Microsoft has just officially announced the deployment of an update to the Windows 11 Photos application which now allows you to view your photos stored on Apple’s iCloud.
About a month ago, Microsoft announced during the presentation event of its new Surface computers, the arrival on Windows 11 of several tools developed by Apple. Thus, the Redmond company unveiled the arrival of Apple Music and Apple TV on PCs running Windows 11. Microsoft had also indicated its intention to update the Windows 11 Photos application in order to integrate the access to photos stored on iCloud. It is now done, or almost, since the deployment of iCloud in Microsoft Photos is underway.
Cloud photos viewable in a single app
The latest update to the Windows 11 Photos manager now allows all users of Windows 11 machines to access their photos stored in the cloud. Because in addition to supporting OneDrive, Photos now allows all iPhone owners to access their photos and videos synced to iCloud, Apple’s online storage platform. An operation that was until now only possible by going through the iCloud directory synchronized in Windows File Explorer. A very impractical method given the navigation interface used.
How to view your iCloud photos in Photos on your Windows 11 PC?
To be able to access your iCloud photos in the Windows 11 Photos app, you will first need to update the said app. To do this, open the Microsoft Store and click the button Library displayed at the bottom left of the window.
Then click on the button Get updates, located at the top right of the window to refresh the list of available updates. Finally click on the button Update all (or on the button Update displayed in front of the row of the Photos application) to download and install updates for the applications installed on your machine.
Then, if it hasn’t already been done, download iCloud for Windows from the Microsoft Store. Once installed, open iCloud on your PC, log into your account and make sure the option Pictures is correctly selected.
Finally, open the app Pictures on your machine. You should find all your photos stored on iCloud by selecting iCloud in the left column. Note that depending on the amount of photos and videos stored on the platform, loading them into Photos may take more or less time.
However, Photos may not immediately find your iCloud Photos folder. If so, a message “Ouch! Please add iCloud to folders should show”.
Then click on the button Add Folder then in the File Explorer window that opens, select the iCloud folder present in the left column. Your photos should then be finally linked in the Photos app.
Microsoft said it has just started rolling out this update. It may therefore not be immediately available on your PC. However, it should arrive at all users by the end of November.
Source :
Microsoft