The iPhone automatically backs up photos and videos to iCloud, which ensures your memories are safe even if you lose your device. iCloud stores your photos and videos separately from the storage used for your iPhone backup.
With iCloud Photo Library enabled, all new photos and videos you take are automatically uploaded and stored in iCloud in their original format at full resolution. Your other devices signed in to the same iCloud account with iCloud Photos enabled can access and download these original photos and videos.
This article will explain how to view all of your photos and videos backed up to iCloud across your iPhone, iPad, Mac and on iCloud.com. We’ll cover using the Photos app on your devices, the iCloud website, and My Photo Stream.
Viewing All iCloud Photos on iPhone
The Photos app on your iPhone gives you access to all of your photos and videos stored in iCloud. With iCloud Photo Library enabled, you’ll see your entire iCloud photo and video library right in the Photos app.
To check that iCloud Photo Library is enabled on your iPhone:
- Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud
- Ensure Photos is toggled ON
If it’s not enabled, toggle it on. This will turn on iCloud Photo Library syncing with your iCloud storage.
Once enabled, open the Photos app to browse all of your photos and videos. Your iCloud photo library includes:
- Photos and videos taken on your iPhone
- Photos and videos synced from your other devices with iCloud Photo Library enabled
- Photos and videos saved directly to iCloud.com
- Photos and videos imported to another device and uploaded to iCloud
You can access your photos organized by Years, Months and Days tabs. Tap into a photo to view it full screen. Videos will play right within the Photos app.
From the Albums tab, you can access special albums like Favorites, Panoramas, Screenshots, Selfies and more. All of your synced albums are also displayed here.
Your iCloud photo library is available offline on your device so you can access all of your photos and videos when you don’t have an internet connection. Any changes made, like edits or deletions, will sync to iCloud when you’re back online.
Searching Photos
If you have a large iCloud photo library, you may want to search for specific photos. Tap the Search tab in the Photos app and enter search terms like locations, dates, people’s names or keywords. Matching photos will populate for you to browse through.
Managing Storage
All of your full resolution photos and videos can quickly consume your available iCloud storage space. iOS will alert you when your iCloud storage is full.
You have a few options to continue backing up photos to iCloud:
- Purchase additional iCloud storage
- Enable iCloud Photo Library’s Optimize Storage setting
- Manually manage iCloud Photo Library by selecting photos to keep in iCloud and offload others to your device storage
Optimize Storage ensures you always have space in iCloud for new photos by automatically offloading full resolution photos and videos from your devices to on-device storage. Thumbnail previews remain in iCloud so you can download the originals again when needed.
Viewing iCloud Photos on iPad
The iCloud photo library syncs seamlessly between your devices signed in to the same Apple ID. That means your iPad has access to all the same photos and videos stored in your iCloud account.
As with your iPhone, ensure iCloud Photo Library is enabled in your iPad’s Settings app under your name > iCloud > Photos. Then open the Photos app to view your complete iCloud library organized into Photos, Albums, and Search tabs.
An iPad’s larger screen makes it a great device for reliving your memories through photos and videos. Pinch to zoom in on high resolution photos for closer inspection. Tap a photo then swipe up to enter full screen Immersive View, which hides the UI controls.
Thanks to iCloud syncing between devices, any edits or organizational changes made on your iPhone like creating an album or adding a Favorite will automatically appear on your iPad as well in the Photos app.
Using the iPad as a Hub to Manage Your Library
You can use your iPad as a hub for accessing, organizing, editing, and managing your iCloud Photo Library. With all your photos and videos synced from across your devices, the iPad’s large screen makes it ideal for:
- Browsing, searching and viewing your entire library
- Performing bulk edits by applying filters, adjusting lighting and more to multiple photos
- Adding photos to albums to keep your library organized
- Deleting unwanted photos and videos
- Managing the contents stored in iCloud by selecting only certain albums to keep in iCloud while offloading others to your iPad storage
Any changes will sync across your devices, keeping your library organized. The iPad’s performance and display capabilities make photo and video management a breeze.
Viewing All Photos on iCloud.com
You can access your iCloud photo library from any web browser signed into your Apple ID at iCloud.com. Click Photos to view your entire collection of photos and videos from across your devices.
Similar to the Photos app, your library is organized by Photos, Albums, and Search tabs. You can browse, view, search, download, organize, edit, share and manage photos and videos here without needing a Mac or iOS device handy.
Photos Tab
In the Photos tab, your entire photo library is organized by Years, Months and Days. Scroll down to browse thumbnails of all your photos or click into a photo to view it larger. Videos can be played right on the website.
Hover over any photo or video and click the Down arrow icon to download the original full resolution version to your computer.
Albums Tab
The Albums tab contains special albums like Favorites, Panoramas and Selfies as well as any albums you’ve created. Click an album to view all photos and videos within it.
You can create and delete albums right on iCloud.com to help keep your library organized. Click + New Album and enter a name. Then click Photos or Albums and select photos to add to this new album.
Search Tab
Quickly locate specific photos by entering search keywords like locations, dates or people’s names in the search bar at the top. Search results will populate below for you to browse as thumbnails or click to view larger.
Editing
While viewing an individual photo larger, click the Pencil icon to bring up editing options like:
- Applying filters
- Rotating and cropping
- Adjusting lighting and color
- Adding text overlays
Click Done to save changes. Edits will sync across your devices.
Storage Management
On iCloud.com, you can manage your iCloud storage by selecting which photos and videos to keep in iCloud and which to only store on your devices.
Click Account Settings > Choose next to Photos to manage your library storage. Options include:
- Store Originals – Keeps photos and videos in full resolution in iCloud
- Optimize photos – Smaller previews are stored in iCloud while originals are offloaded to your devices. You can download the originals when needed. Helps maximize your iCloud storage.
- Disable and Delete – Turn off iCloud Photo Library and delete all content from iCloud.
Viewing My Photo Stream
The My Photo Stream album contains your last 30 days of photos synced across devices. If you have iCloud Photo Library enabled, you likely won’t need to view My Photo Stream since all your photos will already be synced in iCloud.
However, you can find the My Photo Stream album in the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad and iCloud.com. It can also be accessed in the Mac Photos app.
New photos you take on your iPhone will automatically get added to My Photo Stream and synced to your other devices. Keep in mind the 30 day limit – older photos get deleted as new ones are added.
If you disable iCloud Photo Library on a device, you can still access My Photo Stream to view your most recent photos synced from other devices.
Managing My Photo Stream
On your iPhone or iPad, tap the Share icon from the My Photo Stream album to copy or save photos to another album for long-term storage.
On iCloud.com, click Add To to create a new album and move photos from My Photo Stream into it so they aren’t deleted after 30 days.
You can also download photos from My Photo Stream from iCloud.com to store them permanently on your computer.
Conclusion
iCloud provides secure and convenient storage for your entire photo library. You can access your photos from all of your devices using the Photos app and iCloud.com.
To recap, you can view all photos stored in iCloud using:
- The Photos app on iPhone or iPad
- iCloud.com from any web browser
- My Photo Stream for your last 30 days of photos
Enable iCloud Photo Library in your device Settings to sync your entire photo collection including edits, organization and storage optimizations. Use your Mac or iPad as a hub for convenient photo management. Access and manage your library online at iCloud.com.
With these syncing and backup capabilities, all your photos and videos are always available and can easily be restored if your device is ever lost or damaged.