iPhone is the most popular phone out there and its camera is specially, considered as the best camera as compared to other smartphones. iPhone camera is one of the most popular and best cameras available in the market. Image quality and the resolution of images is improving with every new model and as smartphones have started to support RAW images and 4k videos, the files are now even larger than ever.

To store all this, more and more storage space is needed. And even if you have a 64 GB model, a few hundred high-quality photos and some 4k videos can fill up all the space very easily. So it is important to transfer the photos from iPhone to either to your PC (Windows) or Mac.

And, in this article, we have included some of the easiest and best ways to quickly backup all your photos from your smartphone to your computer which will save you a lot of space as well as time.

The best part? Our first method to transfer the photos from iPhone is done using our cloud-based app, pCloud. By using pCloud, you can virtually increase your iPhone storage to up to 2TB (if you have pCloud account) and enjoy unlimited high-resolution photos and videos.

This post is divided into two sections. In the first section, we have covered how to transfer photos from iPhone to Windows and in the second section, we have covered how to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.

Part 1: Transfer photos from iPhone to Windows using

  1. pCloud iOS app and pCloud drive on Windows
  2. Windows Photos App
  3. Windows AutoPlay option

Part 2: Transfer photos from iPhone to Mac using

  1. pCloud iOS app and pCloud drive on Mac
  2. Mac Photos App
  3. AirDrop
  4. iCloud Photo Library

There are many ways to transfer your photos from iPhone to Windows like through Windows Explorer, Windows Photos and using some third-party softwares. In this guide, we have discussed three easiest and best ways to get all your photos from iPhone to your PC.

 

Part 1: Transfer photos from iPhone to Windows

In this section, we have included both methods of transferring photos using Lightning cable and without the cable as well. If you prefer the transfer via cable, you will have to connect your iPhone to your PC.

If you want to perform the transfer wirelessly, then you can use any cloud-based application, iCloud Photo Library or AirDrop.

  1. pCloud iOS app and pCloud drive on Windows

While computer hard drives are fast and easy to use, they are prone to failure keeping your valuable data at risk. Also, Windows PCs are not very secure and you can only have a limited amount of storage in your hard drives which are not very reliable.

The solution to this problem is cloud storage. Storage in the cloud gives you so many benefits such as durability, accessibility, security, and value for money. You can access all your files anywhere and anytime you want.

Some of the top features of using pCloud are:

  • Super fast transferring speed. You don’t have to wait for minutes or hours to transfer your photos. pCloud will manage all this for you and the process can be automated as well so you don’t have to transfer the photos manually every time.
  • You can transfer all kinds of photos, videos and other music files or documents as well.
  • pCloud gives you top security which cannot be achieved with traditional hard drives and external drives. And you can even keep your private files confidential with the highest level of encryption.
  • It is compatible with every iPhone model and with Windows 7/8/10.

So in short, pCloud is the solution to all your storage problems.

Note: pCloud also offers a new industry first Lifetime Plan, so you can just buy it once and keep the storage for life and pCloud also offers free signup so you can get 10GB of storage for free.

Now, let’s understand how pCloud makes it very easy for you to import all the photos from iPhone to Windows with just a few clicks.

How it works:

Step 1: You have to download the pCloud iOS app or pCloud Android App (if you are using an Android phone)

 

Step 2: Install pCloud on your Windows computer and then install it and run it. pCloud is available for Windows PC 7/8/10.

Step 3: As pCloud is cloud storage, you can just upload all the photos from your iPhone to pCloud and then you can access all the photos from your PC as well. So launch the pCloud application on your iPhone and either create a new folder for images or you can use existing “My Pictures” folder to upload the photos.

Step 4: Then click the top plus icon and click on Upload File option. From there you will be redirected to your gallery.

Step 5: Choose all the photos which you want to transfer to your PC and upload them to pCloud.

After the photos are uploaded to your pCloud drive, you can delete them from your iPhone but you can still access them from the pCloud App (on iPhone) or pCloud Drive (on PC). And remember one thing, don’t delete photos when the upload has not finished.

Now you just have to log in to the pCloud drive which you have installed in the second step in your Windows PC and there all the photos will be present. You can either access all the photos using the pCloud drive or you can download them to your PC also if you want.

The pCloud Drive which you have downloaded on your computer (Windows or Mac) works as a Virtual hard drive for your device. So when you upload the files into the pCloud app from your iPhone or Android, they will immediately appear into your pCloud Drive so you can use them instantly.

Also, when files are in the pCloud Drive they do not use the storage of your computer but you can still use them. Files are present in the cloud.

Imagine your PC hard drive is almost full or if you have multiple PCs and you want to access your photos from every PC. Then if you have a pCloud account, you can have all your photos, videos, music files, documents stored there and you can use them on your computer but they will not take the space from your PC storage. So pCloud app can free up storage on your iPhone or Android very easily.

You can also use your pCloud drive to resize the photos directly from pCloud without the need of any third party software, easily create archives in the cloud and lock your crypto folder for extra privacy.

 

  1. Transfer photos to Windows using Photos App

To use this method, you will have to connect your iPhone to your computer via USB cable.

Now, before you start, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your PC. The Photos app available on Windows 8.1/10 will be used in this method.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your PC via cable and wait for your PC to detect the iPhone. Your iPhone might also prompt asking you to trust this computer. Just tap on trust or allow to continue.

Step 2: Now open the Photos app and select the Import function. Select your iPhone as the device from which you want to import the images from and click on Continue.

Step 3: The photos will be imported from your iPhone and will be saved to Pictures library. From there you can either move your photos to a new folder or keep there only if you want.

This method is good if you want to transfer a lot of photos but this cannot be done without a cable and this is not very precise also.

Note: The Photos app on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 only supports the transferring of Camera Roll photos and not the transfer of other photos (iCloud sharing photos, My Photo Stream, etc.) from iPhone to Windows. If you want to transfer all the photos, you can try the pCloud storage method.

 

  1. Transfer Photos using Windows AutoPlay option

This method works for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 and even if you are on the Windows 7 you can use this method to transfer photos.

Connect your iPhone to your computer via the USB cable. The AutoPlay option will then appear with several options.

Now if you just want to import all the new photos to your PC, click on Import Photos And Videos. This option will transfer all the newest photos from your iPhone to your PC in the Pictures library folder. The older photos will not be transferred.

If you only want to transfer selected photos then select Open Device To View Files in the AutoPlay options. Now select the Internal Storage in the window which will appear and then open the DCIM (Digital Camera Images) folder.

Now select the photos which you want to transfer and either copy them or cut them and paste them into any other folder in your PC

Note: If by chance, Windows AutoPlay doesn’t show up automatically then try reconnecting the device, restarting your PC or updating the drivers. Also, make sure that iPhone is unlocked first, otherwise the content will not be accessible in the Windows Explorer.

 

Part 2: Transfer photos from iPhone to Mac using

In this section, we will see how you can transfer all your photos from your iPhone to your Mac. We have included both wired and wireless methods for your convenience.

  1. pCloud iOS app and pCloud drive on Mac

The steps for transferring photos from iPhone to Mac is same as the steps of transferring from iPhone to Windows.

You will just have to download the pCloud Drive to your Mac in this case. You can download it from here.

After you have installed the pCloud Drive on your Mac, just upload the photos from the pCloud app in your iPhone and all the photos will be available instantly in your Mac pCloud Drive. You can then either keep all the photos in your pCloud Drive only or you can download them to your Mac if you want.

This option of transferring photos from iPhone to Mac is best for Macbook users as if you are having either a 128GB or a 256GB Macbook, you cannot store a lot of images in your SSD. But if you have a pCloud account, you can have all your photos and other files stored there all in one place and you can use them on your Mac but they will not take the space from your Mac storage. So pCloud is really very useful in these situations.

One of the special features in pCloud’s mobile app is Automatic Upload.

It allows you to transfer all your photos from your Camera Roll to pCloud storage to free up space in your iPhone. You can even choose which photos to move to pCloud. To enable Automatic Upload in the pCloud app:

  1. Open your pCloud app and go to the Settings
  2. Scroll down until you find the Automatic Upload section
  3. Turn Automatic Upload on and that’s all you need to do.

 

  1. Transfer photos using Mac Photos App

If you don’t want to transfer the photos wirelessly and if you want to transfer them manually, then this is the best method to transfer. For this method to work, you will have to connect your iPhone to your Mac via USB Lightning cable.

Simply connect your iPhone to your Mac and click on the Import tab. Then select all the photos you want to transfer and then click on Import Selected Photos to transfer the photos to Mac.

The imported photos will appear in the All Photos album.

 

  1. Transfer photos wirelessly using AirDrop

Apple’s AirDrop feature is very useful for transferring all types of content wirelessly. You can use AirDrop to transfer photos, videos, locations etc. to nearby MacBooks or iPads.

Before we start transferring the photos, make sure you have both WiFi and Bluetooth turned on in your iPhone and that iOS can use AirDrop. Turn on the WiFi and Bluetooth in your Mac also and then sign in to same Apple ID on both the devices.

To turn on the AirDrop on your Mac, go to Finder and select AirDrop. Now you are ready to make the transfer of photos.

Just locate the Photos app and select all the images which you want to transfer. Tap the share button and in the AirDrop section, you’ll see all the nearby Apple devices. Select the name of your Mac to start the transfer.

The transferred photos will appear in the Downloads folder and you can move the photos from there to any other folder of your choice.

If by chance, you can’t see the other devices in AirDrop, make sure you have both WiFi and Bluetooth turned on and the device to which you are sending is in the Bluetooth and WiFi range. Also, if the other person’s AirDrop receiving setting is set to Contacts Only, and you’re not in their Contacts, set their AirDrop receiving setting to everyone.

 

  1. Transfer photos using iCloud Photo Library

With iCloud Photo Library, you don’t have to do much. It seamlessly transfer all the photos from iPhone to Mac once it is configured. The Photos app on your Mac will be synced to Photos app of your iPhone whenever any new photos will be added.

Before you begin, make sure the devices are connected to WiFi and the software is up to date on your iPhone and Mac.

You can turn on iCloud Photo Library in your iPhone by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos, then turn on iCloud Photo Library. If you’re using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Photos.

And on your Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud. Click the Options button next to Photos, then select iCloud Photo Library.

When the devices sync, all the photos of your iPhone will be displayed in the Photos app of your Mac. If you have switched it on for the first time, you might have to wait for a while so that the sync operation can get complete.

And remember that if you delete the photos from your iPhone, the photos from your Mac will also be deleted unless you have exported them to your Mac. If you are low on storage on your Mac, you can try our first method of this section in which we have used pCloud to transfer all the photos to Mac from iPhone without using the storage of Mac.

 

How to transfer photos from iPhone to Windows or Mac: The Bottom Line

There are many ways to transfer photos from iPhone to computer and pCloud is the best method if you want to transfer wirelessly and without using the storage of your computer (especially if you have 128GB or 256GB Mac). You can use pCloud Drive or even pCloud Web on both Mac and Windows and pCloud app on your iPhone to upload the photos. All the photos will be displayed instantly on all your pCloud connected devices.

It’s good to have some backups of your valuable data (photos, videos, and other files) so that if something happens, you will know that your photos are safe on either cloud storage or in your computer.