iCloud for Windows - 2020 - photos not uploading or downloading

Hi I had this exact issue. I reinstalled the Win10 store iCloud app multiple times. But each was the same. Docs sync fine, Photos just stayed at 'updating'. Nada, no photos downloaded. Everytime I went to iCloud app settings I would see another iCloud Photos link in Explorer.

So I saw the comment about about OneDrive. I also have OneDrive. I saw that my Pictures and therefore iCloud Photos were in the OneDrive Personal sync. So I thought I would try to remove from sync as I could not find a way to move the iCloud Photos folder.

So I uninstalled iCloud, stopped OneDrive sync of Pictures, then deleted iCloud Drive folder. Then I went to registry removed the iCloud Photos registry keys. Google on how to do this. Then rebooted.

Then I confirmed OneDrive was not syncing my Pictures folder any longer.

Then I installed iCloud from the MS Store. Set my options and boom! Photos downloaded. I can also open settings without another folder being created.

So for me this was definitely an issue between OneDrive and iCloud.

Same work-around worked for me (disable OneDrive Picture back-up, then switch off / on icloud for windows v11.2 photo sync - no reinstall was done).

When re-enabling OneDrive picture back-up the icloud sync stops and start again once OneDrive sync is disabled again ... I tried this several times and only got max. two IPhotos shortcuts / links in explorer (one to One Drive the other to locally C:\user\...) ...

Nevertheless -at least for me- sync (including changes and deletions) only happens from iCloud -> Windows 10. None of the changes nor deletes done in Windows 10 to a downloaded icloud picture seems to gets synced back to icloud :(

So my intention to look through and clean up my Iphone pictures on a big laptop screen while traveling by train / plane will still not work unless I move the cleaned up portion to OneDrive pictures and delete the full set in icloud

I would have been willing to upgrade my paid icloud storage quota if this would have worked

Hi Phrhs1,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. I understand you're unable to upload or download photos with the use of iCloud for Windows on your PC.

Managing your most memorable moments with iCloud Photos is important, and I'd like to help.

To help troubleshoot this behavior, I recommend to follow the steps outlined in this helpful article: If your iCloud Photos aren't loading on your PC

In addition, the latest update in iCloud for Windows is 11.1. You can update to the latest version by visiting this link here: iCloud

We look forward to hearing an update on the results.

Cheers.

Same issue here. I read you can uninstall version 11 and reinstall version 10, but in the past I found that you now have to use the microsoft version of icloud instead of the download from the apple store (which is where the link provided to get version 10 is located)

Phrhs1,

Thanks for getting back to us and for verifying those details.

To review this further for you, I recommend to contact Apple Support through this link here: Contact Apple Support

Best regards.

I'm having the same problem. The screenshots visible on https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205323 does not match the actual experience, and I can't seem to use the folder to upload files. I can however go to https://www.icloud.com/photos/ and upload one-by-one through there.

I have this issue too running windows 2020 v2004, another user contacted me and stated this impacts the previous build of windows too.

in order to stop the folder from being added I switched off syncing photos and deleted the repetitive registers entries - you may have to look this up online.

Syncjng emails in outlook is also broken.

Hope they put out a fix soon.

Same problem here. I also wonder if the fact that the IPhoto folder saves to my OneDrive is part of the issue.

Been battling this for weeks. Haven't had a photo download since sometime in May. I've done a reinstall of Windows, everything. I also had the issue with multiple ICloud Photos entries appearing in my Explorer -- had to go into the registry and turn them off one by one. Good times.

Based on the discussion in this thread and threads referenced in this thread, I decided to turn off OneDrive backup of the Pictures folder. This restores iCloud Photos functionality, albeit at the expense of backing up your pc's "Photos" app library to OneDrive. For me this is ok, as my principal photo library is in iCloud, generated primarily from iPhone photos. The only thing to remember is to put all photos generated locally on the PC into the Pictures->iCloud Photos->Photos folder so they get uploaded automatically to iCloud. The pc Photos app is still happy to show you your photos since the iCloud Photos folder is in the Pictures folder and all photos will show up from that location.

Turning off the backup was straightforward. Right click on the "This PC->Pictures" icon in the navigation pane in the Explorer window and select "Manage OneDrive backup". In the dialog box that appears, "Manage folder backup", click "Stop backup" under the Pictures icon. Confirm and you'll be good to go. Your previously backed up photos appear to stay accessible in the OneDrive->Pictures folder in your navigation pane - OneDrive leaves a shortcut to that location in your "This PC->Pictures" folder.

Hopefully Apple and Microsoft can remedy whatever interaction is happening between the two cloud services so that OneDrive Pictures backup can be turned back on. I kind of liked the feeling of security having a backup on an additional service.

Note that I haven't tried turning OneDrive Photo Library backup back on to see if iCloud Photos stops working or not - maybe after the next iCloud for Windows update gets released I'll try it but for now, this works.