iCloud for Windows stops syncing photos and churns CPU

Question

iCloud for Windows stops syncing photos and churns CPU

I have been trying for months to get iCloud Photos to download to my PC. I have clicked "Always keep on this device" in Windows Explorer so it should download and keep in sync. But every time I try it:

Starts downloading for a bit, then stops
iCloud Photos task churns CPU, 20-30%
I can open some photos, and sometimes it downloads, but usually it times out with an error.
My iCloud drive sync's OK (37GB), but photos always hangs up and churns CPU.

I have:

Reinstalled iCloud multiple times.
Rebooted many times.
Tried with and without my VPN (Nord).
Unclicked and clicked iCloud Drive and Photos in the iCloud for Windows panel, which causes the folders to be recreated.
Made sure all updates are installed on my Windows 11 64 bit machine.
Tried to find a way to get support from Apple, but it appears no support is available for iCloud (the "get support" button on the iCloud support web page reopens the same page!).

I see many other users complaining about this exact same issue, over the last several years. It does seem to be a chronic problem with iCloud.

Is there anything else I can do other than give up?

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Dec 14, 2023 3:23 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 14, 2023 5:44 PM in response to JR22222222222

Hi, JR22222222222,

Did you check your iCloud storage yet? If your iCloud storage is full, it will stop syncing photos from iCloud to your computer as well. I have met this problem before, upgrade or clean up iCloud storage to make it back to normal.

Or other causes you should take into consideration:

Unstable Internet connection.
iCloud Photos folder issues.
Outdated iCloud version.
Others apps.
Use different iCloud accounts.

So, you can still try the following solutions to troubleshoot:

Change to a stable Internet connection.
Change iCloud Photos default location.
Close other apps might cause iCloud Photos not syncing to Windows 10. Then sync iCloud Photos again.
Check if you use the same iCloud account on iCloud.com and iCloud for Windows.

For more details, check the step-by-step guide for iCloud Photos not syncing on Windows 10.

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Answer 2

Dec 15, 2023 12:18 AM in response to Oliver98k

Oliver, thanks for the reply.

per your notes above:

Connection is stable. As noted above it sync'ed 37GB of iCloud (non photo) data in less than a day, network usage is nil (on a fiber line), and other apps are working just fine. It is iCloud Photos that is essentially hung up and churning CPU (it does manage to get one photo down about every 30 minutes - 740 downloaded in 2 days, 11,000 to go).
iCloud storage is at 60%. No issues there.
As noted above all software is up to date. I am on latest Windows 11 and have reinstalled iCloud for Windows several times.
No other apps seem to be getting in the way. No constraints on bandwidth, disk, CPU, etc.
Why would iCloud account make a difference? It is not practical to migrate 100GB of data to another account with very low probability that will make any difference. This is with the iCloud Photos Windows software.

On suggestions:

Internet connection is stable. Other applications working fine. Other download traffic is running at up to 40Mbps.
I have closed all other applications, and tried to sync on a fresh reboot many times with no other apps running. Also on reinstalling iCloud (several times).
iCloud works fine on other devices, including our macs.

It is obvious to me (as a software developer myself) that this is a software bug in iCloud Photos for Windows. It consistently runs OK for a short time after a reinstall and reset of the Photos folder, downloading a few hundred photos, then goes into this mode of being very slow and burning lots and lots of CPU with almost no use of bandwidth or disk. Data in the iCloud Drive (other than photos folder) for Windows downloads fine. This points to a program bug in iCloud Photos for Windows. Maybe it just can't deal with more than a few hundred photos or a few gigs of data. Or something about the photo file data is tripping it up.

Given that I see many others reporting slowness and high CPU issues with iCloud Photos on Windows, I think Apple should be investigating why this is happening repeatedly.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

Thanks much,

John

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Answer 3

JS-Ber

Level 1

8 points

Mar 24, 2024 12:09 PM in response to JR22222222222

Hi, exactly same here (but win10). Only partial photo sync and some 27 % cpu over days without detectable progress, even after new install of "iCloud for Windows". I am aware of the new 5.n version, but hesitate. Does v15 still delete shared albums on reboot or did they fix that annoying bug as well?

On that note: Do you happen to use the iCloud plugin on Outlook (365)? Do contact & calender sync still work? And bookmarks sync with Firefox?

Thx b4hand

Jim

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Answer 4

Feb 14, 2024 10:13 AM in response to JR22222222222

Apple may have actually have fixed this!

Apple just released (early February 2024) a new version of iCloud for Windows, v 15.0.214. After I installed that it started syncing at a reasonable speed, and actually got through my 11,000+ photos/videos in a day or so. Still not blazing fast, but reasonable.

The new UI when you log in and do settings is noticeably different.

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iCloud for Windows stops syncing photos and churns CPU

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