How to transfer photos from iPhone to Windows 11 or 10

Last updated: 8 October 2026

One-time setup

1. Install Apple's Apple Devices app (free in the Microsoft Store) or iTunes. Either one installs Apple Mobile Device Support, which every method below relies on.
2. Connect the iPhone with a cable that carries data, directly to the PC.
3. Unlock the iPhone. When it asks Trust This Computer?, tap Trust and enter your passcode.

If the iPhone does not appear on the PC at all, work through iPhone not showing up on a Windows PC first.

Option 1: import with the Windows Photos app

1. Open Photos from the Start menu with the iPhone connected and unlocked.
2. Select Import and choose the iPhone.
3. Wait for the scan. Photos selects everything it has not imported before; change the selection if you want.
4. Choose where to save and confirm.

It is the easiest built-in option, but large libraries take a long time to scan and imports often stop part-way. If that happens, see Windows Photos won't import from iPhone.

Option 2: copy from File Explorer

1. Open File Explorer and go to This PC › Apple iPhone › Internal Storage › DCIM.
2. Open the folders inside and copy the files you want to a folder on your PC.

This copies the files exactly as stored, but you only get file names like IMG_2041.HEIC. There are no albums, no favourites and no reliable way to tell a screenshot from a photo without opening it.

Option 3: PhotoFroggy

PhotoFroggy reads the iPhone's own photo database, so the PC shows the same library you see on the phone: All Photos, Favourites, Selfies, Live Photos, Portrait, Screenshots, your own albums, each with a count and total size. Select a day, an album or a whole category and export it. Exports can go into year and month folders, or one folder per album, and each file is dated when it was taken. Name files by that date and they sort in order anywhere. Next time, Back up what's new selects only what you haven't saved yet, and HEIC photos can be saved as JPEG if you prefer.

What you actually get on the PC

• HEIC photos. iPhones save photos as HEIC by default. Windows opens them once Microsoft's free HEIF Image Extensions are installed; see opening HEIC and HEVC on Windows. If you want JPEGs from now on instead, set Settings › Camera › Formats to Most Compatible on the iPhone.
• Live Photos are a still photo plus a short video with the same number, for example IMG_2041.HEIC and IMG_2041.MOV. Keep both if you want the motion.
• Edited photos. The iPhone keeps the original and your edits separately. Copying from DCIM may give you the original, the edited version or both. PhotoFroggy lets you choose originals or the edited versions you see in the Photos app.
• Photos stored in iCloud. With Optimize iPhone Storage on, many full-size originals are not on the phone at all. A cable transfer can only copy what is on the phone; here is how to deal with that.

Tips for a large library

• Set the iPhone's Auto-Lock to Never while you copy, and set it back afterwards.
• If copies fail, set Settings › Photos › Transfer to Mac or PC to Keep Originals.
• Copy a year or a month at a time rather than everything at once.
• Keep the copies on a second drive or a backup too. A single copy on one PC is not a backup.