Can you upload photos directly to iCloud website from a PC (w/o iCloud for Windows SW)?

Question

iCloud website, Photos section doesn't have any options to upload photos. I was able to upload picture files to iCloud Drive so hopefully they show up in Photos app on iPhone? I was helping a friend move some stuff on a Windows PC at work & visiting the site via Firefox. I cannot load iCloud for Windows on my work PC.

EDIT: It was a new iPhone & friend didn't have it with him. I had downloaded photos+contacts from his old flip phone that I was trying to upload to iCloud website. See my answer below as I believe the new-ness of the phone/iCloud/Apple-account was the cause & I overlooked that.

Answer 1

Log into iCloud.com, open the Photos web app, and you should see an Upload to iCloud icon in the upper right corner.

Answer 2

After logging into another iCloud account & going to Photos I did have an upload button so clearly something unique with friends iCloud account. I believe it was because this was a new iCloud account & new iPhone with no pictures (I was trying to upload them on from old phone). I guess the iPhone Photos app had to be used before the website would be initialized/usable? The iCloud Photos simply had a background with no buttons (except switching to other iCloud apps) that I should have taken a picture of. Since my friend left I don't have access to his iCloud account anymore. However I believe my assumption was correct based on a Firefox cache file (https://www.icloud.com/applications/photos/1918Hotfix1/en-us/main.js) Line 11 & Column 54709:

"FirstRun.Title":"Welcome to Photos","FirstRun.Contents.Message":"The Photos app works seamlessly with iCloud to keep all your photos and videos safely stored and up-to-date on the web, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.","FirstRun.NotEnabled.Advice":"To use Photos, go to iCloud Settings on your iOS device, tap on Photos, and turn on iCloud Photos. On a Mac, open Photos, go to Preferences, and turn on iCloud Photos.","FirstRun.Footnote":"*iCloud Photos requires iOS 8.1 or later, or macOS Yosemite 10.10.3 or later."

He brought in his phone later & indeed iCloud was setup on it, but I believe syncing Contacts & Photos was off. Based on some googling of the bold text above I think this is what it looked like to me hence the confusion:

Answer 3

Here is what you need:

Before you get started, you need to sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID. Just follow the setup instructions for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch or Mac. Then follow these steps to turn on iCloud Photos on your PC with Windows 7 or later.

Turn on iCloud Photos

1. Download iCloud for Windows.

2. Open iCloud for Windows.

3. Next to Photos, click Options.
4. Select iCloud Photo Library.
5. Click Done, then click Apply.
6. Turn on iCloud Photos on all of your Apple devices.

Upload your photos and videos to iCloud Photos

You can upload your photos and videos from your PC to iCloud Photos when you follow these steps:

1. Open a File Explorer window.
2. Under Favorites, click iCloud Photos.
3. Click Upload photos and videos.
4. Choose the photos and videos you want to upload and click Open.

You can also drag and drop photos and videos from your PC into the Uploads folder in iCloud Photos. You can view the photos and videos you uploaded in the Photos app on iCloud.com and on all your Apple devices.

Download your photos and videos from iCloud Photos

New photos and videos you add to iCloud Photos will automatically download to your PC. You can also download your collection by year when you follow these steps:

1. Open a File Explorer window.
2. Under Favorites, click iCloud Photos.
3. Click Download photos and videos.
4. Choose the photos and videos you want to download and click Download.
5. Your photos and videos download to the location you set in iCloud Photos Options.