Access and manage your files in iCloud Drive

iCloud Drive lets you securely access all of your documents from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Windows PC.

When you sign in to iCloud, you'll have access to iCloud Drive. With iCloud Drive, you can keep files and folders up to date across all of your devices, share files and folders with friends, family or colleagues, and more.

You can store files* in iCloud Drive as long as they're 50GB or less in size and you don't exceed your iCloud storage limit. If you need more iCloud storage, you can upgrade to iCloud+. With iCloud+, you can also share iCloud storage with your family, without sharing your files. Find out more about prices in your region.

*Avoid storing app folders, libraries, .tmp, .vmdk, .vmware, .vbox, .vm and .pvm files in iCloud Drive.

Access your files in iCloud Drive

Sign in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all of your devices. Then you can access your files in iCloud Drive in a number of ways.

On your Mac

You can access iCloud Drive in the Finder on your Mac.

When you add your Desktop and Documents folders to iCloud Drive, you can access all of the files in those folders wherever you use iCloud. Find out more about adding Desktop and Documents to iCloud Drive.

On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

If you're on a device with iOS 11 or later, you can access your files from the Files app.

On iCloud.com

From a supported browser, sign in to iCloud.com with your Apple ID.

On your PC

On your PC with Windows 10 or later and iCloud for Windows, you can go to iCloud Drive in File Explorer.

Work with iCloud Drive files offline

If you're about to go offline, you can download iCloud Drive files locally to work on while you're not connected to the internet.

On your Mac

  1. Click iCloud Drive in the sidebar of any Finder window.

  2. Open the file, or Control-click the file, then select Download Now.

  3. Any changes you make to the file will be automatically uploaded to iCloud Drive when you're back online.

On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

  1. Open the Files app.

  2. Go to the file that you want to store on your device.

  3. Tap the file to download it, or touch and hold the file, then choose Download No alt supplied for Image.

  4. Any changes you make to the file will be automatically uploaded to iCloud Drive when you're back online.

On iCloud.com

  1. Sign in to iCloud.com.

  2. Open iCloud Drive.

  3. Find and select the file.

  4. Click Download at the top of the page or double-click the file. The document will be downloaded to your default download location.

  5. After making changes to the file, upload the saved copy back to iCloud Drive on a computer.

On your PC

If you've turned on iCloud Drive using iCloud for Windows on a PC, you can pin a file or folder to keep it downloaded to your device. Any changes you make to the file will be automatically uploaded to iCloud Drive when you're back online.

Recover deleted files

If you need to access a file that you've deleted within the last 30 days, follow these steps to get it back.

On your Mac

  1. Click Bin in the Dock.

  2. Select the file that you want to keep.

  3. Drag it to the desktop or another folder.

If you delete files from your Bin using the Empty Bin option, the files can't be recovered.

On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

Find out how to recover deleted files in the Files app.

On iCloud.com

  1. Sign in to iCloud.com.

  2. Go to iCloud Drive.

  3. In the bottom right-hand corner, select Recently Deleted items.

  4. Browse the list of files.

You can also go to Settings > Restore Files. After 30 days, files will be removed from Recently Deleted and Restore Files.

On your PC

  1. Go to the Recycle Bin.

  2. Drag the file or folder to your desktop or another location.

Learn more

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