Shared photos option won't stay enabled in ICloud for Windows

I have the latest version of ICloud for Windows installed with Windows 11 and have set photo options for syncing shared photos from my Apple devices. After making this setting the shared photos show up in the designated location on my PC but each time I shut down my PC and start it again shared photos in ICloud for Windows is disabled and I have to go back into settings in the ICloud for Windows account dialog and re-enable shared photos. I shut down my PC every day at the end of the day and start it up again in the morning so have to go through this process of re-enabling photo sharing and reloading photos every time I want to access them on my PC. It takes a long time, a couple of hours, for the photos to reload. How to I fix this so that shared photos stays enabled in ICloud for Windows even if I shut down my PC? Or can I save the shared photos to my hard drive so that they are there permanently or until I choose to delete them?

Windows, Windows 6

Posted on Aug 15, 2023 4:08 PM

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18 replies

Aug 16, 2023 12:39 PM in response to wildisme

Hi wildisme,


In the iCloud for Windows app, is Photos toggled on? If so, when you click Options, which option is selected there? iCloud Photos and Shared Albums are options you should be presented with. 


Are either or both enabled? Also, to confirm these selections toggle themselves off after a shut down or restart? 


Let us know as these details will help us determine how to best proceed. In the meantime, you can see details on how iCloud for Windows functions here:


Cheers! 


Aug 16, 2023 3:52 PM in response to wildisme

Yes, Photos is toggled on in the ICloud for Windows app. In options for Photos both ICloud Photos and Shared Albums are toggled on and enabled. The shared albums option becomes disabled after each shut down and start up of my PC even though it still shows as selected in the ICloud for Windows app, Also after I shut down and restart my PC shared albums sub folder no longer shows up under ICloud Photos in File Explorer in the location that i have designated for ICloud photos and shared albums to be located. Only ICloud Photos with no sub folder shows up in Explorer and when I click on it I get a message that the folder is empty. Then I go into settings on the ICloud for Windows app and reset the shared albums option and is starts working again and the shared albums folder shows up again in explorer and the shared albums and photos start to reload very slowly until they are there and available.

Aug 16, 2023 4:45 PM in response to wildisme

Hi wildisme,


We can definitely understand your concern and are here to help as much as we can.


Just to clarify, are your settings set to share your photos with another folder on the C: drive or are you trying to share the photos with another drive? If it's another drive location, then that feature is unsupported which could be causing this error you're experiencing. That being said, we recommend checking out this link for more details:


Set up Photos in iCloud for Windows - Apple Support


If this doesn't help and you're sharing the photos with another folder in the C: drive, then the next best steps will be to contact Apple directly for additional assistance.


Get Support


Kindest regards!


Aug 30, 2023 4:17 PM in response to wildisme

I have had the exact same issue / problem since an iCloud update several months ago on my Win11 PC. During this time I have reached out to Apple support and unfortunately have had zero success in resolving this issue. I even built a new PC and with a fresh installation of Windows 11 and a fresh installation of iCloud the problem still exists.


The main iCloud photos folder on C: drive (where Windows 11 is installed) retains all the photos after shutdown / reboot. The contents of the iCloud shared photos folder is deleted.


I am struggling to find a resolution and as mentioned prior have called Apple support several times to resolve but no corrective actions have been provided.

Sep 7, 2023 12:35 AM in response to bwernicke

This problem started for me with the Version 14.2.108 release from the Microsoft Store - the previous version direct from the Apple site worked fine but us no longer on offer. I’m only interested in syncing Shared Albums (not Camera Roll, so that’s unchecked as per Bwernicke) and these sync fine to E:\ which is a second SSD. My only issue is that the Shared Album folders all disappear at reboot.

Oct 5, 2023 11:29 PM in response to wildisme

Exact same issue on Windows 10 Home (fully updated), iCloud for Windows version 14.2.0.108. Shared album folder worked on D: drive for years! (had moved my user folder away from system drive).

Shared folder is deleted on every reboot, noticed that several weeks ago. iCloud control however shows both photo checkboxes still ticked (btw: iCloud control started popping up by itself now and then for some weeks as well. Related?)

Moved shared folder back to C:\<user>\iCloud Photos\Shared, but still the same problem!

It is very annoying and bandwidth costing - and gives an insecure feeling about reliability - will the photos eventually disappear one day for good (bad)??

Please also see www.reddit.com/r/iCloud/comments/150nq4i/icloud_windows_and_shared_albums_disappearing/

The workaround proposed there: kill the task ApplePhotoStreams.exe before reboot. Really?

Apple Community Specialists, please escalate, thx b4hand!

Oct 6, 2023 11:16 PM in response to R_Gabriel

R_Gabriel wrote:
If it's another drive location, then that feature is unsupported

Why then for heaven's sake (not using more intense language here ...) is a user able to change location of photo folder(s) to another drive in the first place :-/?

Why not hard code the location to circumvent? But on the other hand, photo albums, shared or not, generally tend to be big on size, so being able to choose another (internal) drive/volume must be supported!

That is just bad coding of use cases. As I mentioned, shared albums worked in D:\Users\<user>\Pictures\iCloud Photos\Shared\ for several years until recently!

Shared photos option won't stay enabled in ICloud for Windows

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