Transfer iPhone 8 Photos to Computer via USB. Unlike Android, there are many restrictions on iOS. Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your Mac via USB cable. Step 2: Open iPhoto App on your Mac. Usually, this would be opened automatically when you used the app before. Step 3: iPhoto starts to scan and load photos on your iPhone. Select the photos and click Import Selected. After that, iPhone asks you to delete those photos from iPhone or keep.

Looking for a way to move photos from your Mac to your computer? Read on this guide to get some simple methods to transfer pictures from Mac to iPhone quickly.

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Computer to iPhone Transfer

There are many ways to move photos from Mac to your iPhone, like iTunes, iCloud Photo Library, AirDrop. And some iPhone photo transfer tool will also do the work for you. In this post, we will offer you 4 step-by-step ways to successfully transfer pictures from your Mac to iPhone.

Before we start, we’d like to tell you that this post works for all kinds of iPhones and computers.

  • Supported iPhone:iPhone 5/5s, iPhone SE, iPhone 6/6s, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X/11/iPhone 12, iOS 14/13/12/11/10
  • Supported Computer:Windows XP/7/8/10, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac

Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone Using iTunes
Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone without iTunes
Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone with iCloud
Export Photos from Mac to iPhone Using AirDrop

How to Move Photos from Mac to iPhone Using iTunes

Before you use iTunes to move photos from Mac to iPhone, one important thing you should know: when syncing photos from computer to iPhone, all the photos, music, ringtones, iBooks, and other media files on your iPhone would be erased (just like the following screenshot shows).

Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone with iTunes – Erase Data

Using iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier versions:

  1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac and launch iTunes if it doesn’t run automatically.
  2. Choose your iPhone icon, and choose “Photos” from the left menu.
  3. Check “Sync Photos” and select Pictures or Choose a folder from the “Copy Photos From” checkbox.
  4. Click “Apply” to transfer photos from Mac to your iPhone iPad, or iPod touch.

Import Photos from Mac to iPhone with Finder

On macOS Catalina and later, there is no iTunes, but you can sync your iPhone photos and more with Mac with Finder, here is how:

  1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
  2. Open Finder on your Mac
  3. Your iPhone should appear in the sidebar of the Finder Window under Locations.
  4. Click on your iPhone. If prompted, please trust your iPhone.
  5. Select Photos and check “Sync photo to your device from” checkbox.
  6. Choose Photos, or Choose folder…, or Pictures from the pod up menu.
  7. After choosing the photos you need to sync, click Apply.

Move Photos From Iphone To Mac

Sync Photos from Mac to iPhone via Finder

iTunes doesn’t allow you to transfer photos from Mac to iPhone with iCloud Photo Library on. If you get the message of “iCloud Photo is On”, here are three solutions for this.

How to Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone – iCloud Photo is On

Method 1. Turn off iCloud Photo Library

On your iPhone, go to Settings app > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. Tap the button next to Photo, choose to Remove from iPhone or Download Photos & Videos, now iCloud Photo is turned off.

Please note that after turning off the iCloud Photo Library, you have to remove all the iCloud photos on your iPhone or download these iCloud photos to iPhone (this would be a large burden for your iPhone, especially if you are running 16 GB or 32 GB plan).

Method 2. Add photos from computer to iCloud

How to download photos on mac from iphone 11

Add photos from the computer to iCloud directly, then all newly added iCloud photos can be synced to your iPhone once it is connected to WiFi or cellular network. Please refer to this guide to make it. How to Transfer Photos from Computer to iCloud >

Method 3. Try iTunes Alternative

If you want to keep your iPhone data safe while syncing photos from computer to iPhone iPad iPod touch, you can refer to Method 2 to make it.

We received a nice bit of requests asking about how to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac computer, if you have the same question, please move to this guide: How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac with 6 Methods

Transfer Photos to iPhone with AnyTrans

If you prefer an easy, quick, and safe way to export photos from your Mac to your iPhone, then you have a try on AnyTrans. It is a smart iTunes alternative that gives you the best management experience on photos, music, ringtones, movies, and more.

AnyTrans – iPhone Photo Transfer

  • Transfer ALL or part of photos from Mac to iPhone.
  • Lightning-fast speed to transfer Mac pictures to iDevices.
  • No compression, transfer photos with the original pixels.
  • Also support transfer photos from iPhone to iPhone directly.

Download for Win100% Clean & Safe

Download for Mac100% Clean & Safe

Step 1: Free download AnyTrans on your computer > Connect your iPhone to Mac via USB cable > Choose “Device Manager” and then click the “+” button to add photos from your Mac.

Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone with AnyTrans – Step 1

Step 2: Choose the folder contains the photos you need > Select the photos you want > Click on the “Open” button to continue.

Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone with AnyTrans – Step 2

Step 3: Click on the “Next” button to start transferring the selected photos from Mac to your iPhone. You can click the “>” button to check the details of the selected photos.

Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone with AnyTrans – Step 3

After the release of iOS 11 version, iDevices use HEIC photos by default. While this new file format is remarkably more efficient in terms of storage space, it is not yet widely compatible. But, don’t worry, you can use free iMobie HEIC Converter to convert HEIC photos into JPG, PNG, and PDF. Read this article to see how to convert HEIC to JPG on computer.

Upload Photos from Mac to iCloud with AnyTrans

Besides that, it also lets you upload photos from Mac to iCloud directly, and then photos will be synced to your iPhone when you have logged in with the same Apple ID.

Step 1: Free download AnyTrans on your computer > Install and run it on your computer > Choose “iCloud Manager” mode > Log in with your iCloud account.

Upload Photos from Mac to iCloud with AnyTrans – Step 1

Step 2: Click on the “Photos” option to upload photos from your Mac.

Upload Photos from Mac to iCloud with AnyTrans – Step 2

Step 3: Click thebutton at the top-right conner > Choose the folder contains the photos you want > Select the photos you need > Click “Open” button to upload photos from Mac to iCloud.

Upload Photos from Mac to iCloud with AnyTrans – Step 3

Bonus Method. How to Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone Wirelessly

When you find out that there is no USB cable available or your iPhone cannot be recognized by your computer, AnyTrans app on your iPhone can help you to transfer photos from Mac to iPhone wirelessly.

It can help you transfer files like music, video, photos, documents from phone to computer and vice versa, or between two devices. You just need to install it on your devices(both iOS and Android are compatible), then you can directly transfer files from one device to another wirelessly via this app.

Make sure your iPhone and Mac are connected to Wi-Fi, and cellular data would not work in the following steps.

Step 1. Install AnyTrans app on your iPhone.

Step 2. On your Mac: Go to anytrans.io from your browser and you will see a QR Code.

On your iPhone: Open AnyTrans app > Tap on the Scan button to scan the QR code on your Mac.

How to Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone Wirelessly with AnyTrans App – Step 2

Step 3. Then all your iPhone photos will show up on your computer > Click the “Upload” button > Select the photos you want to transfer > Click on “Open” button to transfer photos from Mac to your iPhone.

How to Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone Wirelessly with AnyTrans App – Step 3

How to Transfer Photos from Mac to iPhone with iCloud

Using iCloud Photo Sharing with Photos for macOS (macOS high sierra) you can keep photos up to date on all your devices including your Mac and iPhone, This means photos will be transferred to your iPhone from Mac if you enabled iCloud Photos on.

Turn on iCloud Photos on Mac with OS X 10.10.3 or later:

  1. Go to System Preferences > iCloud.
  2. Click Options next to Photos.
  3. Select iCloud Photos.

Turn on iCloud Photos on iPhone with iOS 10.3 or later:

  1. Go to Settings > [your name].
  2. Choose iCloud > Tap on Photos.
  3. Turn on iCloud Photos option.

Sync Photos from Mac to iPhone Using AirDrop

With AirDrop, you can easily transfer photos from Mac or external hard drive to your iPhone iPad iPod touch wirelessly. This is a quick way if you only need to send a few photos.

Requirements:

1. Mac from 2012 or later (excluding the mid-2012 Mac Pro) using OS X Yosemite or later.

2. iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iOS 7 or later.

Turn on AirDrop on both your iOS device and Mac:

  1. On your Mac, open a Finder window and choose AirDrop.
  2. Turn on Bluetooth and WiFi to enable the AirDrop feature on your Mac.
  3. Set the option Allow to be discovered by Everyone.
  4. On your iOS device, swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone screen to launch theControl Center.
  5. Tap onAirDrop, and then set your iPhone to be discovered byEveryone.

Send photos from the Mac to the iPhone:

  1. On the Mac: Simply drag and drop the photos you wish to transfer to your device.
  2. On your iPhone: The iPhone may ask if you want to accept the photos, just tap Accept to save the picture send from your Mac.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, compared to iTunes, it’s much easier and quicker to use AnyTrans to transfer photos from Mac to iPhone, easy-to-operate and no data loss. Even if you have no prior knowledge of data transfer, you can still add photos to your iPhone without effort. Just give it a try >

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Choose where to keep your photos and videos

Make your photos and videos available on all your devices with iCloud Photos. Or store them locally only on your Mac or PC.

iCloud Photos

iCloud Photos keeps your photos and videos safe, up to date, and available automatically on all of your Apple devices, on iCloud.com, and even your PC. iCloud Photos always uploads and stores your original, full-resolution photos. You can keep full-resolution originals on each of your devices, or save space with device-optimized versions instead. Either way, you can download your originals whenever you need them. Any organizational changes or edits you make are always kept up to date across all your devices.

The photos and videos that you keep in iCloud Photos use your iCloud storage. Before you turn on iCloud Photos, make sure that you have enough space in iCloud to store your entire collection. You can see how much space you need and then upgrade your storage plan if necessary.

Import to your Mac

You can use the Photos app to import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac.

  1. Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac with a USB cable.
  2. Open the Photos app.
  3. The Photos app shows an Import screen with all the photos and videos that are on your connected device. If the Import screen doesn't automatically appear, click the device's name in the Photos sidebar.
  4. If asked, unlock your iOS device using your passcode. If you see a prompt on your iOS device asking you to Trust This Computer, tap Trust to continue.
  5. Either select the photos you want to import and click Import Selected, or click Import All New Photos.
  6. Wait for the process to finish, then disconnect your device from your Mac.

Learn what to do if you can't import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer.

Import to your PC

You can import photos to your PC by connecting your device to your computer and using the Windows Photos app:

  1. Make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes on your PC. Importing photos to your PC requires iTunes 12.5.1 or later.
  2. Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your PC with a USB cable.
  3. If asked, unlock your iOS device using your passcode.
  4. If you see a prompt on your iOS device asking you to Trust This Computer, tap Trust or Allow to continue.

Then, visit Microsoft's website to learn how to import photos to the Windows Photos app in Windows 10.

How To Download Photos On Mac From Iphone Xr

If you have iCloud Photos turned on, you need to download the original, full resolution versions of your photos to your iPhone before you import to your PC. Find out how.

When you import videos from your iOS device to your PC, some might be rotated incorrectly in the Windows Photos app. You can add these videos to iTunes to play them in the correct orientation.

Learn what to do if you can't import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer.

Learn more

  • Use Time Machine to back up all of your files, including your photos and videos, to an external hard drive.
  • Import photos and video from storage media, like a hard disk or SD card, to Photos for macOS.
  • Use a scanner and Image Capture to import photos that were taken with a film camera.
  • Import your images directly to a folder on your Mac with Image Capture.