How to Transfer Photos From iPhone to Computer

Phones have quietly become the family photo album, and that album tends to grow until the storage warning appears. Copying pictures to a computer frees up space, makes editing easier on a bigger screen and gives you a second copy if the phone is ever lost. There are two broad ways to do it: plug in a cable, or let a cloud photo library do the moving for you. Both work on Windows and on a Mac.

Before you start

• Use a data cable. Some cheap leads only charge. If the computer never notices the phone, try the cable that came with it or another one you know carries data.
• Unlock the phone. The photos stay hidden from the computer while the screen is locked.
• Tap Trust. The first time you connect, the iPhone asks whether to trust this computer. Choose Trust and enter your passcode.
• Check free space. Make sure the computer's drive has room for the photos and videos you plan to copy.

One setting worth checking first

iPhones usually save photos in the HEIC format and videos as MOV files. They are efficient, but some older programs struggle to open them. On the iPhone, go to Settings, then Photos, and scroll to the section about transferring to a Mac or PC.

• Automatic converts files into widely supported formats during the transfer.
• Keep Originals copies the files exactly as they are stored on the phone.

If you are not sure which programs you will use later, Automatic is the more forgiving choice. Videos sometimes still need converting afterwards; our guide to converting MOV to MP4 explains when that makes sense and how to keep the quality.

On a Windows PC

With the Photos app

1. Connect the iPhone with the cable, unlock it and tap Trust if asked.
2. Open the Photos app from the Start menu.
3. Select Import, then choose your iPhone from the list of devices.
4. Pick the photos you want, or select everything since the last import, and choose a destination folder.
5. Start the import and leave the phone connected until it finishes.

With File Explorer

If you prefer to copy files by hand, open File Explorer, select the iPhone under This PC and open the internal storage. Pictures sit inside the DCIM folder, split into subfolders by date range. Drag the folders you want onto your computer. This route is quick for a few folders, though it does not sort anything for you.

On a Mac

With Photos

Connect the phone and open the Photos app. The iPhone appears in the sidebar. Select it, choose the pictures you want or import everything new, and pick an album if you like to keep imports organized by trip or month.

With Image Capture

Image Capture is a simple utility already on every Mac. It copies files straight into a folder of your choice without adding them to a photo library, which suits people who manage their own folder structure.

Without a cable: the cloud library

If iCloud Photos is switched on, every picture you take uploads to Apple's cloud and appears on your other devices signed in with the same Apple Account. On a Mac this happens inside the Photos app. On Windows, Apple's iCloud app adds the library to File Explorer, where you can download whatever you need.

Keep in mind that a synced library is not the same as a backup. If you delete a picture on the phone, it disappears from the synced library too, usually after a grace period in the Recently Deleted album. For a true second copy, download the files to the computer's own drive or an external disk.

Cable or cloud?

Common snags

• The import stalls halfway. Large libraries are easier in smaller batches, a month or a year at a time.
• Some photos are missing. If "Optimize iPhone Storage" is on, full-size originals may live only in the cloud. Download them there, or let the phone fetch them before importing.
• The phone does not appear. Unlock it again, try a different USB port and restart both devices.

Check before you clear the phone

Once the transfer finishes, open a handful of photos and videos on the computer, including some of the newest and oldest, to make sure they open properly. Only then delete them from the phone if you need the space. A second copy on an external drive is a sensible extra step for pictures you would hate to lose.