Windows 10: How to delete iCloud Photos folder?

I've uninstalled iCloud from my Win10 laptop, but the app has left behind a folder, namely iCloudPhotos.I saw a previous question that was answered with a reddit link. Why not just post the answer here?The solution in the reddit link was to delete this registry key:HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{9C4E52E4-D29C-424F-AF99-527F4239D844}The problem is that there is no key with that name.There is one: it's the only one in that section and it's the label for my OneDrive, so I'm not deleting that!Any suggestions?

:)

 

Unable to delete photos from iCloud Photos folder

On iCloud.com I deleted several hundred photos. As I watched the folder on my Windows PC many of the icons and files disappeared from my Windows PC. This is what I was expecting.

But there were a few of the deleted photos that remained on the PC. This is the first indication something was wrong. So I deselected the checkbox for Photos in iCloud for Windows settings, then hit Apply. At the Turn off iCloud Photos pop-up I selected Delete from PC. Of course, any remaining photos in iCloud.com would still be there.

Then I rebooted the PC. When it rebooted, I then opened iCloud Settings and re-enabled Photos. When I browsed to the iCloud Photos folder, thumbnails for ALL of the photos I had on iCloud, even the ones I supposedly deleted, were repopulated into Windows Explorer. The status symbol was the cloud, indicating the file was still available to download.

When I opened the thumbnails with Windows Photos, the photo was downloaded and a full resolution image is displayed. That photo does not show up on iCloud.com.

Now when I try to delete the photo I get the following error:


Why is this image available when I deleted it from both iCloud.com AND my Windows PC?

How do I fix my iCloud Photos folder?

 

MANY iCloud Photos icons appearing in Explorer file directory. More generated every day. Folders are empty. No way to delete the icons.

I want to THANK @JackDaniels1171 for posting a solution on a related thread that helped me figure this out. I've edited his comments a bit to help others who may be suffering from this same, very frustrating problem.

As noted in my original post above, every time I logged in, a new iCloud Photos icon appeared in the left pane of my File Explorer directory. When it got to 28 entries, I screamed "Enough!" Here's what I ended up doing to fix it.

• I uninstalled iCloud for Windows.
• I opened Regedit as Administrator.
• I searched the registry for "iCloud Photos", matching the whole string.
• The first result was located in this location.

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\

• This section of the registry contained many keys. There was one "iCloud Photos" key for each iCloud Photos folder appearing on the left side of my File Explorer directory listing, but there were also entries for
  other things that should be left as is.
  Be careful!
• I resized the Regedit window in order to see the entire key so that I didn't inadvertently delete something I meant to keep.
  
• In my case, there were 28 "iCloud Photos" key entries.
• I carefully deleted each "iCloud Photos" key (and sub-keys) and moved on to the next "iCloud Photos" key. Sometimes the next key in the registry was an "iCloud Photos" key, but if not, I pressed F3 to locate the next one.
  
• I kept careful track and deleted all 28 "iCloud Photos" keys in this section.
• I pressed F3 again to search for the next entry. It was found in this section of the registry.

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\

• Like the previous section, this part of the registry included keys for iCloud Photos as well as
  other things.
• There was one "iCloud Photos" key in the registry for each iCloud Photos folder appearing in my File Explorer directory listing.
• I repeated the steps above to carefully delete each one.
• I did NOT press F3 after deleting the last entry in this section. Instead, I closed all the branches in Regedit and went to the third section of the registry directly.

-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\

• Like the other sections, this part of the registry included keys for iCloud Photos as well as
  other things.
• After carefully deleting all of the "iCloud Photos" key entries,
  I went to the fourth section of the registry directly.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel

• Like the other sections, this part of the registry included keys for iCloud Photos as well as
  other things.
• I looked at the lengthy registry ID keys that I did NOT delete in the section above. I found a corresponding entry for each one in the keys listed in this section.
• That left the "iCloud Photos" keys to be deleted. I counted them to make certain it was the same number that I had deleted in each of the previous three sections of the registry.
• I deleted ONLY the "iCloud Photos" keys. I was
  very careful NOT to delete the keys corresponding to the things I kept in the prior section of the registry.

• I exited Regedit and restarted my computer.
• I checked my File Explorer directory and noted with delight that all of the unwanted iCloud Photos folders were gone. Yay!
  

What I learned is this: For users who run
both OneDrive and iCloud for Windows, every time the computer starts, iCloud logs in and OneDrive creates a new iCloud Photos folder in the File Explorer directory. By uninstalling iCloud for Windows, I eliminated the source of the problem. (I have
better ways to back up and share my photos!) But, I still had to edit the registry to get rid of the accumulated pesky File Explorer directory entries.

All looks good now. Wherever you are, JackDaniels1171, THANK YOU!

 

How to Upload Folders of Photos to Albums on iCloud?

I'm trying to determine the best way to migrate multiple folders of photos on Windows 10 to iCloud.

Currently, I'm copying each folder of photos to the iCloud Photos\Uploads folder, which successfully uploads the photos to iCloud, however, the photos do not appear in albums and are therefore no longer grouped.

Is there a way to upload a folder of photos so that it appears in an album on iCloud, or do I have to manually create the album and move the photos into it after uploading?

Also, after uploading the folder of photos, should I delete the folder from the Uploads folder?