Move your data to Back into iCloud Photos

medium Takes hours to days for a large library

Once you have your data out of the big services and cleaned up, it needs to live somewhere you control. This guide covers moving your archive to Back into iCloud Photos.

Apple: import photos to your device ->

Step by step

  1. Know the limitation first

    Apple provides no way to upload directly into iCloud Photos from the web. Everything has to go through the Photos app on a Mac or iPhone, or through iCloud for Windows. There is no way around this.

  2. On a Mac

    Open the Photos app, choose File, then Import, and select your cleaned folders. Once imported, Photos syncs them to iCloud if iCloud Photos is switched on.

  3. On Windows

    Install iCloud for Windows, turn on Photos, and copy your files into the iCloud Photos upload folder. Uploading happens in the background and can take a long time for a big library.

  4. Repair dates first

    Photos organizes strictly by the date inside each file. Repair metadata in Muletto before importing, or your timeline will be wrong and awkward to fix afterwards.

  5. Import in batches

    Large imports are more reliable in chunks of a few thousand files. Confirm each batch before starting the next.

Worth knowing

This is the least pleasant destination, entirely because of Apple limits rather than anything on our side. If the goal is simply keeping your memories safe, a NAS or an external drive is faster, cheaper and fully under your control.
Re-importing does not remove what is already in iCloud, so clean up there first or you will end up with duplicates.