How To Transfer Photos From Your Mac Or PC To Your iPhone And iPad

All your photos in Mac are saved to iCloud as soon as you connect the device to a Wi-Fi provided if you have enabled the feature. It gives you an option to transfer your photos easily. But if you are not an iCloud fan, relax, there are other ways to transfer the photos from your Mac or PC to your iPhone and iPad. You can use iTunes or any other third party app to transfer the media from your device to your iPhone or iPad.

transfter photos to mac

In this article, we would talk about the ways to transfer photos from Mac or PC to your iPhone or iPad.

See Also: How to Set-up an iCloud Account on your Mac

  • Upload photos and video with iCloud Photo Library

It is by default, one of the best way to share and sync photos and videos between Mac and your iPhone or other Apple device you have. There are different ways to transfer the photos and video from your Mac and PC using iCloud Photo Library so we have listed them:

upload photos to icloud

  • For Mac OS X 10.10.3 And Later:

If you have Yosemite or later, then you must have Photos app on your Mac and if the iCloud Library is enabled, then whenever your devices are connected to your iCloud account, you will get an access to all the photos and videos.

  • On your desktop, locate and click on the Go menu -> Home->Pictures.

for mac

  • Photos app will be launched.

photos app in mac

  • Click Photos on the top left of your screen and select Preferences.
  • Check whether the iCloud Photo Library option is enabled.
  • If yes, then you would be able to view all the content on your iPhone and iPad provided you have that much storage on your phone.

Note: If you have never enabled  iCloud Photo Library option before, then you must wait for 24 hours as it would  take time to sync all your data. Also, on iPhone or iPad, the iCloud would only sync if the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

  • For Older Version Of Mac:

for older version of mac

If you have an older version of Mac, then it has iPhotos or Aperture on it. Don’t worry, you can sync your Mac’s photos and video to your iPhone or iPad using iCloud’s older image-sharing features. Follow these steps to get it done:

  • Locate Settings on your iPhone or iPad and Tap on it.

icloud settings on iphone

Image source: imore.com

  • Navigate to Photos.

Note: You should have iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Photo Sharing settings enabled.

  • On your Mac, open iPhoto or Aperture.
  • Click the pictures that you want to upload.

picture want to upload iphone

Image source: imore.com

  • Now click Add To > iCloud or Share > iCloud with the pictures selected to create a new Shared Photo Stream.
  • Name the few Photo Stream and share it with your Apple ID.
  • If you have a working internet connection, the photos synced can be seen on your iPad or iPhone under shared tab in the Photos app in a few minutes.
  • You can view and download the images on your device. Select image/images, tap the Share button and hit Save Image.
  • iCloud For The Windows App:

To get the benefits of iCloud on Windows, you need to install iCloud for Windows. Once done, follow these steps to complete the process.

  • Locate Settings on your iPhone or iPad and tap on it.
  • Navigate to Photos

icloud

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Note: You should have iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Photo Sharing settings enabled.

  • Now open iCloud for Windows app.

icloud for windows

  • Check mark on the box beside Photos.
  • Click Options button

upload icloud photos from windows pc

  • Click Done and then click Apply.
  • Now, open File Explorer (press Windows key and E together to open Explorer) and look for iCloud Photos.
  • Right-click on iCloud Photos.
  • Select Pin to Quick Access.

It is time to sync your images and videos

  • Open the iCloud Photos from the File Explorer.
  • Click Add Photos or Videos.

add photos and videos to icloid account from windows

Image source – imore.com

  • Select the images and videos that you want to sync.
  • Now that you have selected the images, click Done.
  • Upload The Photos Using iCloud.com

photos on icloud

If you don’t have access to your normal computer, then also you can upload images to iCloud Photo library using iCloud.com

  • Visit icloud.com and login.
  • Click on Photos icon.

icloud photos settings

Image source – imore.com

  • Once the content loads up, click Upload button.
  • Select images from your hard drive that you wish to upload.

upload photos

Image source – imore.com

If you wish to cancel the process of uploading the images, you can click on Stop Upload.

In this way you can sync your photos to your iPhone or iPad from Mac or PC via iCloud. Isn’t it simple?

Note: Please make sure iCloud Photo Library enabled on your iOS device.

  • Upload photos and video via iTunes

If you don’t like to enable the iCloud library and still wish to upload photos and videos to your  iPhone or iPad, then we have a solution, you can use iTunes to sync your Mac or PC’s images to your iPhone.

  • Move Photos From Your Mac To Your iPhone Or iPad Via iTunes

upload photos from itune

Image source – imore.com

If you like iTunes over iCloud, no problem. It is pretty simple to sync your images and videos between Mac and iPhone or iPad.

  • Organize your photos in iPhoto, Photos, or Aperture depending on your OS.
  • Plug your iPad or iPhone to your Mac.
  • iTunes will launch automatically, if it doesn’t, then open it manually.
  • On the iTunes pane, locate and click on iOS device icon in the top bar, then click the Photos tab.
  • Put a checkmark in the box beside Sync Photos.
  • Now, click Photos, iPhoto, or Aperture from the “Copy photos from” drop-down menu.Click the options you prefer.
  • Locate Sync in the bottom right corner and click on it.

Now all the selected images will copy on your iPhone or iPad

  • Move Photos From Your Pc To Your iPhone Or iPad Via Itunes:

move photos from pc to iphone

Image source – imore.com

Follow these steps to get it done:

  • Organize your images in a folder according to your convenience.
  • Plug your iPad or iPhone to your Mac.
  • iTunes will launch automatically, if it doesn’t, then open it manually.
  • On the iTunes pane, locate and click on iOS device icon in the top bar, then click the Photos tab.
  • Put a checkmark in the box beside Sync Photos.
  • Select “Choose folder” from the drop-down menu.
  • Select your desired folder and click to sync all folders or selected folders.
  • Locate Sync in the bottom right corner and click on it.
  • It is done!

 

  • How to use AirDrop to move photos from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad

airdrop

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Mac and iPhone or iPad support AirDrop. So you can wirelessly transfer between Mac and iPhone or iPad. Follows the below steps:

  • In the finder window, select the photos or videos you’d like to transfer.
  • Open a new Finder tab and locate and click AirDrop from the side menu.

Note:  Your iPhone or iPad should be unlocked and awake.

airdrop settings

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  • Turn AirDrop receiving set to on your iPhone and make it discoverable to everyone.
  • Now on your Mac, select and drag files to the iPhone or iPad option in AirDrop.

Note: You might get a prompt to tap Accept on your iPhone or iPad provided whether you’re transferring to a device that has the same Apple ID or not, you may need to tap Accept on your iPhone or iPad.

Now, selected content will transfer. This process is good if you have a lesser number of photos to be transferred to your iPhone rather than the entire photo library.

These are ways to transfer and sync your photos from your mac or pc to your iPhone and iPad. Which one is your favorite? Tell us what method suits you the most in the comments.

For more troubleshooting tricks, watch this space!

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