How to save photos from iPhone to computer. How to download photos from iPhone to computer: a complete guide. Transfer via cloud storage

The iPhone can take high-quality photos and videos, so the device is often used as a full-fledged replacement for a digital camera. To free up phone memory, you need to regularly transfer photos to your computer. And how to transfer photos from iPhone to computer, now we have several convenient ways to move photos.

1. How to transfer photos via iCloud to your computer

Every iPhone comes with 5GB of free cloud storage on Apple's iCloud. This memory space can be used to back up settings such as phone settings, contacts and of course photos and videos.

Step 1: Download iCloud for Windows. Open iCloud for Windows.
Step 2: Click the Options button next to Photos. Select iCloud Photo Library.
Step 3. Click the "Done" button and then click "Apply". Enable iCloud Music Library on all your Apple devices.

After you turn on iCloud Photo Library, you can add the iCloud for Windows icon to your status bar to track your upload and download progress. Right-click the status bar in Windows Explorer and turn on iCloud for Windows.

2. Transfer photos from iPhone 6/7/8/X to computer via iTunes

The iTunes program itself is not designed for working with photos. However, it is possible to synchronize photos using the Photos program.

Step 1. Launch iTunes. Connect iPhone. Click on the icon of the connected device in iTunes.

Step 2. On the panel on the left side of the iTunes program window, click “Photo”. Check the "Synchronize" option. Activate the Selected folders item. Check the box that we previously created and placed photos there

Step 3. Select the directory to synchronize. Run the "apply" command. And transfers photos.


3. How to move photos from iPhone to PC via email

You can send photos to your email, and then save them on your computer by opening the sent letter. This method does not require a third utility. And you need an Internet connection. Secondly, it is inconvenient to send many photos this way.

Step 1. Go to the Camera Roll and press the Select button. Select the photos to be sent by mail.
Note. You can only attach 5 photos at a time.

Step 2. Click the button in the lower left corner (square and up arrow) and select Mail from the menu that opens. Now all you have to do is enter your email address and send the letter.

4. Synchronizing photos using the “My Photo Stream” function

Apple has released a very useful feature that can directly access your photos without directly connecting your iOS device to your computer. However, it is worth paying attention to the fact that this method only works with photographs. To transfer captured videos, you will have to use another method.

To access this function, you must first activate it. To do this, click “Photo Stream” on your smartphone or tablet through “Settings” – “Photos and Camera” – “My Photo Stream”.

Now, to view photos on your Windows computer, download iCloud for Windows and sign in with your account.

An iCloud folder will appear on your computer, in which all photos taken on your smartphone will automatically appear.

5. The easiest way to transfer photos from iPhone 6/7/8/X to computer via Tenorshare iCareFone

The Tenorshare iCareFone program has 5 parts, the user will be able to transfer to the “File Manager”. Very simple and easy. At that time, the software will allow you to scan the data on iPhone 6/7/8/X by file type, you can quickly find the data you want to sync. Not only that, if you want to transfer to computer from iPhone, but not all data, using , it is the right and free choice.

Step 1. Download and install iPhone Care Pro from the official website. Launch it. Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable.

Step 2. In the main program window you will be asked to select the type of data transfer. Of the 9 data to transfer, you need to select “Photo” by checking the box next to this item. You can transfer photos, music, iBooks, videos, notes, and calendars.


Step 3. Next, click “Export”. Data export to PC/Mac will begin, first you need to select the desired files and click “Export”. By default, these files are saved to a folder on your hard drive. You can also create a save folder yourself.

Most new users of the popular Apple phone always face one very common situation. Immediately after purchasing an iPhone, they start taking photos at every opportunity. And after some time, it is different for each user, the phone’s memory is completely filled or there is simply a desire to dump your entire collection of pictures on your home PC or laptop. And this is where the problems begin, because iPhones have a unique operating system that is not so easy to upload and download files into.

We can assume that since you are reading our article, then such a situation has already happened to you and you are looking for a way out of it. You can rejoice a little, because half the work has already been done, you have found what you were looking for - a solution to the problem. All you have to do is follow our detailed instructions and everything will be ready.

Considering that today the most common operating systems are Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X, we will assume that exactly one of them is installed on your computer. Therefore, we will provide instructions for both OSes. We would like to immediately note that the reverse process of transferring photos from a PC to an iPhone is radically different, so you don’t have to try to do this by following the instructions in the opposite direction.

Transfer photos from iPhone to Windows computer


Open File Explorer or My Computer on your PC or laptop. In the window that opens, you will see a list of all connected devices to the computer. It will be approximately the same as in the illustration for this item, but depending on the version of your operating system and the devices already connected, it may differ. But no matter how it is, the meaning remains the same.


Now connect your iPhone to your computer using the USB cable that came with your phone. After this, the list of devices connected to the PC should increase. Your iPhone will appear in it.


Double-click on the icon that appears with the left mouse button to enter the device. It's an iPhone. There will be an icon of its internal storage. Double-click on it again with the left mouse button.


The phone’s file system will open, or rather the part of it that is accessible. There you will see a folder called “DCIM”. You need to enter it by clicking on it twice with the same mouse button. When you do this, more folders will appear in front of you, opening any of them in the same way, you will finally see your photos in each. The fact is that the iPhone operating system automatically distributes photos over certain periods of time, so all photos are stored in different folders.


To transfer all your photos to your PC, you need to copy them from each such folder separately. You can copy everything into one folder. Which one, choose for yourself. To do this, select all the photos in one of these folders using the key combination “Ctrl + A”. Then right-click on them. A context menu will appear. In it, select the “Copy” item.


Now open the folder in which you decided to store all your photos. Right-click on its empty area and select “Paste.” After this, all the photos from the folder from the phone will be on the computer. Do the same with the rest of the photos on the iPhone, which are located in the other folders.

If you did everything correctly and copied your photos from all the folders on your iPhone, then they are all now on your computer.

Enjoy watching.

Watch a video on how to transfer photos from an iPhone to a computer with the Windows operating system

Transfer photos from iPhone to computer running OS X


Connect your iPhone to your computer running OS X. This is done using a USB cable.


Immediately after this, as soon as the system detects the connected device, the standard Image Capture application should automatically open. If this does not happen, then you need to open it manually. It is located in the "Programs" section. When the program starts, its menu will look similar to what is shown in the picture. On the left will be the connected device, that is, your iPhone, and on the right are all the photos on it.


Next, you need to select a folder on your computer where the program should copy all your photos. To do this, at the bottom of the program window, find the inscription “Import to” and next to it, in the place where you select the folder, select the desired one.


To copy all photos to your computer’s hard drive, you just need to click the “Import all” button, which is located in the lower right part of the program window.


Attention! Before clicking the “Import” button, make sure that the checkbox next to the “Delete after import” line is unchecked. It is located in the lower left part of the window. Otherwise, after importing, all photos from your iPhone will be deleted.

That's all, wait for the photos to import and disconnect the phone from the computer.

We hope everything worked out for you and you can enjoy your photos on the big screen.

Enjoy watching.

Watch a video on how to transfer photos from an iPhone to a computer running OS X

From the article you will learn

In this article, we have described for you all kinds of ways to transfer photos from your iPhone to a computer, and we chose not only Windows, but also Mac OS for this.

Transfer photos to a Windows computer

If you still think that iTunes is required for transferring, then you are very mistaken! You can also copy photos by simply connecting the device to your computer. The described method is suitable for almost all versions of Windows. Connect your iPhone to your PC and wait for a notification to appear on your mobile phone screen "Should I trust this computer". Click “Trust” and wait until the system automatically detects the device and displays the autorun system on the screen with a choice of actions.

Here we are interested in the first point "Import images, videos". Now select the folder to import and transfer all the files to your computer. Please note that only videos and photos from your camera will be copied. Once the process is completed, the system will automatically open a window with the saved data on your computer.

Important! If you have previously imported images from this device and saved photos and videos to the same folder or directory, only the new data will be copied.

Sometimes autorun does not appear, and in this case the import will not work. But you can go to My Computer, find your iPhone portable device there and open it. Find the DCIM folder and copy all the data from there.

Transfer photos to Mac OS

If you own a Mac Pro or other Mac OS-based devices, you should definitely know how to properly transfer photos from your smartphone, because the process is a little different from Windows.

Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB. The system will ask for confirmation of trust in this device, click “Trust”. As soon as your phone is recognized, the Photos program window will automatically appear on the screen. If it does not open, then find this program through the search and run it.

Mac OS will automatically open an Import window where you can select photos and videos to transfer to your computer. If you want to import all photos, then just click "Import all new photos". If you need to transfer only certain images, then mark them, and then click "Import selected".

Using iTunes via USB cable

iTunes is a universal product with which you can manage your iPhone, create copies, quickly customize desktops and icons, make new playlists and much more. But you can also use it to upload photos. To do this, open iTunes on your computer. If you don't have it, download it from the official Apple website.

Next, connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable. If the system requires permission to trust this PC, allow it. The program will automatically detect your device and display it as a phone icon in the upper left corner of iTunes. Full information about your model and charge level will also be presented here.

To copy a photo from your iPhone to your computer, you need to click on your phone icon, select the “Photos” tab on the side and check the box next to the tab at the bottom "Synchronize".

Next, select the directory into which the photos will be synchronized and click the “Apply” button. The system will automatically copy the data to the specified folder and open it. That's it, the transfer procedure is complete!

Using iTunes over Wi-Fi

The first connection process will be the same as described above. You must initially connect your phone to your computer via USB and open iTunes. Now here you need to configure the ability to synchronize wirelessly. To do this, find your device in the list of devices and click on it in the left side tab. Next, go to the “Options” item and check the box next to "Synchronization via Wi-Fi".

The selected device will automatically synchronize with your computer. We go into the settings of our iPhone and find the item there.

All that remains is to click confirm, after which you will be able to wirelessly control your device via iTunes and transfer any data. You no longer need a cable for this. However, please note that this method is only suitable for you if your computer has a built-in or external Wi-Fi module.

Via Wi-Fi through a special program

There is another interesting way to transfer photos without using cables. To do this, go to the Apple Store from your iPhone and enter the request Wi Fi Photo Transfer in the search. You will be shown a list of applications that match this request.

We choose any of them, evaluating them based on reviews. But the principle of operation is the same for everyone.

Have you downloaded the app? Come into it. We used Wi-Fi Photo as an example. You will be shown settings with an IP address, which you will need to enter in the browser on your computer in order to access the photos remotely. In this case, you must have Wi-Fi turned on on your phone and computer.

We enter the IP address in the browser and do not close the program on the smartphone.

In the browser we see a list of photos and mark all those that you want to transfer to your computer. Here you can even specify the range from and to, so as not to mark each one. Have you chosen? Click.

The system will automatically archive them and download them to your computer. Once the process is completed, close the application on the iPhone and turn off the wireless network.

This method is not entirely logical, but when there are no other alternative options, it has a place! The main idea is to transfer via social networks VKontakte or Odnoklassniki to copy data to servers, and from there, by logging into your account on your computer, download it to your local drive.

But here there are 2 ways:

  1. Firstly, you can upload photos and videos to albums and then download them from your PC. But, as a rule, your friends will also see them, including in the event feed.
  2. Secondly, you can send photos to yourself by simply attaching them as separate documents or photos. And then download via PC. But keep in mind that you can send no more than 10 photos at a time in one message, and this creates a slight difficulty if there is a lot of materials.

And another important point! If you upload photos via social networks, their quality deteriorates significantly because social networks automatically compress them! As a result, only a small part of Retina quality will remain.

Transferring photos is also possible through cloud services, both standard iCloud and Yandex.Disk, Google, Mail and other services, of which there are a lot today. One of the most popular is Dropbox, where your data is securely protected.

To send photos from an iPhone, you need to log in to the service’s website or download its official application, log in with your account and upload all the photos to the cloud.

Next, you log into the same account, but only from your computer and download the information to local drives. If you don't need copies of files in the cloud, then delete them! For example, Yandex is currently running a promotion according to which all users who upload photos to the cloud through the official application are given 32 GB free of charge on an ongoing basis. The iCloud service has a quota of 5 GB, and it is better to use it for backups!

Copy via AirDrop

This technology is used only on Apple devices! It allows you to send photos, videos, various links and many other data from one device to another over the air. To use this option, you must first activate it. To do this, on your Mac, look for AirDrop and turn on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Better, of course, is the first option. At the bottom of the screen, find the item "Allow my discovery" and activate it. This is necessary so that you can receive data from all devices, and not just those that are in your contacts list.

Possible problems and solutions

  • Windows doesn't see my iPhone. Check that the system correctly detects your device when connecting. You will see in the tray when your iPhone is connected and you can click on this tab. In it you will see a list of drivers that are installed. If the installation does not occur, check if you have an Internet connection and try installing them manually. To do this, go to “My Computer”, right-click, select “Properties” and click on "Device Manager". Here, find the device with the question mark and update its drivers via the Internet.
  • Photos are not copied. Sometimes the problem occurs due to lack of free space on the local disk of the computer. In this case, delete unnecessary files on the disk or select another folder where there is free space.
  • iTunes doesn't recognize the phone. Make sure you have the latest version of the program that supports iPhone. Very often, users ignore application updates, which is why they encounter similar problems.
  • The computer does not see the iPhone. Most likely, you forgot to confirm “Trust” in this PC. In this case, remove the USB cable again and plug it in again. An alert will appear on your phone where you need to click the “Trust” tab.

In general, if you need to transfer photos from iPhone to computer, one of the presented methods will definitely suit you, regardless of your iOS version and device model!

Taking photographs with smartphones has become a common part of our lives. If ten or twelve years ago cameras were used for this, and cameras on phones were unable to produce a good quality picture, then today everything is different. The pictures you take are especially good on the iPhone. And with each new generation they become better and better. That is why many may have a question about how to transfer photos from iPhone to computer. In this article we want to look at simple, effective methods that work on all PCs.

Transfer photos from iPhone to computer via iTunes

We think you should start with the official utility. Yes, for some it may seem difficult. Especially if you just recently purchased your iPhone and haven’t really had time to figure out anything yet, but you shouldn’t be scared. With our instructions, everything will quickly return to normal. So, you must do the following:

If you were puzzled by the question “How to transfer photos from iPhone to computer via iTunes?”, you don’t have to think about it anymore. As we promised, everything is really simple and the download process takes just a few clicks.

Is it possible to transfer photos from iPhone to computer without iTunes?

Fortunately, yes, such an opportunity exists. And if we can’t upload other files, then photos and videos can be uploaded easily, literally in a few clicks:
This method is ideal if you do not want to install iTunes and rarely use your PC.

An iPhone is not only a phone with a messaging function, but also a useful gadget with which you can take photos, watch movies, listen to music and much more. Photography enthusiasts often purchase devices from Apple because of their good cameras. Of course, a smartphone camera cannot replace professional equipment, but every photo taken with an iPhone 5.6 or other version turns out to be of quite high quality.

But the variety of iPhone functions often poses many questions to the user: how to download music, how to set a ringtone, how to transfer photos to a friend’s iPhone, or how to transfer pictures from the phone to the computer and back. The latter will be discussed in our article.

First of all, let's talk about how to transfer photos from an Apple smartphone to a computer with the Windows operating system. To do this you will need a cord USB , and then you need to do the following:

  • Connect your phone to your PC or laptop, after which a window will appear asking you to take some actions. From these you need to select opening the device to view files.
  • When the PC detects a mobile device, a list of devices will be displayed on the left side of the screen, among which will be the name of the user’s iPhone, which he gave him when he first set up the iTunes utility. The smartphone will be identified as a media and there will be a camera icon next to it. Clicking on this icon will open the device.
  • After opening the device, the user is taken to the internal storage, which also needs to be opened by double-clicking. Next, click on “DCIM” and the folder in which the photos are stored. Each user has a different name for this folder.
  • Select the pictures you want to move to your PC and drag the ones you need. You can select multiple pictures.

That's it, the procedure is completed. The photos are now saved on your computer. You can keep them in a newly created folder or drag them into a special folder that the user created in advance and assigned a name to it.

Transfer photos from computer to iPhone: iTunes

This is one of the most common methods of dragging photos from a computer to an iPhone, since the iTunes utility is used by almost every user of Apple gadgets. This is a standard program that helps the owner of an Apple device in many situations. How to transfer photos from a mobile device to a computer? More on this in the instructions below.

Before you start, you need to prepare pictures that will be moved to the smartphone’s memory. To do this, on your PC you need to find and select the folder with photos. After this, you need to create another folder inside and move into it those photos that you plan to transfer to the iPhone.

After this, the smartphone is connected to a PC or laptop using a USB cable, and the iTunes utility is launched.

To transfer photos from a PC or laptop to an iPhone, you need to follow these steps sequentially:

  • Find the phone icon in the program and click on it.
  • Go to the photo section.
  • Select synchronization.
  • Activate favorite folders.
  • Check the folder to which the images were moved in preparation for the procedure.

Now all that remains is to apply the changes and wait 1-3 minutes for the pictures to move to the iPhone’s memory.

Attention! Deleting these photos from the smartphone’s memory in the future (if the user needs it) will only be possible again through the iTunes utility. To do this, you will need to cancel the synchronization, apply the action, and after that the pictures will be deleted.

If you look closely at any photo after it has been moved to the iPhone from a PC, you will see that there will be no delete icons next to it, for example, a trash can. You can only set the picture as wallpaper.

But if, after transferring photos from your computer to your smartphone, you want to have wider functionality for changing them and other operations, use the method described below.

Uploading photos via Yandex Disk

This service from Yandex will help the user of an Apple device to transfer their photos to their phone. To do this, you need to install Yandex Disk on your computer and the same application on your iPhone.

  • Open the folder with photos and copy them.
  • Go to the computer section and find the Yandex application icon.
  • Inside, create a folder with any name (for example, photos) and, using the insert function, place the selected pictures there.
  • Go to work with your iPhone - turn on Wi-Fi, launch the Yandex application.
  • All folders inside will be updated, including the one that was just synchronized.
  • Open this folder. It will contain all the copied photos.

Now let's look at another important question - how to save pictures to an album. And this is done very simply. You need to open any photo and click on the send button at the top. In the pop-up window, select the option to save the photo in the gallery. Next, you need to do the same with all the photos that you want to save to your smartphone.

If you don’t need to save pictures to a shared gallery, you can upload them to Yandex disk, and then you can access them even without going online. To do this, you need to swipe your finger over the folder with photos, enter the offline menu section and select the appropriate item. After this, there will be a downloaded folder with pictures inside.

Transferring photos using programs

There are many programs for transferring photos from a PC or laptop to an iPhone and back. To the delight of users, many of these programs are absolutely free. Examples include such popular applications as iTools and iFunbox.

To drag images from your PC memory to your smartphone using the iTools program, you need to enter the photo album section, then create a new gallery using the import and new album buttons. After this, you can easily transfer pictures from your PC or laptop to your phone.

Transferring images using VKontakte

Not everyone knows that there is such a way to transfer photos from a PC or laptop to an iPhone using the VKontakte social network. To do this procedure, follow these steps:

  • Log in to your page on this network.
  • Create an open album.
  • Move any pictures you want to this album.
  • Log in to the network from your application.

Of course, in addition to storing photos online, the user can keep pictures in his gallery. To do this, click on the 3-dot menu and then save to your camera roll.

Upload photos to iPhone from Google Photos

No less cool service than Yandex - Google Photos. It was created for the following functions:

  • Photo storage.
  • Changes to pictures.
  • Exchange photos and video files between users.

The main advantage of this service is that you can save an unlimited number of photos and video files. The service also has a special application for Apple gadgets, which allows you to have access to all your photos at any time.

Now let's move on to the main thing and see how to use this service to move photos from your computer to your iPhone.

To transfer pictures to your iPhone, you need:

  • Register with Google and create an account (of course, if you didn’t have one before).
  • Install the Google Photos program and log into it.
  • Enter the settings and specify which photo folder you want to upload.
  • Download and install Google Photos on your Apple smartphone, enter this application.
  • Use the application whenever you need to move a photo to your iPhone.

In addition to the above, Google Photos has many advantages over similar services from other companies. This is a fast and convenient process of uploading photos, easy search among many pictures, automatic creation of collages and many other useful functions.



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