How I Got My iCloud Photos Out of Apple's Infrastructure and Into Jottacloud

Back up iCloud Photos to Jottacloud — Norwegian servers, GDPR by default, unlimited storage. 3 methods including direct cloud-to-cloud transfer with no downloads.

Introduction

I moved my photos to Jottacloud for one specific reason: I wanted them under Norwegian law, not California's. Not because iCloud is insecure — it isn't — but because Jottacloud operates under GDPR by default, stores everything in Norwegian data centers, and has no advertising business built around knowing what I photograph. Apple's infrastructure is technically solid. But it's a closed loop: one company, one jurisdiction, one pricing model. When I thought about every photo I care about — years of trips, family moments, nothing replaceable — sitting inside that single loop, the answer was clear. Jottacloud's unlimited plans removed the storage ceiling. The Norwegian data center removed the jurisdiction question. This guide covers three ways to make the move.

Method 1: Download from iCloud Photos and Upload to Jottacloud (Browser)
Method 2: Upload from iPhone Using the Jottacloud App
Method 3: Transfer Directly in the Cloud with CloudsLinker
Quick Comparison
Important Things to Know
Frequently Asked Questions

About iCloud Photos

iCloud Photos keeps your entire photo library synchronized across every Apple device — iPhone, iPad, and Mac — without you thinking about it. It works quietly in the background, which is exactly what makes it so sticky.

5 GB free shared across backups, mail, files, and photos.
iCloud+ plans scale from 50 GB up to 12 TB.
Original quality storage with device optimization options.
Apple ecosystem only — works best within Apple hardware.

The downside is that iCloud Photos is a closed system. Accessing your photos outside Apple devices, backing them up independently, or moving them anywhere requires deliberate effort — Apple doesn't make the exit door obvious.

About Jottacloud

Jottacloud is a Norwegian cloud storage service built around one idea: your files are yours, stored in Norway, governed by Norwegian and European data law. No ad targeting. No profiling. No data processed outside European jurisdiction.

Truly unlimited storage on paid plans — no cap, no throttle.
Norwegian data centers — fully GDPR compliant by design.
File-based organization — photos land in folders, not albums.
Cross-platform — desktop, mobile, and web access.

Jottacloud is not a photo service. It's a backup and storage platform. Your photos arrive as files organized in folders, which is actually easier to manage for long-term archiving than album-based systems.

Why Move Photos from iCloud Photos to Jottacloud?

The turning point came when I thought through what actually happens if something goes wrong with my Apple account. Locked out, payment lapse, account flagged — whatever the reason. Every photo I'd taken since 2014 lives inside one company's infrastructure, under their pricing terms, with no independent copy. That's not a technical problem. That's a single point of failure for everything I can't re-take. Jottacloud changed that: Norwegian data centers, GDPR compliance built in from the start, unlimited storage, and a business model built on subscriptions — not on learning what you photograph.

No storage cap, ever: Jottacloud's unlimited plans mean you never have to choose which photos to keep — which means your entire library is preserved, including RAW files and 4K videos that would blow through iCloud's 50 GB plan in weeks.
Data stays in Europe: Jottacloud stores and processes everything in Norwegian data centers under GDPR — which means your photos never leave European jurisdiction, a meaningful distinction if you care about where your data actually lives.
No algorithm analyzing your photos: Jottacloud's business model is subscriptions, not advertising — which means your photos aren't being scanned to build a profile, and there's no recommendation engine running on your memories.
An independent backup outside Apple's ecosystem: If your Apple ID is ever locked, suspended, or compromised, your photos are still safe on Jottacloud — giving you a recovery option that exists completely outside Apple's control.
Simpler long-term archiving: Jottacloud stores photos as regular files in folders, not locked inside an album system — which means you can browse, search, and restore them years from now without depending on any specific app or platform continuing to exist.

Getting photos out of iCloud takes a bit more than clicking export. Here are three approaches that work in practice.

Method 1: Download from iCloud Photos, Then Upload to Jottacloud (Browser)

This is the most direct route. No extra software required — just a browser on both ends. It works well for smaller collections or when you only want to move specific albums.

Step 1: Export from iCloud Photos

Open iCloud Photos on the web and sign in with your Apple ID.

Select the photos or albums you want to export. Click the download icon and choose your preferred format:

Original Format — preserves HEIC, Live Photos, and RAW files at full quality.
Most Compatible — converts HEIC to JPEG and Live Photos to MP4. Better for cross-platform use.

For backup purposes, Original Format is the right choice. Jottacloud stores whatever you upload — format conversion is optional.

Tip: iCloud Photos web limits bulk selection — you can't select thousands of photos at once. Work album by album to keep the downloads manageable. Large exports may arrive as multiple ZIP files.

Step 2: Upload to Jottacloud

Open Jottacloud on the web and sign in.

Navigate to the folder where you want your photos to live (or create a new one, e.g. "iCloud Photos Backup").
Click Upload and select the files or extracted folder from your download.
Wait for the upload to complete. Jottacloud shows a progress indicator in the top bar.

Unlike Google Photos, Jottacloud doesn't require a dedicated "album" container. Photos land as regular files inside the folder you choose — which makes them easy to browse and organize by year, trip, or event using standard subfolders.

Bandwidth note: This method uses your internet connection twice — once to download from iCloud, once to upload to Jottacloud. For libraries over 50 GB, expect this to take several hours on a typical home connection.

Method 2: Upload from Your iPhone Using the Jottacloud App

If your photos are already on your iPhone and you'd rather not touch a computer, the Jottacloud iOS app handles the backup directly. It pulls from your camera roll and uploads to your Jottacloud account in the background.

Install Jottacloud for iOS from the App Store and sign in with your Jottacloud account.

Option A: Enable Automatic Photo Backup

The simplest approach is turning on automatic backup inside the Jottacloud app. Go to Settings → Backup → Photo Backup and enable it. The app will back up your entire camera roll to a dedicated folder in Jottacloud — typically Jottacloud / Photos / Camera Uploads.

Choose your backup quality:

Original quality: Full resolution, preserves HEIC. Recommended for archiving.
Optimized: Slightly reduced file size, faster upload, smaller footprint in Jottacloud.

Option B: Upload Specific Albums Manually

If you only want to move certain albums rather than your entire camera roll:

Open the Jottacloud app.
Tap the + button to add files.
Select Photos and Videos.
Browse to the album you want and select the files.
Choose a destination folder in Jottacloud and confirm.

Keep in mind: The Jottacloud iPhone app can only back up what's physically stored on your device. If you have "Optimize iPhone Storage" enabled — and most people with large libraries do — your iPhone keeps full-resolution photos only for recent shots, then quietly replaces older originals with small thumbnails to reclaim space. The full-resolution files live in iCloud's servers, not on the phone. The Jottacloud app will upload those thumbnails, not the originals, and show a completed backup — but photos from a few years back will be missing at full resolution. If you've taken thousands of photos over the years and let iCloud manage the storage, more of your library may be "optimized away" than you realize. For a complete migration of every original file, Method 3 is the reliable path.

Method 3: Move iCloud Photos to Jottacloud Directly in the Cloud (No Local Downloads)

At Some Point, Downloading Your Entire Library Becomes the Wrong Move

Once your iCloud library grows past a few hundred gigabytes — or once you simply don't want to tie up your internet connection for days — downloading everything locally just to upload it again stops making sense. CloudsLinker connects iCloud Photos and Jottacloud directly. Photos move cloud-to-cloud without passing through your computer, without consuming your home bandwidth, without your hard drive getting involved at all.

Step 1: Connect iCloud Photos

In CloudsLinker, click Add Cloud and select iCloud Photos. Enter your Apple ID and password. If two-factor authentication is enabled, you'll receive a verification code on your trusted Apple device — enter it when prompted.

Connect iCloud Photos inside CloudsLinker dashboard

Once connected, your iCloud albums appear in the CloudsLinker dashboard. You can transfer your entire library or select specific albums — useful for testing with a small batch before moving everything.

Step 2: Connect Jottacloud (Personal Login Token)

Jottacloud uses a personal login token for third-party connections — not your account password. CloudsLinker never stores your Jottacloud password.

Get your token from Jottacloud:

Log into jottacloud.com and go to Settings → Security.
Click Generate under Personal Login Token.
Copy the token immediately — it's shown only once.

Add Jottacloud in CloudsLinker:

Click Add Cloud and select Jottacloud.
Enter a name for this connection (e.g. "My Jottacloud").
Paste the token and click Add.

Connect Jottacloud using personal login token in CloudsLinker

Step 3: Configure the Transfer

Go to the Transfer section. Set iCloud Photos as the source and Jottacloud as the destination.

For the destination path, navigate to the Jottacloud folder where you want your photos to land. You can choose an existing folder or create a new one directly inside CloudsLinker — for example, name it "iCloud Backup 2024".

Unlike Google Photos, Jottacloud is a standard file system. There are no "albums" to configure — photos arrive as files inside the folder you select, organized exactly as they were in iCloud.

Transfer configuration from iCloud Photos to Jottacloud in CloudsLinker

Step 4: Start and Monitor the Transfer

Click Transfer Now. The task appears in your Task List, where you can monitor progress in real time. Because the transfer runs entirely in the cloud, your computer and phone do not need to stay on.

For large libraries — hundreds of gigabytes or more — this is the key advantage. Photos move directly between iCloud's infrastructure and Jottacloud's Norwegian servers. Your home internet connection is never the bottleneck.

Comparing the 3 Ways to Move Photos from iCloud Photos to Jottacloud

Method	Ease of Use	Speed	Best For	Uses Local Bandwidth	Skill Level
Web Browser (Download → Upload)	★★★★★	★★★☆☆	Small exports, selective albums	Yes (download + upload)	Beginner
iPhone (Jottacloud App Backup)	★★★★★	★★☆☆☆	iPhone camera roll, ongoing backup	Yes (Wi-Fi upload)	Beginner
CloudsLinker (Cloud-to-Cloud)	★★★★☆	★★★★★	Large libraries, full migration	No	Beginner

Practical Tips for Moving iCloud Photos to Jottacloud

Jottacloud uses folders, not albums: Unlike Google Photos or Apple Photos, Jottacloud is a file system. Photos land as individual files inside the folder you specify. You can create subfolders for each year or album to keep things organized.
Generate the token before starting CloudsLinker: Jottacloud personal login tokens are shown only once at generation. Get your token from Settings → Security → Generate and save it somewhere safe before opening CloudsLinker.
HEIC files are stored as-is: Jottacloud preserves HEIC files from iPhone without converting them. If you want JPEG versions for compatibility with other software, use "Most Compatible" export from iCloud.com when doing a manual download.
Check available Jottacloud storage before large transfers: If you're on a free or basic Jottacloud plan with a storage cap, verify you have enough headroom before starting. Unlimited plans have no cap, but free-tier accounts do.
iCloud 2FA: have your Apple device nearby: When connecting iCloud Photos in CloudsLinker, you'll need to complete two-factor authentication. Have your trusted iPhone or iPad on hand to receive and enter the Apple verification code.
iCloud "Optimize Storage" affects iPhone-based methods: If your iPhone has "Optimize iPhone Storage" enabled, full-resolution originals may not be stored locally. The Jottacloud iPhone app can only back up what's downloaded to the device. For the full iCloud library, cloud-to-cloud transfer is more complete.
Verify the transfer before removing anything from iCloud: After transferring, spot-check a few albums in Jottacloud and compare photo counts before cancelling your iCloud+ plan or deleting originals. CloudsLinker's Task List shows the transfer summary when it completes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Jottacloud is a file-based storage system, not a photo service. Photos arrive as individual files inside the destination folder you specify during the transfer setup — there are no "albums" in Jottacloud the way there are in Google Photos or Apple Photos. You can create a folder structure that mirrors your iCloud albums (e.g. iCloud Backup / 2023 / Italy Trip) to keep things organized. This actually makes long-term archiving simpler — your photos are plain files in plain folders, accessible from any device or file manager.

When using CloudsLinker, photos land in the destination folder you specify in Jottacloud. iCloud album names are not automatically recreated as subfolders — everything goes into the one folder you select during setup.

If preserving your album structure matters, the cleanest approach is to transfer albums one at a time: in CloudsLinker, choose a specific iCloud album as the source, then create a matching subfolder in Jottacloud as the destination. For example, transfer Italy 2022 into Jottacloud / Photos / Italy 2022, then Family 2023 into Jottacloud / Photos / Family 2023. It takes more sessions, but the result is a folder hierarchy that mirrors your original organization. Because Jottacloud is a standard file system — not an album-locked service — that structure is readable from any file manager, on any device, without depending on any specific app to make sense of it years from now.

Yes. Jottacloud stores HEIC files without conversion — they're uploaded and preserved exactly as captured by your iPhone. The Jottacloud web and desktop apps can preview HEIC files natively. If you plan to use your photos in apps or on devices that don't support HEIC, you can choose "Most Compatible" export from iCloud.com to get JPEG versions instead before uploading. But for a pure backup where preserving original quality matters, HEIC is fine.

iCloud Photos is connected using your Apple ID and password, followed by two-factor authentication if your account has it enabled (which it likely does). You'll receive a verification code on your trusted Apple device — enter it when CloudsLinker prompts you. Make sure "Access iCloud Data on the Web" is enabled in your Apple ID settings, as some account configurations restrict third-party access by default. Once connected, your albums and photo library appear directly inside the CloudsLinker dashboard.

If you're on a Jottacloud unlimited plan, storage limits aren't a concern — there's no cap on how much you can upload. If you're on a free or limited plan, the transfer will stop when the storage quota is reached. Before starting a large migration, check your available space in Jottacloud → Settings → Storage. If you're close to the limit, upgrading to an unlimited plan before transferring is the simpler path — it removes the need to estimate your library size in advance.

Not the same thing. The Jottacloud iPhone app is a camera roll backup — it uploads whatever is physically stored on your device. When iCloud is working as designed, that's actually less than you think.

With "Optimize iPhone Storage" enabled, your iPhone keeps full-resolution photos for recent shots, then quietly replaces older originals with compressed thumbnails to save space. Your actual full-resolution files live in iCloud's servers — not on the phone. The Jottacloud app has no way to reach them there. It will upload the thumbnails it finds, mark the backup as complete, and you won't realize your 2020 trip photos and anything else that got "optimized" are missing from the archive until you look for them.

Cloud-to-cloud transfer via CloudsLinker reads directly from iCloud's servers, so every original file — regardless of what's downloaded to your phone — gets moved to Jottacloud at full resolution.

Yes. When configuring the transfer in CloudsLinker, you choose iCloud Photos as the source and can navigate into specific albums rather than selecting the entire library. This is useful for testing the setup with a small album first before committing to a full migration. It's also practical if you only want to archive certain albums to Jottacloud — for example, moving yearly trip albums for long-term backup while keeping recent photos accessible in iCloud.

Conclusion

A few albums? Download from iCloud and upload to Jottacloud directly. Photos already on your iPhone? The Jottacloud app handles it in the background. A full library — years of originals, RAW files, 4K video — cloud-to-cloud transfer in CloudsLinker is the right tool. No downloads, no bandwidth bottleneck, no hard drive involved. Setup takes about ten minutes. Your photos end up on Norwegian servers, outside Apple's infrastructure, on your terms.

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