Here at Chapin Business Services, we help folks all over western Connecticut—from Litchfield County down through Fairfield and New Haven counties—move their photos and files around every single day. One of the most common questions we get, especially from customers around Heritage Village in Southbury, is how to get iPhone photos onto their Windows computer.
The good news is that you don't need any fancy software or special skills. Your iPhone and Windows PC can talk to each other with just a regular charging cable. Here's how to do it, step by step.
Step-by-Step: Moving Photos from Your iPhone to Your PC
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Connect Your iPhone to Your Computer
Grab the charging cable you normally use for your iPhone—the one with the Lightning connector or USB-C end, depending on which iPhone you have. Plug the small end into your iPhone and the other end into any USB port on your Windows computer. Your computer should make a little sound when it recognizes the phone.
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📱 More iPhone & iOS Help
Looking for more iphone & ios help? Check out our complete collection of guides and tutorials.
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Unlock Your iPhone and Trust the Computer
This is important: pick up your iPhone and unlock it with your passcode or Face ID. You'll probably see a message on your iPhone screen asking if you trust this computer. Tap "Trust" and enter your passcode again if it asks. This tells your iPhone it's okay to share your photos with this particular computer.
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Open File Explorer on Your Computer
On your computer, click the folder icon in the taskbar at the bottom of your screen. That opens File Explorer. Look in the left sidebar for "This PC" and click on it. You should see your iPhone listed there, probably under a name like "Apple iPhone" or whatever you named your phone.
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Find Your Photos
Double-click on your iPhone's name. Then double-click on "Internal Storage," then "DCIM." You'll see one or more folders with names like "100APPLE" or similar. These folders contain all your photos and videos. Go ahead and open them—you'll see thumbnail images of everything on your phone.
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If these steps didn't solve your problem, give us a call. We make house calls throughout western Connecticut and can usually fix most issues on the spot.
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Select and Copy Your Photos
Now you can pick which photos you want to copy. To select just a few, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click each photo you want. To select all of them, press Ctrl+A. Once they're selected (they'll be highlighted in blue), right-click on any of the selected photos and choose "Copy."
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Paste Them into a Folder on Your Computer
Navigate to where you want to save these photos. Most people use the Pictures folder—you can find it by clicking "This PC" again and then double-clicking "Pictures." Once you're in the folder where you want your photos, right-click in the empty space and choose "Paste." Your photos will start copying over. Depending on how many you selected, this might take a few minutes.
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Safely Disconnect Your iPhone
Once the copying is done, you can unplug your iPhone. It's best to properly eject it first: go back to File Explorer, find your iPhone under "This PC," right-click on it, and choose "Eject." Wait for a message saying it's safe to remove, then unplug the cable.
A Few Helpful Tips
If your computer doesn't see your iPhone at all, try a different USB port, or try a different cable if you have one. Sometimes cables go bad, especially if they've been bent a lot or chewed on by a pet.
Your photos will stay on your iPhone after you copy them—this process doesn't delete anything from your phone. Think of it like making a photocopy: the original stays put, and you get a duplicate.
If you have a lot of photos (we're talking thousands), you might want to copy them in batches rather than all at once. This can be faster and less likely to cause problems.
What About iCloud?
Some people ask about using iCloud instead of a cable. You can do that, but it requires a good internet connection and you need to install iCloud for Windows on your PC. The cable method is usually simpler and doesn't depend on your Optimum, Frontier, or Xfinity connection being in a good mood that day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why can't I see my iPhone when I plug it into my computer?
A: Nine times out of ten, it's because you didn't unlock your iPhone and tap "Trust" when that message popped up. Unplug your phone, plug it back in, unlock it, and watch for that Trust message. If you still don't see it, try restarting both your iPhone and your computer—that fixes more problems than you'd think.
Q: Do I need to install iTunes?
A: Nope, not for just copying photos. iTunes used to be necessary for everything iPhone-related, but Windows 10 and Windows 11 can talk to your iPhone directly through File Explorer. You only need iTunes if you want to back up your whole phone or sync music.
Q: My photos are taking forever to copy. Is something wrong?
A: Probably not. Photos and especially videos are big files, and if you're copying hundreds or thousands of them, it genuinely takes a while. Videos in particular can be several hundred megabytes each. As long as you see the progress bar moving, everything's working—just be patient. If you're in a hurry, copy fewer photos at a time.
Q: Can I delete photos from my iPhone while I'm looking at them on my computer?
A: Technically yes, but I don't recommend it. It's safer to delete photos using your iPhone itself, where you can see what you're doing clearly. That way you won't accidentally delete something you wanted to keep. Once you've copied the photos to your computer and verified they're there, then you can go through your iPhone and delete the ones you don't need anymore.
We've been helping families and small businesses with computer problems since 2008, and we know this stuff can be confusing at first. If you get stuck or would rather have someone just take care of it for you, that's what we're here for. Give Chapin Business Services a call at (203) 262-1869—we're always happy to help.