How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to PC – Mac & Windows
Wondering how to transfer photos from an iPhone to a PC?
Despite how frustrating Apple products can be with removing all the ports on their phones, thankfully they haven’t got rid of the main one for transferring images.
There are in fact many ways to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Windows or Mac computer, and they’re all pretty simple.
Airdrop is a modern marvel, Google Drive and Dropbox are both free, and there’s always good old USB.
Heres a list of options, with step by steps and screengrabs to make it as easy as possible.
Wireless Ways to Transfer Photos from iPhone to your computer – Google Drive, OneDrive, & Dropbox
Thanks to cheap data plans and superfast Wifi, using cloud storage is arguably the easiest way to move photographs.
Why?
Cables get lost, computers don’t have the necessary drivers, the list goes on.
I’ve listed many different ways of transferring your pictures to your PC from an iPhone in this article, but wirelessly is probably going to be the simplest.
With the help of technology, there are many ways in which you can transfer photos from your iPhone to your PC online. One of the most popular ways is via Google Drive.
Google Drive is a cloud based file storage solution from Google.
You can get 15GB of storage for free, which is pretty generous.
It allows users to store files in the cloud and synchronize them across all their devices, whether they are using Mac or Windows. All you need is to have the Google Drive app on your phone, and then you can upload your photos online.
When you get to your PC, you can access Google Drive on your internet browser to download the files.
Or have the Google Drive folder in your iPhone and your MacBook to sync photos.
OneDrive app is another file storage solution that is available for both Windows and Mac OS. Similar with Google Drive, OneDrive allows you to backup photos from your iPhone and make them available on your Mac or Windows PC if you have the app on both of your devices.
Another file storage service that lets you save pictures from your phone online so you can sync and access them across different devices, including your Windows or Mac computer is called Dropbox.
A free account on Dropbox gives you 2GB of data storage, so you might as well use it wisely. A premium account is available, I have 2TB of storage that I pay £9.99 a month for.
The best thing about these cloud storage solutions is they allow you to share the files across your team without physically going to each person.
For example, if you want to transfer photos from your phone to a friend who is living on the other side of the world, you can simply upload your photos on Google Drive and give a shareable link to your friend. Using the link, your friend can easily access the images via phone or PC and download them anytime.
Transferring Photos From iPhone to PC via USB
Using a USB cable to transfer photos from your iPhone to PC is one of the most common ways of moving images and by far the easiest.
To initiate transfer using this method, you need your iPhone charge cable.
Step 1: Connect one end of the USB cable to your iPhone and the other end to the USB port of your computer.
Step 2: Turn your phone on and unlock it. Your PC will not find your device if it is locked.
Step 3: On your PC, select Start and go to your Folders or navigate to This PC. You should see an “Apple iPhone” device folder on the window.
On your phone, you should be able to see a prompt asking you how to use your device, whether you want to Charge Only or Transfer Files.
You can select Transfer Files to set your phone on import mode.
Alternately, after selecting the Start button on your PC, select Photos to open the Photos App.
Then Select Import > From a USB Device, then just follow the prompts.
A new folder will pop up that contains DCIM photos from your phone.
Highlight the photos that you want to transfer, copy and paste them in a New Folder on your PC.
Transferring Photos from Your iPhone to PC using iCloud App
Moving images from your iPhone to your computer via iCloud is a simple way of transferring images wirelessly.
So, what is iCloud?
iCloud is a storage service for Apple users that allows you to upload media from your iPhone to your iCloud account.
You can tell your phone to automatically transfer/backup photos to ‘iCloud Photos’ or download pictures from your iPhone to your PC using iCloud.com.
iCloud is a paid for service, for 50GB of storage, you need to pay $0.99 per month while 200GB of storage requires $2.99 per month.
Step 1: On your Settings, turn on your iCloud Photos, now every time you take a picture, it is automatically uploaded to iCloud.
Step 2: Once you’ve backed up your photos on iCloud, you can download the iCloud app onto your computer or tablet and sign in using your Apple iCloud username.
Step 3: Open the iCloud app on your PC and go to iCloud Photo Library. Then select Download new photos and videos to my PC.
Step 4: To see photos that you’ve downloaded from iCloud, you can go to This PC and look for the iCloud icon. Open it and you will see your photos.
Transferring Photos from Your iPhone to PC via iCloud.com
As previously mentioned, you can use the icloud app, or you can use icloud.com. In this section, let’s tackle the steps on how you can download from the browser itself. This is a good option if you cannot download the iCloud app on your computer. Just follow the steps below.
Step 1: Enable iCloud Photos on your iPhone.
Step 2: Just tap Settings > Photos > iCloud Photos just like the first few steps above. Then, open iCloud.com on your computer browser.
Step 3: Open the web browser and sign in using your Apple ID and password. If you’re using two-factor authentication on your iPhone, this action will prompt you to enter a 6-digit PIN on your PC. At the same time, a pop-up widow will appear on you iPhone indicating that your Apple ID has been signed-in on your PC.
Step 4: Tap Allow, then enter the 6-digit PIN on your PC.
From iCloud.com just click on Photos, you can now access your photo library. The library is organized exactly in the same order as your photos show on your iPhone.
Step 5: On the left-hand sidebar, click Media Type and then My Albums to see your photos. Highlight the image that you want to download and then click the cloud icon on top of the window to download it. Or you can highlight all images and download all of them.
Transferring Photos from Your iPhone to PC using Windows Photos App
If you’re using Windows, you can transfer photos via the Windows Photos app, which is also known as Microsoft Photos. It is usually installed on your PC already.
Step 1: Make sure to install the latest version of iTunes on your PC. If you’re not sure if you have the latest version, open iTunes on your PC and then click Help. Check for updates and install them (if there are any).
Step 2: Plug your iPhone into your PC using your USB charger cable. You will receive a notification on your iPhone asking if you trust the computer. To allow the PC to access your iPhone, just enter the passcode when prompted.
Step 3: On your PC, open the Photos app. If you don’t know how to find the app, click the start button in the bottom left corner of the screen and just type ‘Photos’. It will come up, promise.
This will give you the option to import your photos from iPhone to PC. Note that the option may vary depending on which version of Windows you’re using. For instance, if you are using Windows 10, this option will be in the top right corner of the Photos app. If you are using Windows 8, you need to right-click anywhere on the Photos app, and it will show the Import option.
Step 4: Click Import. Select the items you want to import – you can select one or highlight all photos to download them all in one go. Then click Continue to proceed with the import. In a few minutes you will see the files being transferred from you iPhone to your PC. Once everything is done, you can see your imported photos within your Pictures folder organized by date.
Transferring Photos from Your iPhone to PC via Windows AutoPlay
There are several versions of Windows, so be mindful that your options may vary depending on which version of Windows you have. Unfortunately, if you have Windows 7 computer, you won’t be able to use the options I’ve mentioned above because your computer won’t have the Photos App.
The easiest method of transferring images and videos from your iPhone to your Windows 7 PC is to use the Windows AutoPlay. Follow these steps below.
Step 1: First, connect your iPhone to your computer. You will be prompted to allow your computer to access your iPhone. Just click Trust or enter the passcode to allow access.
As soon as your iPhone successfully connects to your computer, an Autoplay Window will appear.
Step 2: Click Import Photos and Videos (do not choose the Dropbox option)
This option will automatically import all of your images and videos from your iPhone to your computer. Your photographs will be organized in your Pictures folder by the date of import.
Transferring Photos from Your iPhone to PC via File Explorer/Windows Explorer
Another way to copy or move pictures from your iPhone to your Windows 7 PC is to use the File Explorer or Windows Explorer.
Just connect your iPhone to your PC using the USB cable. Again, it will prompt you to enter the passcode to allow your PC to access the data in your phone.
In some cases, File Explorer will pop-up automatically, which will show you the images and videos on your iPhone.
If not, go to This PC (shown below) the double click on the ‘Apple iPhone’ device to open it.
Once you click Apple iPhone, go to Internal Storage > DCIM. You will see all photos and videos organized in different folders.
If you want to copy all your photos from your iPhone, just highlight everything (Ctrl+ A) and then Copy (Ctrl + C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) them all into a separate folder on your PC.
Alternatively if you want to look for individual files, just double click on the individual folders and pick out the pictures you want to copy. Right click on them, select Copy, navigate to the folder you want them to be moved to, right click in the empty space and click Paste.
How to Download Photos from iPhone on to your Mac with AirDrop
AirDrop is just one of the many applications you can use to transfer photos from one iPhone to another, or to your Mac. But before you begin, you need to have access to Wi-Fi and your receiver as well.
It also needs a 2012 or later Mac model running OS X Yosemite or later.
Step 1: Tap the AirDrop button on your iPhone. Open the AirDrop app on your MacBook as well and you’ll see a list of accessible devices (to access airdrop on your Mac, open Finder and click on Airdrop in the sidebar).
Step 2: On your iPhone go to Photos > Select Album and click on any images you want to send to your Mac.
You should see a pop up on your screen which asks you which devices can see you, ‘everyone’ or ‘Contacts only’. If you’re trying to receive pictures from someone not in your contacts make sure you select the right option.
Step 3: Tap on the share button which you’ll find at the bottom of the screen.
Step 4: Click the device you want to send to and your files will start transferring.
iPhone to iPhone: When you share photos from your iPhone to another iPhone, the receiver will get a notification whether to Decline or Accept the file transfer. Click on Accept to save the photos directly to the Gallery. If you are transferring from your iPhone to your PC, you won’t be able to see this notification. Rather, the photos are automatically saved in your PC folder.
