Recent photos on iCloud are not downloading to my PC. When I click on "download photos" it says that iCloud is preparing my photos and it takes time. This has been going on for several days and still all my photos are not downloading.

Hi Old_John!

I may first check out this article from Apple if you haven’t already, hope something here can help!:

If your iCloud Photos aren't loading on your PC:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205328

There is a lot of info in there to fall back on, so hope one solution helps!

Otherwise:

Is this the first time attempting to download iCloud Photos on this PC?

Are you able to connect your PC to another network to test?

Its also possible that iCloud for Windows is out of date, or even needs to be reinstalled, if so, check here!:

Download iCloud for Windows:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204283

If you can't download or install iCloud for Windows:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204363

Hope something else here helps, if not I have a few other ideas to help, as maybe others here do, the more information regarding the steps you’ve taken before and after attempting to download your iCloud Photos to your PC, and any error messages or obstacles may help as well.

Cheers!