I don't want to sync the photo app on the mac to icloud. I don't use the photo app. How can I get photos to Icloud if they are in downloads and I don't want to use the photo app on the mac. Is there a way to go from Mac downloads -> Dropbox -> Icloud? How would you do this avoiding the photos app?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.6
Why do you want to save your Photos in iCloud? Do you want to save storage on your Mac or do you want to sync the photos to other devices?
The easiest way to store your photos in iCloud is to drag the folders with photos from your Downloads folder to iCloud Drive. You use the Finder to manage files on iCloud Drive, as described here: Work with folders and files in iCloud Drive – Apple Support (UK)
As long as you do not enable "Optimize Mac Storage" to save storage on your Mac, your regular Time Machine backup of your Mac will include the items on iCloud Drive and you will have a backup of your photos. But if you want to save storage on your Mac by using iCloud, you will have to back up the photos manually somewhere by copying them regularly to an external drive.
Why do you want to save your Photos in iCloud? Do you want to save storage on your Mac or do you want to sync the photos to other devices?
The easiest way to store your photos in iCloud is to drag the folders with photos from your Downloads folder to iCloud Drive. You use the Finder to manage files on iCloud Drive, as described here: Work with folders and files in iCloud Drive – Apple Support (UK)
As long as you do not enable "Optimize Mac Storage" to save storage on your Mac, your regular Time Machine backup of your Mac will include the items on iCloud Drive and you will have a backup of your photos. But if you want to save storage on your Mac by using iCloud, you will have to back up the photos manually somewhere by copying them regularly to an external drive.
Where in iCloud would you want them to be stored? iCloud Photos? iCloud Drive? somewhere else?
How did you plan to access them? in a browser? with a mobile app? some other way?
What benefits are you trying to achieve? Maybe we can suggest another approach.
Photos -> Icloud or Dropbox-> Icloud
