iCloud Photos no longer downloading to Windows Laptop
I've used iCloud successfully for some years on several Apple phones and iPads which are all synced together, and on my Windows 11Pro laptop.
I only ever download from iCloud to the laptop: I don't upload anything.
Normally I go to Pictures-->iCloud Photos-->Downloads and my most recent downloads automatically appear in the window.
However, a couple of weeks ago, they stopped automatically appearing. The only thing which seemed to change was that I changed my Apple ID password. However, I logged back in successfully on all my Apple devices, and it still hasn't resumed downloading.
Basic background stuff: my iCloud storage is only half full, my hard drive is only half full. My iPhone (14Pro) is fully synced with iCloud and my iPad (Air 5) syncs fully with the latest pictures. Interestingly, iCloud Drive still seems to work OK on the laptop: I can download files onto the laptop which I created on the iPad.
In order I have tried:
-Searching through every permutation of the iCloud for Windows User Guide.
-Asking iCloud Photos to download all my images from 2023 (8.3Gb!): these also stop at about the same date and no newer photos download (although interestingly the feature to do this seems to have disappeared: I used to get a little icon for iCloud Photos on the left of my window, and it doesn't appear any more).
-Restarting the phone and the laptop several times.
-Leaving the laptop on overnight in case there was a temporary go-slow on updating the photos from iCloud.
-Updating the iCloud app on the laptop to the latest version (might explain why the iCloud Photos icon has disappeared).
-Signing out of iCloud app on the laptop and signing back in again.
I'm getting a bit near my wits' end! Any help gratefully appreciated.
Windows