You may want to download all your photos from iCloud to PC as an additional backup or to clear up storage space in your iCloud Account. However, the problem is the lack of ‘Download All’ or ‘Select All’ option in iCloud, which makes it difficult to download all photos from iCloud to computer.
In addition to the absence of ‘Download All’ or ‘Select All’ button, iCloud also does not provide the option to use the mouse to select All Photos on iCloud. This can be a problem, if there are thousands of photos in your iCloud Account and you want to download them all to your Windows computer.
Download All Photos from iCloud to PC
Although, there is no “Select All” or “Download All” option on iCloud, you can still select and download up to 999 photos from iCloud to computer by making use of a keyboard shortcut as provided below in this guide.
If your iCloud Account has thousands of photos, you can make use of “iCloud for Windows” program to bulk download almost all your iCloud photos to Windows laptop or desktop computer.
1. Download All Photos From iCloud to PC Using Keyboard Shortcut
If the number of photos that you want to download from iCloud to PC is less than 1,000, you can follow this method to select and download up to 999 photos from iCloud to PC.
1. Go to icloud.com on your Windows Computer.
2. Login to your iCloud Account by entering your Apple ID and Password.
3. Once you are signed-in, select Apps Icon and then click on the Photos icon.
4. Once you are in iCloud Photos, switch to Photos Tab and select the First Photo.
Once the First Photo is selected, press and hold Shift + Ctrl + Alt Keys and then press the Down Arrow Key to select All iCloud Photos.
Note: You can scroll down to bottom of the page and click on the Last Photo.
5. 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 the ‘Downloads’ Folder on your Windows computer.
2. Download All Photos from iCloud to PC Using iCloud For Windows
Currently, the only easy way to download more than 1,000 Photos at once from iCloud to PC is by using by downloading and installing ‘iCloud For Windows’ program on your computer.
1. Download iCloud For Windows application on your Computer.
2. Once the download is complete, click on the downloaded iCloud Setup file and follow the onscreen instructions to Install iCloud For Windows on your computer.
3. When prompted, Sign-in to your iCloud Account by entering your Apple ID and Password.
4. On the next screen, select Photos option by clicking in the little box next to Photos.
5. On the pop-up, select iCloud Photo Library option and click on Done.
Note: You can change iCloud download location by clicking on Change.
6. Click on Apply to begin the process of Syncing all iCloud Photos to the Downloads Folder on your computer.
7. Once all iCloud Photos are downloaded, open the File Explorer on your computer.
8. In the File Explorer window, click on iCloud Photos tab in the left-pane. In the right-pane, click on the Downloads Icon.
9. On the next screen, click on the Downloads Folder to see all your iCloud Photos arranged in different sub-folders.
To make a Backup, you can copy the entire Downloads Folder to Desktop, USB drive or any other location on your computer.
Add iCloud to Windows Start Menu or Task Bar
In order to make it easy for you to open iCloud, you can Add iCloud icon to the Taskbar by clicking on the Start button > right-click on iCloud > More > Pin to Taskbar.
Important: If you are planning to disable iCloud Photos, make sure that you copy all the photos from Downloads to another Folder.