The short answer
Use Account migration in PhotoKeeper to choose a source and destination, open the source library, and select the media to copy. The app retrieves missing originals, uploads and verifies them, and retains the source files. Album membership, favorites, and editing history are not copied.
What this migration copies
PhotoKeeper’s Account migration copies selected photos and videos from one iCloud account into another. You can select a small group or the entire scanned library. The source media and existing local originals are retained.
Your Windows PC handles the transfer: it reuses verified local originals where available, downloads missing originals from the source, and uploads the media to the destination. Plan for local disk space as well as space in the destination iCloud account.
- Included: supported original photos, standalone videos, and both components of Live Photos. Existing capture dates, location and media metadata, and hidden status are carried over where supported.
- Not copied: album membership, favorites, and editing history. Preserved original media does not guarantee that every special Photos editing mode or effect is recreated.
- Outside this workflow: Recently Deleted items, contacts, messages, iCloud Drive files, and device backups. This does not merge Apple Accounts or transfer purchases.
Keep an independent backup of irreplaceable media. The Windows backup tutorial explains how to make and check one.
1. Prepare both accounts and your PC
Use a supported Windows 11 x64 PC and a current PhotoKeeper version with Account migration. Connect both Apple Accounts and complete their sign-in and verification prompts. You must have permission to access and copy the media in each account.
Both accounts need active PhotoKeeper trial or license access for their part of the operation: library access and original downloads for the source, and uploads for the destination. Adding a second local account does not automatically give it the first account’s entitlement.
Check the destination’s available iCloud capacity and the free space on the PC’s source media drive. A thumbnail cache can be much smaller than the originals you are about to download. Keep any external source drive connected during the transfer.
Choose two different Apple Accounts. Adding the same Apple identity twice in PhotoKeeper does not create a valid migration destination.
2. Open and refresh the source library
Click Account migration at the top right. Set Source account to the account holding your media and Destination iCloud to the account that should receive it. Use Add account if the destination has not been connected yet.
Select Open source library. The first visit scans the complete accessible source photo library, including videos and Live Photos. It does not use the album filter from a backup plan or restrict the scan to items already downloaded on the PC.
Later visits can reuse the saved library view. Check its update time and choose Refresh library if you have added or changed items in iCloud. If the source library changes during a scan and PhotoKeeper asks you to scan again, refresh before proceeding.
3. Review the selection
Review the photo, video, and Live Photo totals, along with the counts of local originals and originals that need downloading. The source gallery lets you filter by media type, date, and download status.
For a first check, choose Clear selection and select a few representative items: an ordinary photo, a video, and a Live Photo. Check the selected count before starting.
When you are ready to copy everything in the scanned library, choose Select entire library. Select all results applies to the current filtered results, so use the control that matches your intended scope.
Review items that need attention. Missing originals, incomplete Live Photo pairs, unsupported files, and cloud errors remain visible; they are not silently counted as successfully migrated.
4. Start the migration and monitor progress
Check the source, destination, and selected count again, then choose Start migrating with the displayed item count. PhotoKeeper completes missing originals, uploads to the destination, and verifies the result. An item is marked complete only after its verification succeeds.
You can use Continue in background, close the dialog, or browse another account while the task runs. The task keeps its original source and destination. Keep PhotoKeeper running and the PC awake; closing the application interrupts the work.
Large libraries need time for both downloads and uploads. A waiting or retrying state may reflect an Apple service limit or another task using that account. Read the status before starting an additional migration of the same collection.
5. Resume incomplete items
If you stop the task, lose the connection, or restart the app, reopen the migration entry or its record in Recent tasks. Review the incomplete items and resolve the reported problem, such as reconnecting a drive, freeing space, or renewing the account’s authorization.
Select Retry remaining items to continue the saved task. Verified items are retained so that the task can work on what is still unfinished. Prefer this to creating a new task just because a previous run was interrupted.
For photos added to the source later, refresh the library and create a new selection. A completed migration represents the items selected from that library view, not continuous synchronization between the accounts.
6. Verify the destination library
- Review the task’s verified and incomplete counts. A partially completed task still needs attention.
- Open the destination library and inspect photos from different dates, including some that required downloading.
- Play several videos and Live Photos, checking motion and audio where present. See the Live Photo upload guide for the device playback check.
- Check important dates, locations, and hidden items. Recreate any album organization or favorites you still need.
- Allow devices signed in to the destination account to finish syncing before judging what is missing.
Apple explains how to check the account and library sync status in its iCloud Photos troubleshooting guide. A verified cloud transfer does not mean every connected device has finished updating.
Migration leaves the source library in place. If you later decide to delete source items or change its storage plan, treat that as a separate decision: iCloud deletions sync to devices using that source library, as described in Apple’s iCloud Photos guide. Work through the storage downgrade checklist before making that change.