Cloud computing means storing your files and running programs on powerful computers somewhere else, accessed through the internet, instead of keeping everything on your own device. When you save a photo to iCloud or Google Photos, you're using cloud computing. The photo gets stored on huge computers (called servers) in big warehouses, and you can view it from any device by logging into your account.

Think of it like a library. Instead of buying and storing every book you might want to read, you borrow them when you need them. Cloud computing works similarly: instead of your computer doing all the work and storing everything, it borrows computing power and storage space from distant servers whenever you need it.

This explains why you can start writing a document on a school computer, continue it on a tablet at home, and finish it on your phone, all without emailing files to yourself. The document lives “in the cloud” (really, on those remote servers), and any device with internet access can reach it.

Companies use cloud computing too. Instead of buying expensive computers for every task, they rent computing power from cloud services like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, paying only for what they use, like paying for electricity instead of building their own power plant.