photos you want to copy to the correct location. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

How to transfer photos from external hard drive to icloud

  • How to access iCloud photos on your Apple devices or through iCloud's website

  • How to clear iCloud storage and free up space on your iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices

  • How to use the Apple Notes app on iCloud and sync your notes across all of your devices

  • How to download photos from your iCloud onto your PC through the iCloud website

  • How to delete photos from your iPhone without deleting them from iCloud

Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

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How do I move iphoto library from external hard drive to iCloud?

Quit and reopen Photos with the option/alt key held down and select the Library on the external Drive as the system Library. Go to Photos/Preferences/iCloud and set up syncing. Then go to System Preferences/iCloud, sign in, and check Photos syncing.

Can you transfer photos from an external hard drive to iPhone?

Open the Files app on your iPhone, and tap Browse > On My iPhone, and create a new folder to store transferred photos. Go back to Locations interface, and tap [your external hard drive] > [the folder you store photos]. Then, hold and select photos you want to transfer, and tap Move in the button.

How do I upload my hard drive to iCloud?

In iCloud Drive on iCloud.com, do either of the following: Drag files from the desktop or a folder window on your computer to the iCloud Drive window or a folder icon in the iCloud Drive window. If you drag to a folder icon, it becomes highlighted to confirm that the item you're dragging will go into the folder.

How do I move photos from external hard drive to Mac?

Import from a hard disk, optical disc, or flash drive Connect the device to your Mac. In Photos, choose File > Import, then select the items you want and click Review for Import. To set where to import the items, click the “Import to” pop-up menu and choose a location.