How to select all photos in iCloud

SOLUTION! (Maybe Imperfect)

After downloading hundreds of photos, selecting one at a time, I decided I'm done with iCloud and stumbled upon a way to download all the photos:

On your iPhone, in Settings-->Photos, if you disable iCloud for photo storage, it asks you if you'd like to "Download photos & videos" to your iPhone. Click on that, then connect to your Mac and then use Image Capture to download the photos from the phone.

😟 Bummer I figured this out after all the work. Not to mention that the downloading process skipped TONS of photos. Probably because I downloaded them in batches and didn't wait until downloads completed before selecting the next batch, which works fine with other apps, etc.

I know this isn't the place to say this, but I don't care; I'm breaking up with Apple. One frustrating issue after another on two iPhones, two iPods & two Macs, for four of us. I'm sure some problems are user error, but Google Drive is intuitive and just works for us , always. I feel like the very rich Apple has become mean. I'm very sad, I've been an Apple guy since 1989, but it's time to say goodbye. I'm just glad I could retrieve my photos.

FineyFine wrote:

this is a disgrace that apple have restricted this feature I have 300 photos. it will take me 3 days to downalod each one individually .... come on .... No more apple product for me what a waiste of time

You don't have to download each one individually. You have to select them individually. But holding down the ALT key (on Windows) or the Command key (on a Mac) allows you to keep selecting them until all are selected (or as many as you want to download at once - I would suggest that you do it in smaller batches, like in batches of 50 or 75). Then you tap on the download button, and all of the selected photos will get downloaded.

GB

Hi raseys, its liyen,

Here are 7 steps to download iCloud photos to Windows!

Download iCloud for Windows - Apple Support.

2. Open iCloud for Windows.

3. Next to Photos, click Options.

4. Select "iCloud Photo Library"

5.Then go to your System Tray, then click on the iCloud icon.

6. Click on the iCloud icon, then click Download.

Cheers!

Even for downloading all photos from iCloud, the only option I see is to select the photos one at a time (the CTRL-click option).

So, enlighten me on how to bulk select all photos for download through the browser. I'm afraid, there's none.

That's why I shared the link to the tool that does the download job pretty satisfactorily.

But that said, I do agree that my response was not appropriate to the question of how to just "bulk select" the photos on iCloud.

I was more driven by the bulk-selection-followed-by-download need, and to that end, the tool I shared does an amazing job.

For the deletion part, one sub-optimal option (which still depends on the temporal distribution of the photos across months in a year) is to use the iPhone photos app, and do time-bucket wise selection bulk selection. But then that would make sense only if the photos are clustered temporally. If all the 1000 photos are taken, each on a different date, then we are out of luck. On the other hand if they have been taken over say 50 days, it's just 50 selections, followed by a delete.

And one photos are deleted from a device, we all know that they can be permanently "BULK" deleted (of course with bulk selection)

You can't. Full stop.

Here is only one way to work with that:

1. Download all photos using iCloud on computer
2. REMOVE photos backup Icloud from iphone
3. install google drive with free 15 Gb
4. Move all photos to google drive and setup autobackup.

You can download all of them to an iPhone. Just turn on iCloud Photos on the device. There is no need to go through any selection process. Turn on the option, the photos download. If you are low on memory, turn on Optimize Photos, as many full resolution photos as your memory will allow will download, rest will download as thumbnails that you can click on to download individually.

GB

Allen A wrote:

Using your web browser to log into iCloud.com, you can select multiple pictures by holding the shift key on your keyboard, then selecting the pictures with your cursor. You can then download all selected pictures by clicking the download cloud icon in the upper right of the page.

Hello Allen,

Did you test this on a Windows PC using iCloud.com?

Because the [Shift] action does not work, unfortunately. I experienced this myself this week when I used and subsequently tested iCloud Photolibrary for Windows for the first time. And it has not been a pleasant experience, to say the least 😕😠.

Why did Apple not implement [Shift] functionality in iCloud for Windows? Or is it one of the many many bugs that this software still confronts us with?

So, I’ve figured out why Apple is being so (for better terms) darn, ugh!!!! It’s a simple psychological discouragement to attempt to prevent users from storing photos on another storage platform so Apple can capitalize charging storage space. Let’s take Google Drive and Dropbox for example. Those platforms are full of functionality and the ability to transfer files in bulk indiscriminately. But with iCloud when you run out of the storage space you currently have, guess what? You can buy more... smh. The more pics you add, the more monthly storage space they will ultimately charge. Like seriously, who’s gonna sit there and individually select 500+ pics, heck, 300+ pics for that matter. It’s M.O.N.E.Y. Apple, MONEY! Not a concern with functionality or accessibility. The ability to multiple select is disabled for a reason guys. After I download these remaining photos guess what, yeah, goodbye iCloud.

Found something that may be helpful as I am currently trying to download and delete 5000 photos and videos from iCloud.

As I individually selected about 100 photos to download, I delete and do not touch anything until the photos are deleted.

The page reloads and another 100 are automatically selected. As time goes on after several rounds, I add more and I'm at downloading 500 photos at a time.

Hey everyone, I struggled with this for MONTHS as I currently have 6,500 photos on my phone (don't judge me, I'm a mom) and no way was I selecting each individually. I had success downloading MobiMover (EaseUS MobiMover - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com) which then allowed me to transfer everything from my phone to my computer. Then I backed it all up on Dropbox using -- get this -- select all!!! Anyway, this problem that's been plaguing me for months was solved in 15 minutes. I couldn't be happier. Take that, Apple.

I came here to find the answer to this question as I was trying to download a large batch of specific photos from iCloud, only to realize I had already solved the problem. A while back, I synced my PhotoStream with iCloud and PhotoStream automatically downloaded (and auto downloads) all the iCloud photos. I had 29,000 photos. I seem to recall it taking a few days of letting it run in the background to get it all onto my iMac. And I couldn't "pick and choose" one album over another. But once it's in my photo stream, it's much easier to drag-select than it is in iCloud (since there is NO drag-select feature there or any legitimately useful batch select mechanism at all really). I hope the PhotoStream option will be helpful input for you.

TO MY KNOWLEDGE THIS IS THE ONLY OPTION AVAILABLE FOR BULK DOWNLOAD AT THIS TIME.

1. Log into iCloud and go to Photos

2. In the primary "Photos" album, Click and hold "Command" button.

3. While holding Command, click each individual picture you want to download.
(NOTE: If you accidentally click white space AT ANY TIME, everything you have selected will deselect,

and you will have to start over again.)

4. Once you made your choices, click the Download Cloud button at the top of the page.

Side Notes:

Clicking the white space and starting over is very frustrating. To reduce the annoyance, I recommend downloading in batches, rather than trying to do it all at once.

What was easiest for me, was to reduce the thumbnail size down to its minimum with the slider at the top of the page. That loads about 50-60 images on a 13" Macbook. I then clicked the download button. After they were safe on my computer, I clicked delete, as each image is still selected. Saves me from having to click them again to get rid of them.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

!!! NO, You may not select all photos stored in iCloud !!!

I've hours of googling and apple simply redirects to old information!

Pick them one by one, awful tactic, I have 4300+ pictures held hostage on iCloud

Found no other method

This is not possible, despite being requested for years by users.

The only rationale I can see is that is by design to keep user locked in the service.

We are all well aware you can control click multiple files, that's not the problem. The inability to shift click a range or use a 'select all' feature' is the issue here. Who the **** wants to control click thousands of files one at a time?