Transfer Photos from iPhone to PC, Mac, iCloud & AirDrop

By Official SIM Unlock  •  18 March, 2020





Nowadays it seems everyone is snapping photos on their iPhones pretty much non-stop. At some point you will have to learn how to import your pictures onto your computer. There are several ways to easily transport your photographs from your handheld device to a computer. One of the easiest and most popular ways to move pictures from one device to another is to use the built-in Photos app. Both PC and Mac devices have this app and it offers an easy-to-use photo transfer feature. Alternatively, you can import your photos onto a Mac using iCloud. If you have Airdrop it could not be simpler to get those pictures onto your Mac with just the tap of a button. You don’t need to worry about getting your photos imported from an iPhone to a PC or Mac. This handy article will make it easy!

One of the fastest ways to download your photographs to either a PC or a Mac is to use a Lightning-to-USB cable.  Just plug it in and your computer will recognize your iPhone as a camera and open up the Photos app that comes built in. There are several other ways to import photos such as Dropbox, Google photos, or email that you can check out in other posts. This article will summarize how to use a USB cable and AirDrop to download your pictures. 

 

How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Apple Mac

  1. Plug in your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable

  2. The Photos app on your Mac should launch immediately after connecting, if it doesn’t you can open your Applications folder and click on the Photos app. 

  3. Select File from the top menu, then select Import.

  4. If you want to select specific photos for import hold down the command key while clicking on the pictures you wish to import. Finally tap on Review for Import. 

  5. Your Mac will inform you if any of the pictures you selected have already been transferred. You will have a choice whether you want to continue transferring the remaining photographs. You can do this by clicking Import New Photo.

  6. If you know that you want every one of your photographs transferred simply click Import All New Items.

  7. If you click on Last Import (located on the sidebar) you can see which photographs were recently transferred. 

 

How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to PC

There are a few minor differences between the older and more recent versions of Windows to be aware of when you are ready to transfer your photos. On a PC with Windows 8, after you connect your iPhone to the computer with a USB cord you will see a message pop up that says Tap to choose what happens to this device. When you tap on that message you will see the option to import Photos and Videos. If you have a version of Windows older than Windows 8, Autoplay will appear on your screen by default.  

This article will summarize how to move your photos from your iPhone onto your computer using Windows 10. Windows is similar to Mac in that they both have built in photo apps, making importing and organizing pictures a simple process. 

  1. Use a USB cable to plug your iPhone into your computer.

  2. The Photos app should immediately pop up. You can start the program yourself using either the search bar or the Windows Start menu.  

  3. Look for the import icon in the Photos app. It will be located in the upper right corner. 

  4. You will see your photos for transfer pop up on the screen, all you need to do is click on the ones you wish to transfer and click continue. 

  5. It is important to pay attention to the next pop up that occurs because otherwise your photos could get lost in the sea of data on your computer. This pop up indicates where your photos will be saved. If you want them saved in a different location you will have that option as well. 

  6. If you are trying to clear space on your phone don’t forget to click the box: delete imported items from device after importing.

  7. Click Import.

  8. You can view your albums either by selecting the ‘Album’ icon on the left sidebar or  clicking on the photos in the ‘Collections’ menu. 

This article will discuss two ways to transfer photos using iCloud: Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Library. Because there are some major differences between the two it is best to enable them both. 

 

How to Import Photos using iCloud Photo Stream

 Photo Stream is awesome to use if you want to be able to access your pictures on more than one device. Start by setting up iCloud Photo Stream. In order to do this, enable it on both your iPhone and your computer then follow the directions below. It is important to note that your iCloud storage will not be affected as iCloud photo stream does not use any of your iCloud storage. You will need to use a different method for storing your videos as iCloud Photo Stream will not allow you to upload videos. 

  1. First, you will need to open your setting app.

  2. At the top of the settings page you will see your name. Tap the banner with your name. 

  3. Turn on (Turn to green) ‘Upload to My Photo Stream’.

  4. If you are using a Mac, go to the Apple menu. Open System Preferences.

  5. On your PC click here to download iCloud for Windows.

  6. Click iCloud 

  7. Sign in.

  8. Beside Photos click Options. 

  9. There is a box beside My Photo Stream. Click on the box

  10. Tap Done.

You can put up to 1000 photos into Photo Stream but your pictures will only stay in your Photo Stream for 30 days so you need to ensure they are also saved to your computer. Once Photo Stream is set up your images will automatically be added as long as you have a  Wi-Fi connection.

It is simple to set up your iPhone so that Photo stream pictures are automatically backed up to your computer (Mac or PC):

  1. First, tap on the Photos app to open it

  2. Under Photos, choose Preference

  3. Click General.

  4. Click on Importing: Copy Items to the Photo Library.

If you follow the above steps you will not lose your photos when they are erased from Photo Stream in 30 days. Your other choice is to pay for iCloud storage and use the iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone. This will cost you some money but your snapshots will be stored in the Cloud and you will always have easy access to them. 

 

Download Photos from Your iPhone Using Airdrop (Mac)

Airdrop is an incredibly easy way to transfer pictures, but in order to use AirDrop you must be connected to Wi-Fi. You will also need to ensure your Mac is newer than 2012 and OS X Yosemite is downloaded onto it.  To transfer photographs from your iPhone to your Mac using AirDrop:

  1. Tap on the Photos app to open it on your iPhone or iPad

  2. Choose the snapshots you wish to put on your computer

  3. Click on Share

  4. AirDrop will be located at the top of the Share menu

  5. Tap on the name of the computer you want to transfer the images to 

  6. Look for the ‘Sent’ message

Don’t forget to tap the save button once the photographs arrive on your computer if you are sending from one iCloud account to another. Saving will be automatic only if your iPhone and the computer you are transferring to are using the same iCloud account. You can click on the following link if you would like to read about a few more ways to transfer images: three more you can use to transfer photos from iPhone to computer. 

If you then want to unlock your iphone to any carrier then click here.

 



Topics:

  • iPhone




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