How To Download Photos Form Mac To Iphone

You can use the Photos app to import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac. Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac with a USB cable. Open the Photos app. The Photos app shows an Import screen with all the photos and videos that are on your connected device. Now, to download photos from iCloud to iPhone, just visit your iPhone Settings Photos & Camera. From the provided options, you just have to enable the “iCloud Photos Library” feature. Since this would sync iCloud Photo Library with your phone, iCloud photos will now be downloaded on your device. Transfer Files From Mac to iPhone Using AirDrop. Once your Mac and iPhone are setup to use AirDrop, it becomes really easy to transfer Files, Photos, Videos and other Data from Mac to iPhone. Click on the Finder icon located in the Dock of your Mac. In the Finder windows, click on AirDrop option, located in the left-pane.

You probably already know how to back up iPhone photos to your computer. Now that you’ve tweaked and edited them to your heart’s content, you might also be wondering: how to transfer photos from computer back to iPhone? And we are here to help!

There are many ways to transfer your images from PC to iPhone, starting with iTunes and ending with different cloud solutions. If you are dissatisfied with standard methods, you may also seek help with specialized software like CopyTrans Photo. In this article, you will find a comprehensive overview of all the ways to transfer photos from PC to iPhone. Keep on reading for detailed info or choose one of the ways below:


How to transfer photos from computer to iPhone with CopyTrans Photo

If you are looking for a quick way to transfer your images to iPhone, we have a solution just for you: CopyTrans Photo. The app has an intuitive interface, gets things done quickly and you can see thumbnails of all the files you’re operating at any moment. The process of transfer is intuitive, but you can always see our instructions below!

Here is how to transfer photos from PC to iPhone:

  1. If you haven’t done so already, download and install CopyTrans Photo:

  2. Launch CopyTrans Photo. Connect your iPhone to PC with a USB cable. If prompted to trust PC, press “Trust”.

  3. You will see your iPhone library on the left and your PC library on the right:

  4. Create a new album in your iPhone’s Photo Library. Click on the album: the working area on the left will display the contents (no files there for now).

  5. Using the folder tree on the right, navigate to the PC folder with the photos you want to transfer.

  6. Drag and Drop the files from the right working area to the left.

  7. Click on “Apply Changes” and wait for the syncing process to complete.

  8. All done! Your photos are now waiting for you in the folder “From my Mac” on your iPhone.

Some advantages of using CopyTrans Photo:

  • The app will save photos from your PC in the native Photos app on iPhone. It will also successfully transfer the EXIF data (date created, location, etc) and preserve the order of images.
  • You can also transfer videos from PC to iPhone if they are not larger than 1Gb. They will also appear in the native Photos app after transfer.
  • CopyTrans Photo is not a cloud solution and you don’t have to have iCloud Photos enabled in order to use it. CopyTrans Photo doesn’t require an internet connection.
  • Another key benefit for users of iPhone 7 and above: the program supports HEIC photos. It can view and transfer HEIC photos, and even convert HEIC to JPG.

Some disadvantages:

  • The app does not do automatic syncing and places the photos into Photo Library. However, CopyTrans Photo will provide a much greater opportunity for creating and editing Photo Library albums than iTunes, and once you’ve organized all the photos there you can just copy them to Camera Roll on your device.

How to transfer photos to iPhone using iTunes

The first app that comes to mind when you think about transferring photos to iPhone is, of course, iTunes. Apple-based solution, it will allow you to transfer files to your iPhone quickly. However, as with so many Apple products, the whole process is tainted by some weird-flavoured magic, leaving behind a bitter taste and a silent question of whether it was really worth it (read on for an explanation).

To transfer photos from PC to iPhone with iTunes:

  1. Launch iTunes and connect your iPhone to PC with a USB cable.
  2. Click on the device icon in the top-left corner of iTunes window.
  3. From the panel on the left, choose “Photos”.
  4. Tick the box “Sync photos” and choose the folder from which to import photos to your iPhone (Copy photos from -> Choose folder).
  5. Click on “Done” and wait until iTunes finishes syncing your photos.
  6. Well done! The photos now reside on your iPhone. To browse through them, navigate to “From my Mac” album.

We would not recommend using this method because of the following disadvantages:

  • You will only be able to sync one folder at any time. If you change the folder later, your previous images will be erased.

  • The operation will erase all the images previously stored in Photo Library (your Camera Roll photos will stay intact).

  • Images in the Photo Library can only be changed/deleted from the PC, and iTunes won’t let you delete the images separately – only do a full resync. To be able to create and edit the content of albums inside Photo Library, you can use CopyTrans Photo.

  • The sync will not be automatic anyway. You will need to relaunch it every time you need to introduce changes.


Upload photos to iCloud using CopyTrans Cloudly

This option can help you sync PC photos to all your iOS devices at once, provided that you have iCloud Photos enabled. Once you upload photos to iCloud, they will automatically appear on all your devices that share the same Apple ID.

The following steps explain how to upload photos to iCloud via CopyTrans Cloudly:

  1. Download and install CopyTrans Cloudly:

  2. Launch CopyTrans Cloudly and log in with your iCloud credentials. SSL connection guarantees the safety of your personal data.

  3. Choose “Upload”.
  4. Select the files you want to upload to iCloud. CopyTrans Cloudly works with .HEIC, .PNG, and .JPEG formats.
  5. When everything is selected, click “Upload”.
  6. Wait while CopyTrans Cloudly is doing the job.
  7. Now you know how to upload photos and videos to iCloud from PC using CopyTans Cloudly. And once the photos are in iCloud, they should appear on your device!

Advantages:

  • CopyTrans Cloudly can upload files with native iPhone extension, .HEIC.
  • You can upload your whole library in one iteration.
  • Easy-to-use interface.


Upload photos to iCloud using iCloud.com

Another option is to use the web interface Apple provides to upload photos to iCloud. For that, open icloud.com in your web browser of choice.

You log in, select the Photos section in the main menu and immediately see your iCloud Photo Library on your computer screen. To put photos on iCloud, click on the “Upload photos” button at the top-right corner and select the photos you want to import.

The photos should immediately appear on your iPhone and any other device having the same iCloud account signed in. If that does not happen, check if iCloud Photo Library is enabled on your iPhone or iPad: Settings> Your Name> iCloud> Photos> iCloud Photos.


Disadvantages:

  • Everything that you store in iCloud makes it to the Apple servers as well. If you want to delete some images forever, they will disappear from your account but not from the Apple servers. We even conducted an investigation and created a tool that can recover deleted photos from iCloud.
  • On icloud.com, you can manually sort the uploaded images by album. But within an album, the photos are sorted by the transfer date and you cannot change this order online.
  • Another major drawback is that if you disable iCloud Photo Library and turn it back on after some time, any pictures you previously added to iPhone with iTunes (or any other third-party app like CopyTrans Photo) will get deleted. That’s why you should be extra careful with this setting and regularly backup your cloud photos to a computer.


Send pictures from computer to iPhone via Google Drive

If you have a Google account, you are automatically eligible for 15Gb of free storage on Google Drive (originally SkyDrive). However, Google Drive shares this storage space with other apps, like Gmail and Google Photos.

In order to use this option, you will need to download the official Google Drive app on your computer and your iOS device. Once you run Google Drive on your PC, create a new folder and copy photos to iPhone. The folder will appear with the photos on iPhone in the Google Drive app.

You can create additional folders to transfer multiple photos to iPhone and move them between folders. There is also a possibility to sort photos within one folder by date or by name.

Disadvantages:

  • The uploaded photos will not be saved in the native Photos app on iPhone but in the Google Drive app.
  • You cannot edit the photos within the app without first copying them into the native folder – double work.


Dropbox: add photos to iPhone from PC without iTunes

Download

Dropbox offers only 2GB of free storage to their users. On the other hand, you do not have to install the program on the PC. In order to transfer photos from a computer to iPhone, save your data online on dropbox.com directly: log in, create a folder and upload the photos from the computer. After that, go to the Dropbox app on your iPhone to see your imported pictures.


Disadvantages:

  • Unfortunately, you can only upload individual photos, since Dropbox does not allow importing a folder.
  • Images will possibly lose in quality.
  • Although you can import HEIC photos, there will be no possibility to open them.


Transfer photos to iPhone with OneDrive

With Microsoft’s OneDrive you get 5Gb of storage space for free. Just like Google Drive, it requires you to install the official OneDrive app on both your computer and iDevice to transfer photos to iPhone. Drag the desired files or entire albums to the program window and after a few seconds, you will see the images the iPhone in the OneDrive app.

The photos are transferred in the original quality including the date created. You can also choose to sort the photos automatically by tags.

Disadvantages:

  • The photos will not make it to the Photos app; instead, they will be placed to OneDrive app, which should be installed on the iPhone beforehand.
  • OneDrive app does not provide built-in image editing, nor support for HEIC photos: if you place HEIC images in OneDrive, you won’t be able to view them or copy to the Photos app.

BONUS

Pro-Tip: After you’ve transferred your photos to your iPhone, use a photo editing tool like Instasize to improve how your photos look before uploading them to your feed! Choose any image on your iPhone to improve color settings, size, aspect ratio, or even make a colourful collage. Check it out yourself!

Conclusion

If you don’t trust cloud solutions, find iTunes hard to use and want to keep your photos in the native Photo app, CopyTrans Photo is the best solution for you. The program allows managing iPhone photos and videos on PC and has several unbeatable advantages such as managing Live Photos, viewing pictures in HEIC format, keeping excellent quality, order and EXIF files, and much more. Give it a go today!

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If there’s anything Apple devices are known for, it should be seamlessness. File sharing between your iPhones, iPads, and Mac devices has always been a simple affair and the same thing can be translated when moving files between each of those devices.

Besides being able to copy and backup everything on your iPhone, you can download pictures and videos shot on your iPhone individually and transfer them onto your Mac. In this post, we have enlisted the following methods that you can explore to save photos from iPhone to Mac.

How To Download Photos Form Mac To Iphone

Using iCloud Photos on the web

You can download a copy of your original photos or videos from iCloud Photos on the web at any time, meaning you can access it from any of your devices. If you’re logged into your iCloud account on your Mac, then you can easily access your entire Photos library which includes all of your photos and videos.

The items in your Photos library will be organized into Years, Months, Days, and All Photos and you can view and download any of them anytime you want directly from your web browser, preferably Safari.

How To Download Photos From Mac To Iphone 8

To start downloading pictures from iCloud Photos on the web, open Safari, go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple account.

Your Mac will either ask you to enter your iCloud password or your Mac password, depending on how you have it configured. You will be taken to your iCloud account screen once you enter your credentials.

Inside the iCloud.com Home Screen, click on ‘Photos’.

Select the photos and videos you wish to download on your Mac. If you wish to download an individual item, you can select it by just clicking on it. For multiple selections, you will have to hold the ‘Command’ key on your keyboard, and then click on the items you wish to download.

After you have made your selection of photos and videos, click and hold the ‘Download’ button (the one indicated by a cloud and a downward-facing arrow).

When you do that, a popup menu will appear, asking you to select whether you wish to download the items in the ‘Unmodified Original’ format or in the ‘Most Compatible’ format.

When you select ‘Unmodified Original’, the photos you selected will be downloaded as it was originally imported or captured on your phone. Choosing ‘Most Compatible’ will save your photos in JPEG or H.264 formats. After you have selected your preferred format, click on the download option inside the popup menu.

The selected items will be downloaded in your default downloads folder on your Mac.

Using Finder on a Mac

If you wish to download photos from your iPhone to a Mac using a wired connection, then you can do so using the Finder app on macOS. Since the launch of macOS 10.15 Catalina, the Finder app has a built-in iPhone management utility that replicates the functionality of iTunes on a Mac.

Before you start downloading your photos, you need to make sure that both the iPhone and Mac devices are updated to their latest OS versions – iOS 12 or later and macOS Catalina (10.15) or newer respectively. With the iPhone and Mac turned ON, establish a connection between them using a USB-to-Lightning cable that comes with your iPhone.

How To Download Photos Form Mac To Iphone

For this method to work, the iCloud Photos option on your iPhone should be disabled. You can do this by going to Your Name > iCloud > Photos and disabling the ‘iCloud Photos’ toggle on the screen.

After connecting your iPhone to your Mac, open the Finder app on the Mac.

How To Download Photos Form Mac To Iphone

Inside the Finder app, you should be able to see your iPhone in the left sidebar. If not, click on the ‘Locations’ section from the sidebar to expand it. You’ll be able to view your iPhone listed here. Click on your iPhone.

If this is the first time you’re connecting your iPhone to the Mac, then you’ll be prompted with a dialog asking you whether you “Trust iPhone”. You will need to click on ‘Trust’ on your Mac.

In the next step, you will have to tap on the ‘Trust’ option on your iPhone when it prompts you with the “Trust This Computer” dialog.

After you selected the ‘Trust’ option, enter your device passcode on your smartphone.

Once this authentication is complete, you will be able to see your iPhone data inside the Finder app on your Mac. This is your iPhone device management screen which hosts all the controls that you will need to back up your iPhone.

In this screen, click on the ‘Photos’ tab at the top, check the box adjacent to ‘Sync photos to your device from’, and choose the app or folder you want to download photos from.

On the same screen, choose the “All photos and albums” option next to ‘Sync’ if you wish to move all the photos in the selected app or folder to your Mac. If you want to move photos only from a few albums, select ‘Selected albums’.

You can also customize your options by selecting your preferences inside the ‘Options’ section. This section lets you download only the items you liked, include videos among the items you’re syncing, and the ability to automatically include photos from a recent period like last week, month, etc.

When you’re done choosing your preferences, click on the ‘Apply’ button at the bottom right corner of the window.

All the photos that you selected for syncing will be downloaded to your Mac and will be available inside the ‘Pictures’ tab in the Finder app.

Using the Photos app on Mac

Just like the above method, you can use the Photos app on your Mac to download pictures and videos from your iPhone with the help of the data cable. With the iPhone and Mac turned ON, establish a connection between them using a USB-to-Lightning cable that comes with your iPhone.

After you have successfully connected your iPhone to the Mac, open the Photos app on your Mac and select your iPhone device from the left sidebar.

If this is the first time you’re connecting your iPhone to the Mac, then you’ll be prompted with a dialog asking you whether you “Trust iPhone”. You will need to click on ‘Trust’ on your Mac. In the next step, you will have to tap on the ‘Trust’ option on your iPhone when it prompts you with the “Trust This Computer” dialog.

After this, enter your device passcode on your smartphone to establish a connection between your Mac and iPhone.

You will now be able to see all the photos that are available on your iPhone.

Select the pictures and videos you wish to download on your Mac by simply clicking on the items you want.

You can download the selected photos on your Mac’s Photos app by clicking the ‘Import Selected’ option at the top right. You can also download all your recent pictures by clicking the ‘Import All New Photos’ option.

All your pictures and videos will be imported to the Photos app on the Mac. After the importing process is finished, your photos will be found inside the ‘Imports’ tab on the left sidebar in the Photos app.

After this, you can disconnect your iPhone from the Mac.

Using Airdrop to share photos on a Mac

You can send and receive files between all your Apple devices wirelessly using Airdrop. These can be anything that’s present on your phone including documents, pictures, videos, and other files and you can use the following method to share just about any file from your iPhone to Mac or vice versa.

Before you use Airdrop to transfer your photos from your iPhone to Mac, make sure you have the following things configured right:

  • Both your Mac and iPhone have WiFi, Bluetooth, and Airdrop enabled on each of them.
  • Both the devices are within each other’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range.
  • Airdrop on the Mac is set to ‘Contacts Only’ or ‘Everyone’.
  • Both devices are connected to the same WiFi network.

Once you have sorted out the above conditions, you can proceed to open the Photos app on your iPhone. Inside the Photos app, select the photos you wish to be transferred on your Mac by tapping on the ‘Select’ button from the top right corner, and then making your selection.

After you have selected the photos, tap on the ‘Share’ icon at the bottom left corner of your screen.

When the Share menu pops up, tap on the ‘Airdrop’ button.

Select your Mac computer from the Airdrop screen.

Download Apple Iphone Photos To Pc

If you have previously shared files using Airdrop on your Mac, the files sent from your iPhone will be easily downloaded inside the ‘Downloads’ folder in the Finder app. If not, you will need to click the ‘Accept’ button when prompted on the Mac.

Copy Iphone Photos To Mac

That’s it. These are all the ways that you can download photos from your iPhone onto your Mac. For more stuff about iPhone, check out our dedicated iOS section.

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