Even though it's heavily associated to Apple's ecosystem, iCloud is also available for Windows users. There are plenty of Windows users who love to take pictures and videos using their iPhones. If they do nothing, these media will be backed up to iCloud Photos under the users' accounts by default.
![Photo Photo](https://www.easeus.com/images/en/screenshot/mobimover/icloud-drive-not-syncing.jpg)
As the old saying goes, 'even the best ones have flaws.' And iCloud is no different. One of the most common iCloud errors on Windows is that iCloud Photos cannot sync with the server. If you experience the problem, here's the way to fix that.
1. Update iCloud for Windows
Jun 11, 2018 - On PC: Click the iCloud icon in your taskbar and choose Open iCloud Settings. Make sure Photos option in checked and tap on Options next to it. Then click the checkbox next to iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream.
Before you do anything else, check whether you have the latest version of iCloud. If you don't, do an update. You won't believe how many problems were fixed just by doing a simple update.
You can either download the update here or you can also do it from within Windows itself.
- Enter 'Apple' in the Cortana search box and select Apple Software Update to open the window below.
- Then click the iCloud for Windows checkbox.
- Press the Install 1 item button to update iCloud.
2. Turn on iCloud Photos
If you get iCloud Photos error on Window 10, the first thing that you need to do is to make sure that you are logged in to iCloud using your Apple ID. Then you also need to enable iCloud Photos for your account.
To do that:
- Open iCloud for Windows software and click the Open iCloud Settings text.
- Then select the Photos checkbox.
- Press the Options button for Photos to open further settings.
- Check the 'iCloud Photo Library' and 'Download New Photos and Videos to My PC'.
3. Enable Photo Stream
If you still get the error after enabling iCloud and iCloud Photos, you should try to enable the photo stream download. You can just go to the Photos Options pane again, and then check the box next to My Photo Stream. Once done, click Done to save the changes.
4. Restart iCloud
If the above methods not solve the problem, you should try to restart iCloud. It may works sometime for the iCloud photos cannot sync with Windows issue.
- Open the Task Manager by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting Task Manager.
- Select the iCloud Drive and iCloud Photostreams processes,iCloud Photo Library and press their End task buttons to close them.
- Click Apple Computer and open the Media Center directory in File Explorer, and delete everything in the Media Center folder.
- Reboot or Log out and back into Windows 10.
- Now open the iCloud control panel again, and double-check the Photos options to ensure they're configured correctly.
5. Why Not Backup Your Data to Local Computer without iCloud
Those who's been around tech items know that there's no such thing as an error-free system. That's why you should never rely only on one service to keep your data. You should remember the basic: utilize the local hard drive to backup your data.
You can protect your iPhone data to the local storage with the help of iCareFone. It will backup iOS data to computer without iTunes or iCloud. Actually other than doing the backup and restore of the iOS device, this tool can also transfer music and photos between computer and iPhone, clear junk files and speed up iPhone and iPad, block in-app ads, and fix iOS stuck.
Powerful iOS File Manager to Transfer & Backup iDevices
- Free backup everything you need on iPhone/iPad/iPod
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“I keep getting an error message that reads: Not enough storage This iphone cannot be backed up because there is not enough icloud storage available. What does this mean? How do I fix it?”
When you log in your iCloud, you may also receive a “Not enough storage” message like the guy on your iCloud. Usually the message says “This iPhone cannot be backed up because there is not enough iCloud storage available. You can manage your storage in Setting.” You need to notice that Apple only offers 5GB of free storage space on iCloud, the storage space will be filled with all kinds of files day after day when more and more data is backed up to iCloud. And you will get the “not enough storage” alert message when the available free space is not enough for new backup.
When your available iCloud storage is not enough to meet your daily needs, you may face some unexpected issues. So it is necessary to fix not enough storage on iCloud issue for your iPhone/iPad. Here we introduce five methods for you to fix the problem.
Part 1. Five Methods to Fix Not Enough Storage on iCloud
Method 1. Delete Photos/Videos from iCloud
One of the biggest data hogs to take up your iCloud storage space is the photos and videos. iPhone/iPad will automatically back up all your videos and photos to your iCloud. Therefore, deleting photos and videos from iCloud will free up iCloud storage a lot. Here’s how to do that.
1. Tap on Setting > iCloud > Storage. Then tap on Manage Storage.
2. And then tap on This iPhone.
3. Under the Backup options, you will see Photo Library option, set the slider to OFF position.
4. Tap on Turn off & Delete to delete all photos and videos from iCloud.
After deleting existing photos and videos, you can either set the Photo Library back to ON position and start backing up new photos to iCloud or keep it OFF and use Photo Stream. You can store up to 1,000 images on Photo Stream for free and download them to your computer. These images will remain in Photo Stream for 30 days, after which they will be deleted.
Method 2. Delete Data & Documents
If you still find that there is no enough storage on your iCloud, you can try to delete these app-related documents and data to free up iCloud storage.
1. Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage.
2. Select an app under “Documents & Data”.(The first one genrally takes the biggest storage)
3. After selecting the app, tap the “Edit” tab in the upper right corner and then select the specific document to remove, or tap the “Delete All” tab.
Method 3. Buy More iCloud Storage
Of course, the easiest way to upload your iCloud space is to buy more iCloud storage. Although Apple only offers 5GB free storage space for iCloud users to backup their iOS or Mac device, it allows you to buy more storage.
1. Tap on Setting > iCloud > Storage.
2. Now you can tap on Buy More Storage and choose the plan that works for you.
Method 4. Delete Old iCloud Backups
You can free up iCloud storage space by deleting the entire iCloud backup for an iOS device, such as a device you no longer own. If you’re restoring a device from an iCloud backup, you must wait until the restore operation is finished before you can delete the backup.
Warning: If you choose to delete the iCloud backup for your iOS device, iCloud will stop automatically backing up the device. Instead of backing up your iOS device to iCloud, you can back up your device using iTunes.
- 1. Delete backup using iOS devices
- On your iOS 9 or iOS 8 device: Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage, then tap Manage Storage.
On your iOS 7 device: Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup, then tap Manage Storage.
- 2. Delete backup using Windows computer
- step 1: Open iCloud for Windows, then click Storage.
step 2: Click Backups on the left, select an iOS device on the right whose backup you don’t need, then click Delete.
- 3. Delete backup using Mac computer
- step 1: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Manage.
step 2: Click Backups on the left, select an iOS device on the right whose backup you don’t need, then click Delete.
Method 5. Close Unnessary Backups for Apps
If there are entire apps that you don’t need to backup, you can do so by following the steps below to fix not enough iCloud storage for your iOS devices:
1. Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage.
2. Select the device you want to manage the backup for.
3. Under “Backup Options”, toggle apps off that you do not want to sync to iCloud.
Part 2. Recover Data from iCloud Backup After Deleting Them to Free Up iCloud Storage
Sometimes, you may accidentally lose some important files from iCloud backup when you fix not enough iCloud storage issue by deleting iCloud backup. And you are unable to recover them by iCloud. Therefore, you need the third-party iOS data recovery software to help you finish the task. The software quickly retrieves files from the iCloud backup with your Apple ID. Apart from restoring iPhone from iCloud backup, it can also enable users to recover deleted or lost data from iOS devices directly and extract files from iTunes backup. The guidance below will take recovering photos from iCloud backup as an example to show you how to recover data from iCloud backup with the iPhone data recovery software. If you have the iPhone data recovery requirement, you can free download the trial version to have a try.
1. Run Leawo iOS Data Recovery on PC and you’ll see the 3 recovery modes in the main interface. Choose “Recover from iCloud Backup” in the window.
2.The software will ask you to log in iCloud with your Apple ID. Enter the Apple ID and click the Enter button (Right Arrow in a Circle), or hit Enter on your keyboard to move to next step.
3. The iPhone data recovery software will scan the backup(s) in your iCloud and display one backup in the main interface. Double-click the backup or click “Download” at the right bottom to scan the iCloud backup.
4. After the scan, select a library and choose the files you want to recover, then click Recover.
4. Click Open in the pop-up dialog to choose a target folder on your computer. Then click Go to start selectively recovering data from iCloud backup.
Video Tutorial for Recovering Data from iCloud Backup
When the recovering process is done, you will get the files you need in the target folder. Besides recovering data from iCloud backup, the iPhone data recovery tool is also powerful for recovering data from iOS devices or iTunes backup. For example, you can easily restore iPhone from iTunes backup with the software.