how do i move photos from iCloud to external harddrive

Hi there, Garyace!
Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities! That is a great question you have about moving your iCloud photos to an external drive and I’m happy to help! Take a look at this article with steps to follow to Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud: Specifically:

Photos and videos

You might already have a copy of your library in iCloud Photo Library, or the last 30 days of photos in My Photo Stream*

If you enabled iCloud Photo Library, your photos and videos are automatically uploaded to iCloud at full resolution. You can make copies of your photos and videos when you follow these steps:

• On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 10.3 or later, tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. If you’re using iOS 10.2 or earlier, tap Settings > iCloud > Photos. Then select Download and Keep Originals and import the photos to your computer.
• On your Mac with OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 or later, open the Photos app. Choose Photos > File > Export.
• On your PC, set up iCloud for Windows and turn on iCloud Photo Library.

If you want to download a few photos or videos, you can use iCloud.com to download the most recent version of photos and videos to your computer. Just go to iCloud.com and open the Photos app. Then select the photos and videos you want to download and click .

My Photo Stream* photos are automatically imported to your Photos library on your Mac, unless My Photo Stream and Automatic Import are turned off in the app preferences. If you turn on iCloud Photo Library, you can find your photos in the All Photos folder instead of My Photo Stream.

You can also use the steps below to manually copy your photos and videos. Any comments or likes connected to a shared photo aren't saved, and photos and videos saved from shared albums aren't full resolution.

Copy photos from iCloud Photo Sharing on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 8 or later:

1. Open Photos, tap Shared > Sharing, then tap the name of the shared album.
2. Save photos using one of these methods:
   • Tap an image to open it, then tap . To select more images, scroll the images left or right and tap the ones you want to save. Tap Save Image.
   • Tap Select, then tap the images you want to save. Tap , then tap Save Image.
3. Import the photos to your computer.

Copy photos and videos from iCloud Photo Sharing on your Mac

Follow these steps to manually import photos and videos in shared streams to your Photos Library:

1. Open Photos and select the Shared tab.
2. Double-click a shared stream.
3. Right-click (or Control-click) a photo and choose Import.

After you import your photos, you might want to back up your library. You can store them as a separate library on your computer or on a different drive.

Copy content from My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing in Windows

All photos in My Photo Stream are automatically saved to your PC, and saved photos are available even if you turn off Photos in iCloud for Windows. To save photos and videos from a shared stream, you must save them to another folder on your hard drive:

1. Open iCloud for Windows.
2. Click the Options button next to Photos (or Photo Stream). Note the path listed under iCloud Photos location.
3. Open a File Explorer window (Windows 8) or Windows Explorer window (Windows 7).
4. Go to the iCloud Photos folder using the above path. Open the Shared folder.
5. Select the photos you want to save, then copy them to another folder on your computer. Include this folder if you back up your computer.

For information on backing up your Windows computer, see Microsoft Support.