Copy photo and video files from an iPhone to an Apple computer

Connect your iPhone to your Apple computer

  1. Connect your iPhone to your computer using the same cable you would use to charge your iPhone. For most users, this is a "Lightning to USB" cable. If you have a new Mac, it will be the "Lightning to USB-C" cable.
  2. Unlock your iPhone. Once the iPhone is unlocked, you may be prompted to "Allow" the computer to access files on your iPhone.
  3. On your Mac computer, click on the Spotlight icon (magnifying glass) in the upper right corner of the desktop.
  4. In the Spotlight Search dialog box, type image capture
  5. Within seconds, the results of your search should appear. With your mouse pointer, double-click on the words Image Capture.app at the top of the results list.

Image Capture

  1. In the left frame of the Image Capture window, in the DEVICES section, you should see your phone listed. Click on your phone to select it.
  2. You should now see a list of the photos and videos stored on your phone. Click on the File Size heading to sort the list by the size of the item.

    Note:
    This is a useful technique in separating videos (movies) from photos. Videos are typically much larger so a descending sort will list videos at the top of the list.

  3. With your mouse, click on the file (or files) you'd like to copy from phone to computer.
  4. The next step is to specify where on your computer you'd like the file(s) to be copied. Near the bottom of the Image Capture window, click on the Import To: drop-down list box and navigate to the desired location.
  5. Once you've selected the photos and videos to be copied, and you've selected a destination folder, click on the Import button in the lower right corner of the Image Capture window.
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