How to Download Photos from iCloud to iPad

“I want to get all of pictures and videos that I stored in iCloud, and transfer them to my newly bought iPad Air, so what can I do to make it. iPad Air (3rd generation).”

——From Apple Forum

Apple offers you two methods to back up photos taken with your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch – one is iCloud Photo Library and another is iCloud Backup. And Apple says that the pictures you uploaded to iCloud Photo Library will not be backed up to iCloud Backup. So if you want to get all photos from iCloud to your iPad, there are two methods you have to try.

Part 1. Access iCloud Photos on iPad By iCloud Account

Generally, just log into your iCloud account on your iPad, you can access your iCloud Photos on iPad. Check the steps below to access photos and videos on iCloud Photo Library:

1. Unlock your iPad and go to Setting > [your name] > iCloud.
2. Log in with your iCloud account.
3. Then go to Photos and turn on “iCloud Photos” to download iCloud photos to your iPad. Connect your iPad to a stable Wi-Fi and plug into charge, photos in iCloud will be downloaded to your iPad automatically.

Part 2. Download Photos from iCloud Backup to iPad

Restoring from iCloud backup could download all pictures from iCloud to iPad. But you may not like this method, because, during this process, it will erase all current contents and setting on your iPad and then replace them with the content in backup. So in this post, we offer you two alternative tools.

1.  Alternative Tool – AnyTrans

AnyTrans is a wonderful iOS data manager and backup extractor that allows you to get photos/videos from iCloud backup without erasing any existing data. Here is what Anytrans can do for you.

Step 1: Free download and launch AnyTrans on your computer > Connect your iPad to the computer via a USB cable > Click on the “iCloud Manager” mode > Sign in your iCloud account.

Step 2: Click the “Photos” option.

Step 3: Select the photos you want to download > Click the “Download” button to download the selected photos from iCloud.

Step 4. After you have downloaded the pictures to your computer, you can AnyTrans to transfer photos to your iPad by going back to the main interface of AnyTrans > Choose “Device Manager” > Click the screen to add photos from computer to your iPad.

In addition to the functions mentioned above, AnyTrans also supports backing up data such as photos and music on the iPhone or iPad to the computer to protect data security.

2. Alternative Tool – PhoneTrans

As a professional data transfer utility, you can use PhoneTrans to complete the data restore from iCloud to iPad. PhoneTrans provides you with 5 efficient restore options to adjust every different data download scenario: Restore from PhoneTrans backup, Restore from iTunes backup, Restore from iTunes Library, Restore from iCloud backup and Restore from Google Account. With PhoneTrans, you will not worry about data erasing and it is 100% safe. Please kindly refer to the following guide to download photos from iCloud to your iPad.

Step 1. Free download PhoneTrans and install the app on your computer.

Step 2. Launch it and choose the “Phone Restore” function at the left panel > Now, click on “iCloud Data”> Tap on the Start Transfer button.

Step 3.  Log in to your iCloud account and connect the iPad to the computer > Then click on the “Transfer” button to enter the next step.

Step 4. Please select the categories you want to restore based on your needs and tap on Transfer Now.

The Bottom Line

Of course, if you haven’t backed up photos to iCloud, you can never download any picture from your iCloud Photos Library or iCloud backup. Thanks for your viewing, hope this guide would help, and welcome any comments about this topic on how to download pictures/videos from iCloud to an iPad.