Recently when I have been trying to open photographs in my iCloud folder on my iPhone I am being told “to use this function you need to add a compatible printer”. The thing is I’m not trying to print anything. I am simply trying to show someone a photograph. This has only just started happening and I don’t know why or how to correct it.
iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 26
Thanks for your answer Richard. When your photos app gets a bit too busy, you can move files (such as jpegs, pdf’s, avi’s etc) into your iCloud folder and make dedicated folders to keep them all in, such as movies, cars, holidays, kids etc. anyway for years any time I have clicked on a thumbnail, the file has simply went ahead and opened as normal. That was until two weeks ago when I tried to open some JPEGs and it said that I needed a connected printer for some reason. Anyway, thanks, I seem to have resolved it now. It appears that another app from Canon was interfering with images on my phone. Having deleted it, everything is working as per normal again.
Thanks for your answer Richard. When your photos app gets a bit too busy, you can move files (such as jpegs, pdf’s, avi’s etc) into your iCloud folder and make dedicated folders to keep them all in, such as movies, cars, holidays, kids etc. anyway for years any time I have clicked on a thumbnail, the file has simply went ahead and opened as normal. That was until two weeks ago when I tried to open some JPEGs and it said that I needed a connected printer for some reason. Anyway, thanks, I seem to have resolved it now. It appears that another app from Canon was interfering with images on my phone. Having deleted it, everything is working as per normal again.
I'm not sure what you mean by "open photographs in my iCloud folder on my iPhone." Usually we view pictures in the Photos app. Do you have pictures in iCloud Drive in the Files app? Can you tell us exactly what you're doing?
Also, do you use iCloud Photos? Do you use "Optimize Storage?"
I'm glad that's working for you. The Files app is way less efficient than the Photos app at handling images, but whatever works…
Being asked for a printer just to look at photos
