iPhone to Mac

  1. 1

    Method 1: AirDrop (wireless, no cable needed)

    Select photos in your Photos app → tap Share → AirDrop → select your Mac. On the Mac, accept the incoming transfer. Photos appear in your Downloads folder. Best for small batches.

  2. 2

    Method 2: Cable + Image Capture

    Plug your iPhone into your Mac with a USB cable. Unlock your iPhone and tap Trust This Computer. Open Image Capture (search with Spotlight). Select your iPhone, choose a destination folder and click Import All.

  3. 3

    Method 3: iCloud Photos

    If iCloud Photos is enabled on your iPhone (Settings → Photos → iCloud Photos), all photos automatically sync to iCloud. Access them on Mac via the Photos app or photos.icloud.com in a browser.

iPhone to Windows PC

  1. 4

    Plug in and trust the computer

    Connect with a USB cable. Unlock your iPhone and tap Trust This Computer when prompted.

  2. 5

    Open File Explorer → This PC → your iPhone

    Your iPhone appears as a device in File Explorer (like a USB drive). Navigate to Internal Storage → DCIM. Your photos are in folders inside DCIM.

  3. 6

    Copy and paste to your PC

    Select the photos you want, copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) to any folder on your PC.

Android to Windows PC

  1. 7

    Plug in and select File Transfer

    Connect your Android phone with a USB cable. On the phone, pull down the notification shade and tap the USB notification. Select File Transfer (or MTP) — not Charging only.

  2. 8

    Open File Explorer → your phone → DCIM → Camera

    Navigate to DCIM → Camera where your photos are stored. Copy to your PC as normal.

Wireless option for AndroidGoogle Photos automatically backs up your photos to Google Drive (free up to 15GB). Access them at photos.google.com on any computer and download what you need — no cable required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Make sure you have tapped Trust This Computer on your iPhone after unlocking. Try a different USB cable (a common cause), a different USB port, or restart both devices. On Windows, check that Apple Mobile Device Support is installed (comes with iTunes).
A USB cable is faster than wireless for large transfers. For very large collections (thousands of photos), iCloud, Google Photos or a direct cable transfer in bulk is more practical than AirDrop or Bluetooth which slow down significantly with large files.