Before you begin
- USB Flash Drive for iPhone 256GB Photo Stick Memory Stick USB 3.0 Thumb Drive External Storage nuiflash Jumb Drive Compatiable with iPhone/iPad/Mac (256GB-silver) 3.9 out of 5.
- After floundering in the Apple support site, here is the fast and easy way to backup your iPhone photos to an external drive (without using the Mac native Photos app). No additional software.
- Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest iOS or iPadOS, and your Mac to the latest macOS.
- Set up iCloud on all of your devices.
- Make sure that you’re signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all of your devices.
- If you have a Windows PC, update to Windows 7 or later and download iCloud for Windows.
Global Nav Open Menu Global Nav Close Menu; Apple; Shopping Bag +.
If you have a device that can't update to the latest iOS or macOS, see the minimum system requirements to use iCloud Drive.
Get started
Set up iCloud Drive everywhere that you want to access and edit your files.
On your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
- Go to Settings > [your name].
- Tap iCloud.
- Turn on iCloud Drive.
You can find your iCloud Drive files in the Files app.
If you're using iOS 10 or iOS 9, tap Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive. Turn on iCloud Drive, and tap Show on Home Screen. Then you'll find your files in the iCloud Drive app.
On your Mac
- Go to Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Apple ID. If you’re using macOS Mojave or earlier, you don’t need to click Apple ID.
- Select iCloud.
- Sign in with your Apple ID, if you need to.
- Select iCloud Drive.
If you want to add the files from your Mac Desktop and Documents folder to iCloud Drive, update your Mac to macOS Sierra or later then turn on Desktop and Documents. On your Mac, you can find the files on your Desktop and in your Documents folder in Finder under iCloud. If you add a second Mac Desktop, the files from your second Mac won't automatically merge with the files on your first Mac. Go to your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive, then look for a folder with the same name as your second Mac.
On iCloud.com
- Sign in to iCloud.com.
- Select Pages, Numbers, or Keynote.
- Click Upgrade to iCloud Drive, if you are asked to upgrade.
On your Windows PC
After you set up iCloud Drive on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, you can set it up on your Windows PC.
Phone Drive Mac
- Go to Start, open Apps or Programs, and open iCloud for Windows.
- Enter your Apple ID to sign in to iCloud.
- Select iCloud Drive, then click Apply.
Phone Drive For Macbook Pro
What's next
After you set up iCloud Drive, any documents that you've already stored in iCloud are automatically moved to iCloud Drive. Your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch keep your files in the Files app in addition to the Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps. If you don't see your files in these apps, they might be on a device that doesn't have iCloud Drive turned on.
Learn more about using iCloud Drive.