You shot a great video on your iPhone, and now you want to watch it on your iPad or Mac. But when you check, the video is nowhere to be found. It’s stuck on your phone, and iCloud seems to have completely ignored it.
This can be really frustrating, especially if you rely on iCloud to keep all your photos and videos in one place across your devices. The good thing is that this problem usually has a simple fix.
In this article, you’ll learn exactly what causes iCloud to stop syncing your videos and how to get everything working again on your own.
What Does It Mean When iCloud Won’t Sync Your Videos?
iCloud Photos is supposed to work like magic. When you take a video on one Apple device, it should show up on all your other Apple devices that use the same iCloud account. This happens through something called syncing. Your device uploads the video to Apple’s online storage, and then your other devices download it from there.
When syncing breaks down, your videos get stuck. They stay on one device and never make it to the cloud or to your other gadgets. You might see a little progress circle that never finishes, or the video might appear to upload but then vanish from your other devices.
Leaving this problem unfixed can cause bigger headaches down the line. Your iPhone storage might fill up because old videos can’t move to the cloud. You could lose precious memories if something happens to the one device holding them. And if you ever need to access a video from your Mac or iPad in a hurry, it simply won’t be there.
One thing to keep in mind is that videos take much longer to sync than photos because video files are much larger. A 4K video that’s a few minutes long can easily be several gigabytes. So sometimes what looks like a syncing problem is actually just a slow upload in progress.
iCloud Not Syncing Videos: Common Causes
Before you start fixing things, it helps to know why your videos stopped syncing in the first place. Here are the most likely reasons behind this annoying issue.
1. Poor or Unstable Internet Connection
iCloud needs a solid internet connection to upload and download your videos. If your Wi-Fi keeps dropping or runs too slowly, the upload process will stall or fail completely.
Videos are big files. A shaky connection might handle small photos just fine but choke on a large video. Your device might start the upload, lose the connection halfway through, and then give up entirely.
You can usually spot this issue if you notice other internet activities are slow too, like streaming music or loading web pages.
2. Not Enough iCloud Storage Space
Apple gives you 5GB of free iCloud storage when you set up your account. That sounds like a lot until you start saving videos. A single long video in high quality can eat up a big chunk of that space.
When your iCloud storage fills up, new videos simply have no place to go. Your device will try to sync them but fail because there’s no room left in the cloud.
3. iCloud Photos Is Turned Off or Paused
Sometimes the syncing feature gets switched off without you knowing. Maybe you turned it off by accident, or maybe a software update reset your settings.
There’s also a feature that pauses syncing to save battery life. If your device thinks you’re low on power or data, it might hold off on uploading your videos until conditions improve.
This is easy to miss because your phone doesn’t give you a big warning. You have to dig into the settings to see if iCloud Photos is actually running.
4. Outdated Software on Your Devices
Apple regularly updates iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. These updates often include fixes for iCloud syncing bugs. If you’re running an older version of the software, you might be dealing with a problem that Apple already solved.
Mismatched software versions can cause trouble too. If your iPhone is fully updated but your Mac is running old software, they might have trouble talking to each other through iCloud.
5. A Glitch in the iCloud System Itself
Every now and then, Apple’s own servers have problems. When iCloud itself is down or running slowly, none of your devices can sync properly.
This isn’t something you can fix on your end. You just have to wait for Apple to sort it out. But it’s worth checking for this before you spend time troubleshooting your own devices.
iCloud Not Syncing Videos: How to Fix
Now that you know what might be going wrong, let’s walk through the fixes. Start from the top and work your way down until your videos start syncing again.
1. Check Your Internet Connection
Your first move should be making sure your internet is actually working well. Try loading a few websites or streaming a short video to test the speed.
If things seem slow or spotty, try these steps:
- Turn your Wi-Fi off and back on again from your device’s settings
- Move closer to your router if you’re far away from it
- Restart your router by unplugging it for about 30 seconds, then plugging it back in
- Connect to a different Wi-Fi network if one is available
Once your internet feels stable and fast, give iCloud a few minutes to catch up. Large videos can take a while to upload even on good connections.
2. Make Sure iCloud Photos Is Turned On
Head into your device’s settings to confirm that iCloud Photos is enabled and actively syncing.
On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name at the top, then tap iCloud, and then Photos. Make sure the toggle for Sync this iPhone (or iPad) is switched on and showing green.
On a Mac, click the Apple menu, go to System Settings, click your name, then iCloud, and make sure Photos is checked.
While you’re there, look for any messages about syncing being paused. If you see one, tap to resume syncing.
3. Free Up iCloud Storage Space
If your storage is full, you need to make room before new videos can sync. Open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and you’ll see a bar showing how much space you’re using.
You have a few options here:
- Delete old backups you no longer need
- Remove photos and videos already saved elsewhere
- Clear out large files from iCloud Drive
- Upgrade to a paid iCloud plan for more storage
Apple offers 50GB, 200GB, and 2TB paid plans. If you take lots of videos, the upgrade might be worth it just for peace of mind.
4. Update Your Devices to the Latest Software
Running the newest software version can fix bugs that were blocking your sync. Apple is always squashing these kinds of issues.
On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, then General, then Software Update. If an update is available, tap Download and Install.
On a Mac, click the Apple menu, then System Settings, then General, and finally Software Update.
After updating, give your device a few minutes to restart and settle. Then check if your videos start syncing.
5. Sign Out of iCloud and Sign Back In
This might sound like a hassle, but it can clear up stubborn glitches. Signing out and back in forces your device to reconnect fresh to Apple’s servers.
Before you do this, make sure you know your Apple ID password. Then:
- On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, tap your name at the top, scroll down, and tap Sign Out
- Enter your password when asked
- Choose to keep a copy of your data on the device if you want
- Once signed out, sign back in with your Apple ID
Your videos and photos will start resyncing. This can take a while, so leave your device connected to Wi-Fi and plugged in if possible.
6. Check if Apple’s Servers Are Down
Sometimes the problem is on Apple’s side and there’s nothing wrong with your setup. You can check Apple’s System Status page to see if iCloud is having issues.
Open a web browser and go to apple.com/support/systemstatus. Look for iCloud Photos in the list. A green dot means everything is fine. A yellow or red dot means Apple knows about a problem and is working on it.
If the servers are down, all you can do is wait. Apple usually fixes these things within a few hours.
7. Contact Apple Support
If you’ve tried everything above and your videos still won’t sync, it’s time to call in the experts. There might be something deeper going on with your account or your device.
You can reach Apple Support through their website, the Apple Support app on your phone, or by visiting an Apple Store. Explain what’s happening and what you’ve already tried. They can look at your account from their end and spot issues you can’t see.
Wrapping Up
Getting your videos to sync again usually comes down to checking a few basic things: your internet, your settings, and your storage space. Most of the time, one of those is the culprit.
Take it step by step, and you’ll likely have everything flowing smoothly again soon. Your memories are too important to stay stuck on just one device, so it’s worth spending a few minutes to sort this out.