What is iCloud Photo Library?
iCloud Photo Library is Apple’s photo storage service that automatically saves all your photos and videos to iCloud. When enabled, iCloud Photo Library stores photos and videos taken on iOS devices like iPhones and iPads as well as photos and videos uploaded from computers logged into the same iCloud account (Source).
With iCloud Photo Library turned on, any new photos or videos you take will be automatically uploaded and stored in iCloud. Your photos and videos are then synced across all your devices logged into that iCloud account, allowing you to access your entire photo library from any device. This includes not just Apple devices like iPhones, iPads, and Macs but also on iCloud.com as well (Source).
In addition to syncing your photos across devices, iCloud Photo Library provides storage space on iCloud servers to store all your photos and videos. The amount of storage space available depends on your iCloud storage plan.
Activating iCloud Photo Library
The first step to accessing your old photos in iCloud is to ensure iCloud Photo Library is enabled. This syncing feature allows you to view, edit, and manage photos and videos from all your Apple devices in one place.
To activate iCloud Photo Library on an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos and toggle on the “iCloud Photo Library” switch (1). This will begin uploading your photo library to iCloud so you can access it anywhere. You can choose to optimize your storage by keeping lower resolution versions on your device, or you can choose to store original copies which takes up more local storage.
On a Mac, open System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud and check the box next to Photos to enable iCloud Photo Library syncing (2). You can also choose Optimized Mac Storage or Download Originals here.
Sources:
(1) https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/set-up-icloud-photos-mm7e90c1ba48/icloud
(2) https://nektony.com/how-to/turn-on-icloud-photo-library
Viewing All Photos in iCloud
The easiest way to view all your photos in iCloud is through the Photos app. When you open the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad and select the Albums tab at the bottom, you will see an album titled “All Photos” [1]. This album contains every photo you have stored in iCloud, regardless of which device the photos were originally taken or uploaded from.
The All Photos album is synced across all your devices connected to iCloud Photo Library. So you can view the same photos on your Mac by opening the Photos app and selecting All Photos [2]. This makes it easy to access your entire iCloud photo library from any device.
[1] https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/view-your-photos-and-videos-mm73262d11fe/icloud
[2] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209453
Searching for Old Photos
One of the best ways to find old photos in your iCloud Photo Library is to use the search feature in the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. You can search by a variety of criteria like date, location, album, or even people or objects in the photos.
To search your iCloud photos on iOS, open the Photos app and tap the search icon in the bottom right. On a Mac, click on the magnifying glass icon in the top right of the Photos app. This will open up the search bar.
Here are some of the ways you can search for old photos in iCloud:
- Search by date or date range – Just type a date like “January 2018” or a range like “June 2020 – August 2020”.
- Search by location – Type in a city, landmark, or place name to find photos taken there.
- Search by album – Just start typing the name of the album to filter photos.
- Search by people – Photos will use facial recognition to find pictures with specific people.
- Search by objects – Type in an object like “beach”, “car”, “dog” to find relevant photos.
You can then use the filters on the left sidebar to narrow results down by videos, photos, favorites, etc. Using search is a quick way to find old photos buried deep in your iCloud library.
Sources:
https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/find-photos-by-text-content-or-date-pht64de33e5a/mac
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252793640
Recovering Deleted Photos
If you’ve accidentally deleted photos from your iCloud Photo Library, they may still be recoverable from the Recently Deleted album for up to 30 days. Here’s how to restore deleted photos using the iCloud website:
1. Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID.
2. Click on the Photos icon.
3. In the sidebar on the left, click on the “Recently Deleted” album.
4. Select the photos you want to recover.
5. Click the “Recover” button at the top.
The selected photos will be restored to your iCloud Photo Library. Keep in mind that deleted photos are only stored in the Recently Deleted album for up to 30 days before being permanently deleted. So make sure to recover important photos before they are gone for good.
If you have already waited past 30 days, the photos may be unrecoverable from iCloud. In that case, you would need to restore them from a backup like iTunes or Time Machine if you had the photos synced or backed up elsewhere.
Downloading Photos from iCloud
One way to access your old iCloud photos is by downloading the original files to your computer. Here are the steps to download photos from iCloud.com:
1. Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID.
2. Click on the Photos icon.
3. Navigate to the photos you want to download. You can search for specific photos using the search bar.
4. Select the photos by holding the Command key (Mac) or Control key (Windows) and clicking on each photo.
5. Click the Download button at the bottom. This will download the original full-resolution photo files to your computer.
6. Choose where you want to save the photos on your computer. You can select the default Downloads folder or any other folder.
The advantage of downloading directly from iCloud.com is that you get the original high-quality version of your photos. This allows you to archive old photos locally before deleting them from iCloud to free up space.
Backing up iCloud Photos
It’s important to maintain backups of your iCloud photos in case something happens to your account or the photos get deleted accidentally. While Apple provides some backup capabilities through iCloud itself, you may want to download copies of your photos to store offline as an extra precaution.
One option is to use third-party apps that allow you to download your entire iCloud photo library or selected albums. For example, apps like iMazing, iExplorer, and iBackup Viewer can all extract photos from iCloud and save them to your computer (Source).
Another common backup solution is to periodically save copies of your iCloud photos to an external hard drive or NAS device. This provides an offline backup if anything happens to your iCloud account. To do this, connect your external drive to your computer, open the iCloud Photos folder, then copy or move the files you want to back up. Make sure to eject and disconnect the drive safely when finished.
Backing up your iCloud photos regularly either through a third-party app or external drive gives you the peace of mind that you have alternate copies stored safely. Just remember to keep any offline backups in a secure location.
Managing Storage Space
If you find you are running out of space in your iCloud storage, there are a few things you can do to free up more room for your photos:
Upgrade your iCloud storage plan if needed. iCloud offers several paid storage tiers beyond the free 5GB of space. Upgrading to a paid plan like 50GB or 200GB can provide more room for your photos.
Optimize device storage to save space. Go to Settings > General > iPhone/iPad Storage to review and remove content you no longer need, like large attachments in Messages. This frees up local device storage so fewer items need to be stored in iCloud.
Remove unused photos and videos. You can browse your Photo Library in iCloud and delete images you no longer want. Be sure to empty the Recently Deleted folder so they do not continue taking up space.
Troubleshooting Issues
If your old iCloud photos aren’t syncing properly, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:
First, check that you have a stable internet connection on all your devices. Restarting your devices can also help get things syncing properly again. A poor connection is often the culprit behind syncing issues.
You can also try disabling and re-enabling iCloud Photo Library in your settings. This forces your device to re-sync with iCloud and can resolve errors that got stuck mid-sync.
If you still can’t get your photos to sync after trying the above steps, you may need to contact Apple support for further help troubleshooting. An Apple support advisor can review your account and identify any problems on Apple’s end preventing your photos from syncing.
Alternative Photo Storage
While iCloud Photos provides a convenient way to store and access photos across Apple devices, there are other options to consider for accessing old photos if you run into issues using iCloud:
Save copies of photos to computer hard drive or external drives. You can export photos from iCloud and save them on a local hard drive or external USB drive connected to your computer. This creates a physical backup you control access to. Be sure to have multiple copies in case a drive fails.
Use other cloud services like Google Photos or Dropbox. Many services let you upload photos to the cloud and access them from different devices. Google Photos offers unlimited free storage for high quality photos. Dropbox offers 2GB of free space. These services can supplement iCloud storage and provide an alternative place to access your photos.