3 Tested Ways to Sync iCloud to External Hard Drive in 2023
Wondering how to sync iCloud to an external hard drive? Don’t miss this post. It provides the 3 simplest ways for you. Whether you are a macOS user or a Windows user, you can find the solution. Besides, the post will give the best way to sync iCloud to other clouds by MultCloud which is free and secure.
May 10, 2023 | 4 minutes read
Can I Sync iCloud to External Hard Drive?
You can sync iCloud to an HDD and it is not difficult to achieve. You can find the 3 easiest solutions in the following sections. In this section, let’s explain what benefits can be brought to you by syncing iCloud to a hard drive.
- Backup: The data on your iCloud can get additional protection if you copy it to a hard drive. When you accidentally delete a file or you want to find the old version of a file, you can turn to that external hard drive for help.
- Storage Saving: If you have an external hard drive and your iCloud space is about to run out, transferring some content like photos on iCloud to your hard drive will be a good choice. By doing so, you don’t need to pay for extra iCloud storage.
- Accessibility: iCloud is an online service, so you can access the data on it only if your device is connected to the network. However, the data on a hard drive can be accessed offline. Therefore, syncing iCloud to a hard drive can make you use the data online and offline.
Sync iCloud to External Hard Drive [3 Methods]
The following 3 methods will show you how to realize the sync. Unlike the first method which can be applied universally, the second method is provided for macOS users, and the third method is offered to Windows users. Whether you apply which method, don’t forget to plug your external hard drive into your computer.
Method 1: iCloud Sync to a Hard Drive via iCloud.com
To ignore the step of uploading files from a local position to your hard drive, you’d better change the downloading destination to the hard drive in your browser first.
Step 1: Enter iCloud.com and log in to your account.
Step 2: Choose content that needs to be moved and click the download icon in the upper bar. After that click, the content will be transferred to your external hard drive.
Note: You can only download a single file at once, so it may be annoying if you have a lot of data to sync.
Method 2: Sync iCloud to External Hard Drive via Finder
Before next operations, make sure that you turn on iCloud Drive on your Mac.
Step 1: Open Finder and click “iCloud Drive” in the left sidebar.
Step 2: Select the content that you are willing to sync and right-click on it. Then choose “Copy ‘Documents’” in the menu.
Step 3: Paste the copied content to your external hard drive and wait for it done.
Method 3: Use iCloud for Windows to Sync to an External HDD
If you don’t download iCloud for Windows on your PC before, you have to download it or the next steps can’t be operated.
Step 1: Open iCloud for Windows and log in to your account.
Step 2: Tick the box beside iCloud Drive and click “Apply”. You can change the downloading destination by clicking “Change”.
Note: If you want to sync iCloud photos to external hard drive, you can tick “Photos” and click “Options”. When a pop-up window appears, you can select the options shown in it and click “Done” and “Apply”. By doing so, the photos on iCloud will be downloaded to your PC and you can move them to an external hard drive.
Step 3: Turn to File Explorer and open the iCloud Drive folder. Then copy what you’d like to sync and paste them to your external hard drive.
Bonus Tip: Sync iCloud Photos with Other Clouds via MultCloud
Unlike a file which is small in size, photos always occupy much space on cloud drives or hard drives. If you have a lot of photos on your iCloud and you don’t want to upgrade to a higher plan or store photos on hard drives, you can sync iCloud Photos with Google Drive, OneDrive, or other clouds which have more storage and cheaper plans.
Using MultCloud Cloud Sync is undoubtedly the best way to sync iCloud Photos to other clouds. MultCloud is a multiple-cloud management service and Cloud Sync is one of its main functions aiming to make cloud-to-cloud sync swiftly and automatically. If you need to sync iCloud Photos to a hard drive, you can refer to the following steps.
Step 1: Open MultCloud and create a MultCloud account by clicking “Sign up Free”.
Step 2: Click “Add Cloud” and then choose iCloud Photos to add it to MultCloud. Then you have to repeat the same steps to add Google Drive (for example) to MultCloud.
Note: You will log in to iCloud Photos and Google Drive accounts to add them successfully. When logging in to iCloud Photos, there will be a two-factor authentication that needs you to go through.
Step 3: Tap Cloud Sync and choose iCloud Photos and Google Drive in their corresponding boxes. Then click “Sync Now” and your photos will be sent to Google Drive very soon.
Note: If you want to update photos in another cloud automatically, you can choose to schedule the sync process. The Schedule allows you to order the sync process to run daily, weekly, or monthly according to your needs.
Also, if you want MultCloud doesn’t sync the repeated photos, choose Incremental Sync in Options. Then only the changed parts will be synced to Google Drive.
Bonus Tip: Sync iCloud to External Hard Drive via MultCloud
You can also use MultCloud to sync iCloud to an external HDD. And to be more convenient, you can change the downloading destination to your HDD. After you get a MultCloud account and add iCloud Photos on MultCloud, open iCloud Photos and choose photos. Then click “Download” in the upper menu bar and the photos on iCloud will be synced to your hard drive.
Conclusion
As it mentioned before, it is easy to sync iCloud to external hard drive and the above 3 tested methods are of great use. If you don’t want to be restricted by devices, you can choose the first one, but you have to download the content one by one.
Besides, MultCloud is recommended for you if you want to sync iCloud Photos to other clouds. Or, if you have more demands like backing up iCloud Photos to Dropbox or other clouds, MultCloud is also your best choice since Cloud Backup can not only backup but restore photos if you backed them up before on MultCloud.
