You can use iCloud Photos to keep your photos and videos securely stored in iCloud. If you turn on iCloud Photos on all your devices, you can see the photos and videos you took on iPhone on any device.
When iCloud Photos is turned on, the photos and videos you take are uploaded automatically and stored in their original format at full resolution. Any changes you make to your photo collection on one device are reflected on your other devices, too. You can check whether your photos are syncing right from the Photos app.
Here’s how to back up and sync your photos and videos with iCloud.
Note: Make sure that you’re signed in to the same Apple Account on all your devices, and that your devices meet these minimum system requirements: iOS 8.3, iPadOS 13.1, macOS 10.10.3, or later, or a Windows device with iCloud for Windows 7.x or later.
Turn on iCloud Photos
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
- Tap Photos and turn on Sync this iPhone.
When you take a photo or video, iCloud automatically uploads it, so your photos stay backed up and in sync. You can access your library from any device, anytime.
Check if your photos and videos are backed up to iCloud
To make sure you have copies if something happens to your iPhone, check that iCloud Photos is syncing your photos to iCloud.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap Collections.
- In the top-right corner of the screen, you can see a preview of your syncing status. You may see any of the following:
- Yellow badge: iCloud syncing is paused. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Yellow warning icon: Your iCloud storage is almost full. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Red exclamation mark: Your iCloud storage is full.
- Blue badge: You have notifications from a shared library or shared album. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Partially filled blue circle around your account icon: Photos are actively uploading to iCloud. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Partially filled gray outline around your account icon: Uploads are paused. Tap your account icon to see the details.
- Tap your account to see more details. The last time your iPhone synced with iCloud appears below the account profile.
Note: If iCloud sync is in progress or paused, a notification also appears in the upper-left corner of the library.
Sync iCloud Photos immediately
Once you turn on Sync Immediately, iCloud Photos prioritizes syncing items added to your library after that.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap Collections. Tap your iCloud account profile at the top of the screen.
- Tap Sync Immediately, then tap For Today.
To turn off syncing, tap Off. Sync Immediately automatically turns off after one day.
Note: Sync Immediately may affect battery and cellular usage and will pause if Low Power Mode or Low Data Mode is turned on.
Turn off Optimize Storage on your iPhone
To make the most of the storage space on your iPhone, iCloud Photos offers Optimize iPhone Storage. When it’s on, iCloud stores all your full‑resolution photos and videos in their original formats, and your iPhone keeps storage-saving versions. Optimize iPhone Storage is on by default, but you can turn it off.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
- Tap Photos, tap iPhone Storage, and then tap Download and Keep Originals.
Get more iCloud storage
You can upgrade to iCloud+ for more storage and additional features if your uploaded photos and videos exceed your storage plan.
