iCloud is a convenient way to save and access files from Apple and Windows devices on the cloud. If you enable it all your contents will be available anywhere on all your devices with an internet connection.
But what about if I want to see those photos, videos, and files? How do I access iCloud files?
Accessing your iCloud files is similar to accessing iCloud Drive. In this guide, you’ll learn how to access iCloud files from any device.
How to Set Up iCloud on iPhone
First and foremost, let’s set up iCloud on your Apple device. Before iOS 11, managing your files in iCloud used to be a pain.
Now with the Files app, you have an easy way to access your personal iCloud storage.
Go to your iPhone settings and tap on your name at the top, then select iCloud, you’ll see how much storage you’re using for backups, photos, and files and much is still available.
Below you should find a list of apps using iCloud, go ahead and toggle on the ones you want to get synced to iCloud. You know the contents are synced to iCloud when you see the green slider next to the apps.
Now that you’ve set iCloud, it’s time to access iCloud on your Apple devices.
How to Access iCloud on iPhone
Go to your iPhone home screen, look for the Files app, assuming your iPhone is updated to iOS 11 or later.
If not go ahead and update it. To do so, tap on Settings, then select General and Software Update. It will notify you if there
Once you open Files, you’ll see iCloud Drive and any cloud storage service like Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Google Drive you’re using.
You can manage all your files in one place, which is very
How to Set Up iCloud on Mac
You probably already have iCloud set up on your Mac. When you set up your Mac for the first time or upgrade its operating system, you’ll be asked if you want to use iCloud to store your data.
If you said “Yes” during the setup, you’re all set. If you said “No”, here’s how to do it.
- Turn on your Mac, click on the Apple icon at the upper left corner of the screen.
- Then click System Preferences.
- Once you’re there click on iCloud, enter your Apple ID and password to sign in.
- It’s pretty much the same as iOS iCloud settings, just enable or disable the apps you want to be synced to iCloud.
How to Access iCloud on Mac
To access iCloud on your Mac, just go to iCloud’s official website. Once you’re there you’ll be asked to sign in.
After you’ve signed in with your Apple ID, you’ll see a list of all Apple services with data synced to iCloud.
How to Access iCloud from PC
With your Apple ID, you can use iCloud with Windows, which means you can access all synced data to your iCloud account from your PC at your convenience.
To access iCloud from your PC you’ll want to download iCloud for Windows. But before you just do that make sure you have iCloud set up on all your Apple devices.
Once you downloaded it, log in with your Apple ID and password, then select all the features and content you want to automatically sync across your devices. Click Apply to finish.
You must be wondering, why doing all that if I can just access iCloud using a browser via iCloud’s website. Yes, you can, and it’s one of the easiest options to access iCloud from a PC, but there’s a catch.
All your data in your Windows computer will not be available, since they will not sync. Think about your photos, documents, bookmarks if you want to access you’ll want to use the first method described above.
This method is particularly good for those who want to access their iCloud data from any computer. It’ll come in handy when you’re at work where they generally use Windows computers.
If you learned how to access and manage iCloud from iPhone, Mac, and Windows today, please share and/or recommend it, so your friends can benefit from it too.
