Access your iCloud content on your iMac
iCloud helps you keep your most important information—like your photos, files, notes, iCloud Keychain, and more—safe, up to date, and available across all your devices. It’s built into every Apple device, and everyone gets 5 GB of storage to start. (Purchases you make from the App Store, Apple TV app, Apple Books, or iTunes Store don’t count toward your available space.)
So if you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, just sign in on each device with your Apple ID, turn on iCloud, and you have everything you need. You can upgrade to iCloud if you need more storage and premium features including iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email Domain, and HomeKit Secure Video support.
For system requirements about devices that support iCloud, see the Apple Support article System requirements for iCloud.
Automatically store your desktop and Documents folder in iCloud Drive. You can save files in your Documents folder or on your desktop, and they’re automatically available on iCloud Drive and accessible wherever you are. When working with iCloud Drive, you have access to files on your iMac on your iPhone or iPad in the Files app, on the web at iCloud.com, or on a Windows PC in the iCloud for Windows app. When you make changes to a file on a device or on iCloud Drive, you can see your edits wherever you view the file.
To get started, open System Settings, click on your Apple ID in the sidebar, click iCloud, then turn on iCloud Drive. To learn more, see Set up iCloud Drive on all your devices in the iCloud User Guide. Also see the Apple Support article Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive.
Store and share photos. Store your photo library in iCloud and see your photos and videos, as well as the edits you make to them, on all your devices. To get started with iCloud Photos, open System Settings, click on your Apple ID in the side bar, click iCloud, then turn on Photos.
Use iCloud Shared Photo Library to share photos and videos with up to five other people. Everyone can make changes—like adding new content, making edits, or adding comments—to the shared library. Smart suggestions also make it easy to add the photos from your collection, such as photos featuring a specific person or taken on a certain date. To get started, go to Photos > Settings, click the Shared Library tab, and follow the onscreen instructions. To learn more about iCloud Photos, see Use iCloud Photos on iCloud.com in the iCloud User Guide.
Enjoy your purchases anywhere. When you’re signed in to your devices with the same Apple ID, purchases you’ve made on the App Store, Apple TV app, Book Store, and iTunes Store are available at any time, no matter which computer or device you used to purchase them. So all your music, movies, books, and more are available wherever you go.
Locate your iMac with Find My Mac. If your iMac is missing and you have Find My Mac turned on, you can use Find My to locate it on a map, lock its screen, and even erase its data remotely. To turn on Find My Mac, open System Settings, click your Apple ID in the side bar, click iCloud, click Show All, then turn on Find My Mac. See the Apple Support article If your Mac is lost or stolen.
Note: If your iMac has multiple user accounts, only one can have Find My Mac turned on.
Learn more. See the iCloud User Guide and What is iCloud? in the macOS User Guide.