How to Download Photos from iCloud to iPhone: 5 Ways

iCloud remains the easiest and safest way to ensure that all the photos on your iPhone/iPad are safe. Once backed up, your photos remain safely stored in the cloud and you can easily recover them when something happen to your device.

But you may be wondering how you can get your photos out of iCloud, on your iPhone or any other device. Here, we will be looking at some of the ways that you can get photos from the iCloud back onto your iPhone.

Before Downloading Photos from iCloud

To successfully download photos from iCloud to your iPhone, you need to first check how large your iCloud photo library is and the amount of free storage space on the iPhone.

If you don’t have enough storage space on the device to hold all the photos in your iCloud library, try removing some unused apps and data to create more room.

• To check the size of your iCloud Photo Library, open the Settings app on the iPhone and then tap on your name at the top > iCloud > Manage Storage.
• To see if there is adequate storage space on the iPhone, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

Way 1: Download Photos and Videos to iPhone via iCloud Photos

The easiest solution to get photos and videos from iCloud to your iPhone is to turn on iCloud Photos. This method while very simple is limited in that it will download all photos and videos from iCloud onto the device and not allow you to choose individual photos you would like to download. If you want to download only some photos and not others, try other solutions instead.

To use this method, first, make sure that you are signed in to the same Apple ID on your iCloud account and iPhone, and there is adequate storage space on the device to store the photos you want to download and then follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app on the iPhone and tap on {your name} at the top.
2. Go to iCloud and select Photos.
3. Enable iCloud Photos and then select Download and Keep Originals.

Every photo and video available in your iCloud will be downloaded onto the device automatically if your iPhone remains connected to Wi-Fi.

Way 2: Download Photos from iCloud to iPhone from iCloud.com

You can also choose to download the photos to your iPhone from the iCloud.com website. This is a good option if you’d like to select the photos that you’d like to download and can also be a good way to download photos from iCloud to your PC or Mac.  Here’s how it works:

1. Open a browser on your iPhone and visit the iCloud.com website. Sign in when prompted and then choose Photos.
2. Choose the photos or videos that you would like to download or choose Select All if you’d like to transfer all the photos and videos available in iCloud.
3. Choose Download in the upper-right corner and the photos that you select will be downloaded to your device.

Way 3: Download iCloud Photos to iPhone from Shared Albums

Shared Albums on your iPhone are also all included in iCloud and you can download your photos and videos in the Shared Albums using the Photos App. Follow these steps to do it:

1. Start by going to the Photos app on your iPhone and then tap on the Albums tab.
2. Find the Shared Albums and choose the album with the photos that you want to download.
3. Tap on the photo or video to download and then tap on Share.
4. Then all you have to do to get the photo  on your iPhone is tap Save Image or Save Video.

Way 4: Download Photos to iPhone by Restoring iCloud Backup

It is perhaps the most traditional method to access and download iCloud photos to iPhone. By restoring the iCloud backup, all the data backed up to iCloud will be downloaded to iPhone/iPad including photos.

The trouble with this method, however, is that all the existing data on your iPhone will all be deleted. This explains the reason why we don’t recommend a full iCloud restore.

1. Navigate to Settings > General > Reset and choose to Erase All Content and Settings on your iPhone.
2. Set up the iPhone and on the screen of App & Data, select Restore from iCloud Backup.
3. Sign into your iCloud account and select the last iCloud backup that you want to download photos to iPhone.

Way 5: Download Photos to iPhone Directly without iCloud

If you want to download only photos from iCloud to iPhone, then here is a better alternative tool for you. FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery can help you extract data like photos, videos, and more from iCloud. And below are some of its outstanding features in downloading iCloud photos:

• Selectively or fully download photos from iCloud without deleting the existing data on the iPhone.
• Recover all kinds of data from your iPhone/iPad or from iTunes/iCloud backup, along with previewing them for free before the recovery.
• Besides photos, the data can be recovered or exported by this program include videos, notes, contacts, call logs, voice memos, WhatsApp messages, etc.
• Fully compatible with all iOS versions and iPhone models, including the newest iOS 16 and iPhone 14.

Now, just free download FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery on your computer, and then follow the steps below to download photos from iCloud to iPhone:

Step 1. Install this iCloud Data Exporter on your computer and launch it, choose “Recover Data from iCloud” in the main interface.

Step 2. Sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID and password. You don’t have to worry about the security of your iCloud account, FoneGeek will never keep the account information.

Step 3. When you are logged into the account, the iCloud backup files will all be listed. Select the iCloud backup that save the photos you need to download and tap "Download".

Step 4. After downloading, all the data types that can be exported will be displayed. Click “Photos” to preview all the photos contained on the iCloud account, including the deleted and undeleted photos. Then tap “Recover” to export the iCloud photos to your computer.

FAQs

How can I delete photos from iCloud?

If you want to delete a photo from iCloud, ensure that you are signed in to your iCloud account and select the photo to remove, and then tap on the Trash button.

How to back up iPhone photos to iCloud?

The best way is to enable automatic photo backup on your iPhone. To do that, head over to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and turn on “iCloud Photos”. All the photos in iCloud can then be access on your PC, Mac, or even Android phone.

Why my photos won’t be downloaded from iCloud?

If you are unable to download photos from iCloud, please check your internet connection, turn off the Low Power mode, try signing out of iCloud and then back in, turn iCloud Photos on and off, restart your iPhone, etc.

How to download photos from iCloud to Android?

You can download photos from iCloud.com to your computer, and then transfer them to your Android phone.

Conclusion

All the solutions that we have outlined above can help you easily download any photos from your iCloud  to your iPhone. Compare the 4 solutions and choose one that best suits your needs. If you have lost some of the photos on your iPhone or iPad, FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery can be useful in helping you to recover the missing photos and download photos from the iTunes/iCloud backup.