How to Upload Photos from iPhone/Computer to iCloud

iCloud is an excellent service provided by Apple that helps you to keep your device’s content on Apple’s cloud storage service. Since your content gets uploaded to the Internet with iCloud, all of your files, photos, and videos become available on all other devices that support iCloud. Most of the time, people use iCloud to upload and keep their photos online.

If you would also like to upload photos to iCloud from your iPhone or computer, this guide is all that you are going to need. It goes in-depth and shows you some of the best ways to get your iPhone photos uploaded to your iCloud account. You will learn the methods to do the task for all major platforms.

Part 1. How to Upload Photos to iCloud from iPhone

If you want to learn how to upload photos to iCloud from an iPhone, this section has you covered. It shows various ways you can use to upload photos available on your iPhone to your iCloud account.

Method 1. Upload iPhone Photos to iCloud with iCloud Photos

Apple has made it extremely easy to upload photos from your iPhone to an iCloud account. There is actually an option in the Settings app on your device that allows you to enable the iCloud sync which then uploads your photos to your account.

Step 1. Launch the Settings app from the springboard on your iPhone.

Step 2. Scroll down on the following screen, find the option that says Photos & Camera, and tap on it to open it.

Step 3. On the following screen, you will find an option that says iCloud Photo Library. Turn the toggle for the option to the ON position and it will enable the option.

What your iPhone will do now is it will start uploading your photos to your iCloud account. It is a pretty easy and quick way to upload iPhone photos to iCloud.

Method 2. Upload iPhone Photos to iCloud with AnyTrans

If you notice, the above method does not let you select the photos that you would like to upload to your iCloud account. Many users may not prefer uploading all the photos from their iPhone over to an iCloud account, and if you are one of those users, you need a third-party app to do the task.

Enter AnyTrans, an app that enables you to easily upload photos from your iPhone over to your iCloud account. The app first lets you copy your iPhone photos to your computer and you can then get these photos uploaded to your account.

The following shows how to perform the task using the aforementioned app:

Step 1. Visit the AnyTrans website and download and install the app on your computer. Plug-in your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable and launch the AnyTrans app.

Step 2. Choose the option that says “iCloud Manager” > Click on the “Sign to iCloud” button > Enter your Apple ID and password > Click on “Sign in” button to log in your iCloud account.

Step 3. Choose the “Device Manager” option this time > Click on the “Photos” category to get the photos on your iPhone.

Step 4. Choose the album contains the photos you want to upload to iCloud > Select the photos you need > Click on the “Upload to iCloud” button at the top-right corner to transfer them to your iCloud.

Part 2. How to Upload Photos to iCloud from Computer

Those of you who have their photos available on their computers can directly get their photos uploaded to an iCloud account. While you definitely have methods available for your specific computer system to upload your photos, a dedicated app does the job in a much better and quicker way.

Method 1. Upload Photos to iCloud from Computer via AnyTrans

AnyTrans has the iCloud integration feature that allows you to link your iCloud account to the app and then upload and download content from your account. Since you already have your photos available on your computer, the app will let you directly upload those photos to your iCloud account. The following is what you need to do to save your photos to iCloud using AnyTrans:

Step 1. Download AnyTrans on your computer, install and launch it.

Step 2. Click on the “iCloud Manager” option in the left sidebar > Click on the “Sign in to iCloud” button and enter your Apple ID and password > Click on “Sign in” button to continue.

Step 3. Since what you want to do is upload photos to your iCloud account, click on the “Photos” option on your screen.

Step 4. Click  button at the top-right corner to add photos from computer to iCloud > Choose the folder saves the photos you need > Select the photos you want > Click on “Open” button to transfer them from computer to your iCloud.

Method 2. Upload Photos to iCloud from Mac

Uploading photos to iCloud from a Mac is as easy as doing the task on an iOS-based device. It is because both iCloud and Mac are developed by the same company and they are both tightly integrated with each other. The following shows how to send photos to iCloud from your Mac:

Step 1. Launch the Photos app from the Launchpad on your Mac.

Step 2. Click on the Photos menu at the top and select the option that says Preferences. It will open the app settings menu.

Step 3. When the preferences menu opens, click on the tab that says iCloud at the top. Then, you will find an option that says iCloud Photo Library. Turn this option on by putting a checkmark in its box.

The Photos app will begin uploading all the photos available in the app to your iCloud account. If you have your photos outside of the Photos app, you will need to first add them to the app to then be able to upload them to your iCloud account.

Method 3. Upload Photos to iCloud from PC

It used to be difficult to upload anything from a Windows PC to an iCloud account but ever since Apple developed the official iCloud for Windows app, things have become much easier than ever. With the app on your PC, you can easily add photos to your iCloud account from your machine.

Step 1. Download and install the iCloud for Windows app on your PC.

Step 2. Launch the app, log-in to your iCloud account, checkmark the Photos option, and click on the Apply button at the bottom.

Step 3. Launch File Explorer on your PC and you will see an item saying iCloud Photos in the left sidebar. Click on it, open the Uploads folder, and here you can put all the photos that you want to upload to your account.

The Bottom Line

It is important to learn how to upload photos to iCloud so you can free-up the memory space on your iPhone and your computer and even make your photos available on all the devices that support iCloud.