- A command-line tool to download all your iCloud photos.
- Works on Linux, Windows, and MacOS.
- Run as a scheduled cron task to keep a local backup of your photos and videos.
This tool is developed and maintained by volunteers (we are always looking for help...). We aim to release new versions once a week (Friday), if there is something worth delivering.
There are three ways to run icloudpd:
- Download executable for your platform from the Github Release and run it
- Use Docker to download and run the tool (requires Docker installed, e.g. Docker Desktop
- Install the tool using
pipfrom Python (requires Python andpipinstalled)
Docker automatically pulls images from the remote repository if necessary. To download explicitely, e.g. to force version update, use:
docker pull icloudpd/icloudpdicloudpd is a Python package that can be installed using pip:
pip install icloudpdIf you need to install Python, see the Appendix section for instructions.
Usage: icloudpd-linux <options>
Download all iCloud photos to a local directory
Options:
-d, --directory <directory> Local directory that should be used for
download
-u, --username <username> Your iCloud username or email address
-p, --password <password> Your iCloud password (default: use PyiCloud
keyring or prompt for password)
--cookie-directory </cookie/directory>
Directory to store cookies for
authentication (default: ~/.pyicloud)
--size [original|medium|thumb] Image size to download (default: original)
--live-photo-size [original|medium|thumb]
Live Photo video size to download (default:
original)
--recent INTEGER RANGE Number of recent photos to download
(default: download all photos)
--until-found INTEGER RANGE Download most recently added photos until we
find x number of previously downloaded
consecutive photos (default: download all
photos)
-a, --album <album> Album to download (default: All Photos)
-l, --list-albums Lists the available albums
--skip-videos Don't download any videos (default: Download
all photos and videos)
--skip-live-photos Don't download any live photos (default:
Download live photos)
--force-size Only download the requested size (default:
download original if size is not available)
--auto-delete Scans the "Recently Deleted" folder and
deletes any files found in there. (If you
restore the photo in iCloud, it will be
downloaded again.)
--only-print-filenames Only prints the filenames of all files that
will be downloaded (not including files that
are already downloaded.)(Does not download
or delete any files.)
--folder-structure <folder_structure>
Folder structure (default: {:%Y/%m/%d}). If
set to 'none' all photos will just be placed
into the download directory
--set-exif-datetime Write the DateTimeOriginal exif tag from
file creation date, if it doesn't exist.
--smtp-username <smtp_username>
Your SMTP username, for sending email
notifications when two-step authentication
expires.
--smtp-password <smtp_password>
Your SMTP password, for sending email
notifications when two-step authentication
expires.
--smtp-host <smtp_host> Your SMTP server host. Defaults to:
smtp.gmail.com
--smtp-port <smtp_port> Your SMTP server port. Default: 587 (Gmail)
--smtp-no-tls Pass this flag to disable TLS for SMTP (TLS
is required for Gmail)
--notification-email <notification_email>
Email address where you would like to
receive email notifications. Default: SMTP
username
--notification-script PATH Runs an external script when two factor
authentication expires. (path required:
/path/to/my/script.sh)
--log-level [debug|info|error] Log level (default: debug)
--no-progress-bar Disables the one-line progress bar and
prints log messages on separate lines
(Progress bar is disabled by default if
there is no tty attached)
--threads-num INTEGER RANGE Number of cpu threads -- deprecated. To be
removed in future version
--delete-after-download Delete the photo/video after download it.
The deleted items will be appear in the
"Recently Deleted". Therefore, should not
combine with --auto-delete option.
--version Show the version and exit.
-h, --help Show this message and exit.
Example:
icloudpd --directory ./Photos \
--username testuser@example.com \
--password pass1234 \
--recent 500 \
--auto-deleteIf your Apple account has two-factor authentication enabled, you will be prompted for a code when you run the script.
Two-factor authentication will expire after an interval set by Apple, at which point you will have to re-authenticate. This interval is currently two months.
Authentication cookies will be stored in a temp directory (/tmp/pyicloud on Linux, or /var/tmp/... on macOS.) This directory can be configured with the --cookie-directory option.
You can receive an email notification when two-factor authentication expires by passing the
--smtp-username and --smtp-password options. Emails will be sent to --smtp-username by default,
or you can send to a different email address with --notification-email.
If you want to send notification emails using your Gmail account, and you have enabled two-factor authentication, you will need to generate an App Password at https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords
You can store your password in the system keyring using the icloud command-line tool:
$ icloud --username jappleseed@apple.com
ICloud Password for jappleseed@apple.com:
Save password in keyring? (y/N)
If you have stored a password in the keyring, you will not be required to provide a password when running the script.
If you would like to delete a password stored in your system keyring,
you can clear a stored password using the --delete-from-keyring command-line option:
icloud --username jappleseed@apple.com --delete-from-keyringWhen you run the script for the first time, you might see an error message like this:
Bad Request (400)
This error often happens because your account hasn't used the iCloud API before, so Apple's servers need to prepare some information about your photos. This process can take around 5-10 minutes, so please wait a few minutes and try again.
If you are still seeing this message after 30 minutes, then please open an issue on GitHub and post the script output.
You can run icloudpd using cron on platforms that support it:
-
copy the example cron script from source tree, e.g.
cp cron_script.sh.example cron_script.sh -
Update
cron_script.shwith your username, password, and other options -
Edit your "crontab" with
crontab -e, then add the following line:
0 */6 * * * /path/to/cron_script.sh
Now the script will run every 6 hours to download any new photos and videos.
If you provide SMTP credentials, the script will send an email notification whenever two-step authentication expires.
This script is available in a Docker image: docker pull icloudpd/icloudpd
Usage:
# Downloads all photos to ./Photos
docker pull icloudpd/icloudpd
docker run -it --rm --name icloud \
-v $(pwd)/Photos:/data \
-v $(pwd)/cookies:/cookies \
-e TZ=America/Los_Angeles \
icloudpd/icloudpd:latest \
icloudpd --directory /data \
--cookie-directory /cookies \
--folder-structure {:%Y/%Y-%m-%d} \
--username testuser@example.com \
--password pass1234 \
--size original \
--recent 500 \
--auto-deleteOn Windows:
- use
%cd%instead of$(pwd) - or full path, e.g.
-v c:/photos/icloud:/data
Building image locally from the source tree:
docker build . -t icloudpd
docker run -it --rm icloudpd:latest icloudpd --versionNote that icloudpd works with python 3.9 and breaks on later versions of Python now.
- Install Homebrew (if not already installed):
which brew > /dev/null 2>&1 || /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"- Install Python (includes
pip):
brew install pythonAlternatively, you can download the latest Python 3.x installer for Mac.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y pythonTo install Docker with user interface on Windows or Mac, download and install Docker Desktop
Want to contribute to iCloud Photos Downloader? Awesome! Check out the contributing guidelines to get involved.