How to Move Photos Between Your Phone and a Windows PC

Your phone is probably where most of your photos live these days. The grandchildren, the garden, a nice lunch out. That’s fine until the phone says it’s full, or you want those pictures on a bigger screen, or you simply like knowing there’s a second copy somewhere safe. Moving them across to a Windows computer sounds like the sort of job you’d rather leave to someone younger. It isn’t. If your camera roll could use a tidy-up first, see our guide to editing and organising photos on your phone.

You need a cable and about ten minutes. The steps are a little different for an iPhone than for an Android phone, so this guide covers both. Once you’ve done it once, it’ll feel like second nature.

What you’ll need first

There’s not much to it, but two things trip people up. First, use a cable that actually carries files. The cable that came with your phone does. Some cheap ones bought only for charging don’t, and there’s no way to tell by looking, so start with the one from the box. Second, your phone has to be unlocked while it’s plugged in. If the screen is locked, the computer simply can’t see it.

If a cable isn’t working and you’ve checked it’s unlocked, try a different cable before you assume anything’s broken. It’s the single most common reason this goes wrong.

If you have an iPhone

1. Plug the iPhone into the computer

Use the charging cable. One end goes into the phone, the other into a USB socket on the computer. Make sure the phone is unlocked, with the home screen showing.

2. Tap Trust if the phone asks

A message often pops up on the iPhone saying “Trust This Computer?”. Tap Trust, then type in your usual passcode. This is your phone checking you’re happy for the two to talk to each other. It only asks the first time you connect to that particular computer.

3. Open the Photos app on the PC

Click the Start button in the bottom corner of the screen, then find and click Photos. If you don’t see it straight away, start typing the word “photos” and it’ll appear. This is the computer’s own picture app, and it’s already on every Windows machine.

4. Click Import and choose your phone

Look for the word Import, usually near the top right. Click it, then choose your connected iPhone from the list. Give it a moment. The computer needs a few seconds to find the phone and read what’s on it.

5. Pick your photos and save them

You’ll see little versions of your photos. Tick the ones you want, or choose Select all if you want the lot. Then pick where they’ll go, usually the Pictures folder, and click Import. When it finishes, your photos are on the computer. You can safely unplug the phone.

One thing worth knowing. If your iPhone photos are set to save space by keeping the full versions in iCloud, some pictures may not download properly over the cable, because they aren’t fully on the phone. If that happens, the tidiest fix is to install iCloud for Windows on the computer and let your photos come down from there instead. Not sure what iCloud even is? Our plain guide to what the cloud actually means clears it up.

If you have an Android phone

This covers Samsung, Google Pixel, Oppo and the other Android phones you’ll find at JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman or Officeworks. The idea is the same as the iPhone, with one extra tap at the start.

1. Plug the phone in and unlock it

Connect the phone to the computer with its charging cable, and unlock the screen so the home screen is showing.

2. Choose File transfer on the phone

A small notification usually slides down on the phone, often saying “Charging this device via USB” or “USB options”. Tap it, then choose File transfer, or on some phones it’s called Transfer files or MTP. This tells the phone to let the computer reach your pictures, not just charge the battery. If nothing appears, swipe down from the top of the screen to find it.

3. Import with the Photos app, or browse in File Explorer

The quick way is the same as the iPhone. Open the Photos app on the PC, click Import, choose your phone, tick your pictures and save them to the Pictures folder.

If you’d rather see the phone like a folder and drag things across yourself, open File Explorer instead. Press the Windows key and the letter E together to open it. Your phone shows up in the left-hand list. Click it, then open the folder called DCIM, then Camera. That’s where your snaps live. Select the ones you want, then copy and paste them into a folder on the computer.

Moving photos the other way, from PC to phone

Sometimes you want a picture that’s on the computer to end up on the phone, perhaps an old scanned photo you’d like to show someone. With the phone plugged in and set to File transfer, open File Explorer, find the phone in the left-hand list, and open the DCIM or Pictures folder. Then drag your photo from the computer into that folder. It’ll appear in the phone’s gallery a moment later. On an iPhone this is fiddlier, and honestly the easiest route there is to email the photo to yourself and save it from the phone, or send it as a message. Speaking of which, if you just want to share pictures with family, doing it straight from the phone is often simpler than any of this. Here’s how to share photos easily across the family.

The easier long-term habit

Cables are handy for a one-off clear-out, but there’s a gentler way to keep your photos safe without plugging in at all. Both iPhones and Android phones can quietly back your pictures up on their own, over your home wifi, to iCloud or Google Photos. Once that’s switched on, a copy of every photo you take is kept safely off the phone, and you can see them on the computer just by opening a web browser. It means that if the phone is ever lost, dropped down the loo or stolen, your photos aren’t lost with it. For most people that peace of mind is worth more than the cable trick. Our guide to what the cloud is explains how it works in plain words.