If you need to sign in to iCloud from a Windows computer or laptop 10 – 7 or another operating system, you can do it in several ways: online or using the iCloud app, available on both Apple's official website and the Windows App Store 10. Both methods to access iCloud will be described later in the instructions.
What do you need it for?? As an example, to copy photos from iCloud to your Windows computer, to be able to add notes, reminders and calendar events from your computer and, in some cases, to find a lost or stolen iPhone. If you need to set up iCloud email on your computer, there is a separate post about it: iCloud Email on Android and on your computer. It is also useful: backup iPhone to iCloud.
Logging in to icloud.com.
The simplest way, that you do not need the installation of any additional program on your computer (unless you have the browser) and that works not only on Windows PCs and laptops, but also on Linux, macOS and other operating systems, in reality, this way you can sign in to iCloud not only from your computer, but also from a modern TV.
You just have to go to the official website icloud.com, enter your Apple ID details and you will enter iCloud with the opportunity to have access to all the data stored in your account, including access to iCloud mail in the web interface.
You will have access to photos, iCloud Drive content, grades, calendar and reminders, as well as your Apple ID settings and the ability to find your iPhone (find your iPad and Mac in the same location) using the respective function. You can even work with your Pages documents, Numbers and KeyNote stored in iCloud online.
As you see, getting into iCloud isn't complicated and is feasible from almost any device with a modern browser.
Despite this, in some cases (as an example, if you want to automatically download photos from iCloud to your computer, have easy access to iCloud Drive), the following method: Apple's official utility to use iCloud on Windows can also be useful.
The iCloud app for Windows
You can download the iCloud app for Windows for free on Apple's official web portal or, in the case of Windows 10, use the iCloud app from the Microsoft Store to use iCloud on your computer or laptop on Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7.
After installing the program linked below in the instructions (and restart your computer), sign in with your Apple ID and perform the initial setup if needed. If two-factor authentication is enabled for the account, your iPhone, iPad or Mac will display a code that you will need to enter in the box after entering your password.
After applying the settings and waiting for a while (data will be synchronized), you will be able to download your photos and view iCloud Drive content in Explorer, as well as add photos and other files to iCloud from your computer and save them for you from there. If you have Microsoft Outlook on your computer, it can also be synchronized with iCloud for mail, homework, contacts and calendars.
Simply, those are almost all the features that iCloud offers for your PC, except the opportunity to obtain information about storage space and detailed statistics on exactly what it occupies. The iCloud Drive folder is integrated into Windows Explorer just like any other cloud storage:
And you can find the iCloud Photos folder in the System Pictures folder. Y, with default settings, all newly created photos will be automatically downloaded to your computer in the respective folder. Old photos can be downloaded manually:
Some basic iCloud actions (how to download photos from the previous item) are available in the menu that opens when you press the respective icon in the notification area:
At the same time, you can read how to use iCloud mail and calendars in Outlook or save all iCloud data on your computer in Apple web portal:
You can download iCloud for your computer from the Windows Store 10 if you have this version of the operating system, or for previous versions of the system on the official website: https://support.apple.com/ru-ru/HT204283
Some notes:
