Introduction

iCloud Drive allows you to store files such as photos, documents, spreadsheets, and more in iCloud so you can access them from all your Apple devices. It seamlessly keeps everything up to date across your Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and even your PC. In this article, we will show you how to easily copy and move your photo files to iCloud Drive from the Finder app on your Mac running OS X.

Prerequisites

• An Apple ID signed into iCloud on your Mac
• macOS Yosemite or later
• Enough available iCloud storage for your photos

Step-by-Step Guide

Connect Finder to iCloud Drive

Before you can copy or move files to iCloud Drive, you need to connect the Finder app to your iCloud account. Here's how:

1. Open Finder on your Mac.
2. Click on the Finder menu and select Preferences.
3. Click on the iCloud tab.
4. Make sure iCloud Drive is enabled by checking the box.

Copy Photos to iCloud Drive

Once connected, copying photos to iCloud Drive is very simple:

1. Open the Finder app and navigate to the folder containing the photos you want to copy. This is usually in your Pictures folder.
2. Select the photos you want to copy. You can select multiple files at once.
3. Drag the selected photos to the iCloud Drive folder listed in your Finder sidebar. This will copy the photos to iCloud Drive.

Move Photos to iCloud Drive

To move photos to iCloud Drive instead of just copying them:

1. Follow the same steps above to select the photos you want to move.
2. Instead of dragging them, right-click on the selected photos.
3. Choose Move to iCloud Drive from the menu.

This will move the photos from their current location into the iCloud Drive folder. The originals will no longer be locally stored on your Mac.

Check iCloud Drive on iOS Devices

Once copied or moved to iCloud Drive, the photos will be automatically updated across all your iOS devices signed into the same Apple ID via iCloud:

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Photos app.
2. Tap on the Albums tab at the bottom.
3. You will see a new album named iCloud Drive containing all the photos.

You can access, view and manage the copied photos here or in the iCloud Drive app. Any changes will sync across Mac and iOS.

Quick Tip to ensure your videos never go missing

Videos are precious memories and all of us never want to ever lose them to hard disk crashes or missing drives. PicBackMan is the easiest and simplest way to keep your videos safely backed up in one or more online accounts. 

Simply Download PicBackMan (it's free!), register your account, connect to your online store and tell PicBackMan where your videos are - PicBackMan does the rest, automatically. It bulk uploads all videos and keeps looking for new ones and uploads those too. You don't have to ever touch it.

Tips for Managing Photos in iCloud Drive

• Use Finder on your Mac to organize photos into folders and albums within iCloud Drive. This structure syncs across devices.
• iCloud Drive offers 5GB of free space. 50GB and larger paid plans are available.
• Optimize Mac storage will keep full-resolution photos in iCloud and smaller versions on your Mac to save disk space.
• Use the iCloud website to manage photos and access iCloud Drive from a Windows PC.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I delete photos from iCloud Drive?

A: Open the Photos app on iOS or the iCloud Drive folder in Finder on your Mac. Select the photos and delete them normally. The deletions will sync across your devices.

Q: Can I access my iCloud Drive photos on a Windows PC?

A: Yes, by signing into icloud.com you can access and manage iCloud Drive contents including photos from any web browser.

Q: Do photos copied to iCloud Drive count against my iCloud storage?

A: Yes, any photos copied or moved to iCloud Drive from your Mac will count against your total available iCloud storage.

Q: How can I access my full resolution photos if Optimize Mac Storage is enabled?

A: Toggle the Optimize Mac Storage setting to keep full resolution versions on your Mac. Or view them in the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad which stores the originals.

Q: What happens if I don't have enough iCloud storage for my photos?

A: iCloud will alert you if you are low on space. You can purchase more iCloud storage or remove content to free up space for new photos.

Q: Can I access photos in iCloud Drive on an Android device?

A: No, iCloud Drive is only available on Apple devices and Windows PCs. Android does not have access to iCloud services.

Conclusion

Copying and moving photos to iCloud Drive gives you a convenient way to access them on all your Apple devices while also freeing up local storage space on your Mac. With just a few clicks in Finder you can upload photos to the cloud and not worry about device syncing or storage limits. iCloud Drive ensures your photos are always secure, available, and up to date on all your devices with the same Apple ID.