📋 Verified Walkthrough
iPhone & iPad • Photos

How do I transfer photos from my phone to my computer?

Direct Answer

Connect your phone to your computer with a USB charging cable, unlock your phone, tap "Allow" or "Trust" when prompted on your phone screen, and drag your photos into your computer's Pictures folder.

Why You Might Want to Do This

  • To free up storage space on your phone when your memory is almost full.
  • To safely back up precious family photos, holiday memories, and grandkids' pictures to a hard drive.
  • To print large photos or view them on a bigger desktop or laptop screen.

Before You Start

  • Your smartphone and its USB charging cord.
  • A Windows PC or Apple Mac computer with an available USB port.
  • Your phone unlocked with your face, fingerprint, or passcode.

When you plug your phone in for the first time, your phone will ask "Trust This Computer?" or "Allow Access to Phone Data?." Always tap Allow or Trust.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. 1

    Plug your phone into your computer

    Plug one end of your phone's USB cable into your phone and the other end into a USB port on your laptop or desktop computer.

    👀 USB cable connecting phone charging port to laptop USB socket.

  2. 2

    Unlock your phone and tap "Trust" or "Allow"

    Look at your phone screen. A message popup will appear asking permission to share photos. Tap "Trust" or "Allow Access."

    👀 Pop-up window on phone screen titled "Trust This Computer?."

    3. ✅ Success Checkpoint: You're Doing Great

    If your screen matches the description above, you have followed the steps correctly. Continue to the next step.

  3. 3

    Open File Explorer (Windows) or Photos (Mac)

    On Windows, press the Windows Key + E (or click the yellow Folder icon on taskbar) and click "Apple iPhone" or "Android Phone" under This PC. On Mac, open the Photos app or Image Capture.

    👀 Windows File Explorer showing your phone listed under "This PC."

  4. 4

    Select photos and copy them to Pictures folder

    Highlight the photos you wish to keep, right-click and choose Copy, then go to your computer's "Pictures" folder, right-click and choose Paste.

    👀 Copying photo files into the computer's Pictures directory.

If You Don't See It / Troubleshooting

If your computer does not show your phone listed

Make sure your phone screen is unlocked. Unplug the USB cable and plug it back in firmly, or try a different USB port.

Good to Know

  • You can also automatically sync photos wirelessly using Google Photos or Apple iCloud without plugging in cables.