How to transfer photos from iPhone to a Windows PC

 You might think it's more difficult to transfer photos from iPhone to a Windows computer than to a Mac, and you'd technically be right. But that doesn't mean it's impossible — in fact far from it. How to transfer photos from iPhone to a Windows PC?

We've all seen the smug face Apple users pull when they seamlessly AirDrop files from their iPhone onto a nearby Mac or iPad. As an Apple user myself, believe me, I've pulled that face too. But while it's true that the Apple ecosystem works beautifully for quickly sharing things via AirDrop or AirPlay, that doesn't mean you need all Apple tech to simply get something off your iPhone. 

I own and use two Apple computers, so readily admit that M1 Macs and MacBooks are among the best computers and best laptops out there. But I also have three Windows PCs, one being the machine on which I do the bulk of my photo editing, so it's often helpful — nay, necessary — to be able to transfer large numbers of photos from my phone to my PC quickly. This is especially true given the Wi-Fi coverage in my house sucks, meaning uploading images to a cloud service is rarely viable. 

If you've ever been in a similar situation, you'll want to know how to transfer photos from iPhone to a Windows computer. Read on to find out how you do it.

How to transfer photos from iPhone to a Windows computer

1. Unlock your iPhone and connect it to your Windows PC using a cable. A popup on your iPhone screen will appear, asking you to allow the PC to access photos and videos. Tap Allow.

2. On your PC, a notification popup will appear in the bottom right of the screen. Click the popup.

3. A menu will appear in the top right of your screen, asking you to choose what to do with the device. Click Import photos and videos.

4. The Photos app will open, with an Import items window. Select the images you want to import from your iPhone's Camera Roll by clicking on each image's tile until it is highlighted blue and features a blue tick in the top right corner. Change the import destination to where you want to save the images on your PC. Then click the Import button.

Alternatively, click the Select dropdown and choose a predefined set of photos to import, such as all photos since the last import, or the entire photos library.

5. Once the import is complete, click Ok on the popup.