How to Transfer Your iPhone Photos to a Windows PC

So you would Would you like to transfer photos and videos from your Apple smartphone to your PC? Let’s start by putting those USB cables away. Updates in Windows 11 allow you to set up iCloud on PC for constant access to your collection of screenshot memes, selfies, and blurry holiday snaps.

Besides your iPhone, this method also works for other Apple devices connected to an iCloud account, such as: B. an iPad or a Macbook. To use iCloud, you must sign up for an Apple ID if you don’t already have an account.

To check if your smartphone photos and videos are iCloud-enabled, open the phone’s settings. Then tap your name at the top. Choose iCloudthen photos. To do this, the slider must be pushed to the right.

Remember your Apple ID password! It’s probably not a password you use very often. After everything is settled, open Microsoft Store to download iCloud for Windows. Sign in with your Apple ID. You may need to enter a verification code from your phone into the computer.

You’ll see options for sharing the contents of your iCloud drive, photos, contacts, calendars, website bookmarks, and passwords. Put ticks next to the ones you want to access on your PC. Look to the right of the photo area, tap optionsand make sure the box next to is checked iCloud Photos before clicking Apply. You will also see an option to access the shared albums from your smartphone.

Next, choose whether or not you want to automatically send Apple diagnostic information, and setup will begin downloading.

How do you find the media on your PC? The photos and videos you capture on the iCloud-enabled Apple device can be viewed by clicking file manager Icon and selection of iCloud Photos tab on the left side of the screen. You can now view thumbnails of all your pictures and videos on PC as part of iCloud. If you want to transfer a copy of the media, double-click the thumbnail to open a preview in Microsoft Photos. Then stop CTRL+S to download a copy of the media to your PC.

Pro tip: This instant access can be helpful, but take a second to really appreciate what you’ve just done, especially if you share a household PC. Any image you capture with your smartphone is accessible on the PC with a few quick clicks. All from them.

Only 5GB of storage is available for free via iCloud. Users who need more storage than this small allotment have the option of subscribing to Apple’s iCloud+ service, which offers a few tiers of storage depending on your willingness to pay. Do you use most Apple products other than your PC? You might consider signing up for an Apple One subscription, a package that includes iCloud storage, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and Apple Arcade.

For even more options for preserving your unique collection of smartphone photos, check out Whitson Gordon’s helpful article on backing up everything. Additionally, anyone using iCloud should read David Nield’s tips to ensure you can recover everything.