I get a message "The File can't be found" when I plug in my iPhone via USB

For me, this was fixed (from Apple Support): 

Plug in iPhone (and, sure, dismiss the pop-ups).

Open up the Image Capture application.

In the … (circle w/ dots) to left of trash can icon.

Click on the dots, and, in the drop-down for ‘Connecting this iPhone opens:’

 select  ‘Other’.

In the ‘Finder’-like file navigator, 

Use the left panel to select the Applications folder,

and then, in the right panel, select Image Capture.

Then, in the lower right of the navigator window…

click the ‘Choose’ button.

Close the Image Capture application (CMD-Q)

Try plugging the phone in again.  It should launch Image Capture, and 

put up thumbnails of your photos.

If you don’t want that to happen…

Try re-doing the drop down for what to do upon connection…

and select ‘no application’

Oddly:  that’s probably where it was set when you started this cleanup!

For me… nothing happens on plug in now!  Just the way it was supposed to be!

And the pop-ups… they’re gone, too!

... at least... that all worked for me. on Big Sur 11.0.1 // iPhone6 12.4.9

Here is it one more time:

1 - with your iPhone connected to your Mac with it's USB cable launch Image Capture.

2 - click on the iPhone in the side bar.

3 - in the toolbar click on the button with the three dots in the center.

4 - select "No Application" from the dropdown menu.

That will stop the File No Found error messages.

I was getting this message also. When I opened a finder window I saw iPhone was there on the left panel. When I clicked on that, there was a button asking me if this was a trusted device. I clicked the Trust button, and now all is well. I now see the iPhone in Music and Photos.

Thank you Akos3. After trouble shooting further I realized that if I connect my iPhone to my MAC directly it works. The issue I had, I was connecting the iPhone to my MAC Display USB and not directly to my MAC. Appreciate the insight.

Startup Image Capture app before connecting iPhone, connect iPhone and close those annoying File Not Found messages.

In the "Image Capture" app, select your iPhone on the left is not already selected, select the "More" button (i.e. circle with 3 horizontal dots, and select either the "Image Capture" app OR in my case "No application", disconnect and reconnect your iPhone.

Hey MacSince1987 (Love the name), we’re you able to try resetting the location and privacy settings on the phone and try again? Otherwise, I’d probably disconnect or turn off the phone, open Image Capture and change the app set to launch when connected to Image Capture.

I did also find that removing the related ~/Cache and restarting, then allowed me to change the default app from Image Capture back to Photos (Where it was set before) and still worked afterwards.

Worked like a charm here too for the iPhone. On the iPad I selected to open with music, unplugged the iPad, closed all out and then again plugged in the iPad, music opened and followed by selecting image capture and changing to no application. This time plugging in the iPad worked like a charm too. I then had to repeat these steps with with the other iPhone and iPad in the home. Thanks to all of you!

I followed this information from another member:

Open up the Image Capture application.

In the … (circle w/ dots) to left of trash can icon.

Click on the dots, and, in the drop-down for ‘Connecting this iPhone opens:’

 select  ‘Other’.

In the ‘Finder’-like file navigator, 

Use the left panel to select the Applications folder,

and then, in the right panel, select Image Capture.

Then, in the lower right of the navigator window…

click the ‘Choose’ button.

Close the Image Capture application (CMD-Q)

Try plugging the phone in again.  It should launch Image Capture, and 

put up thumbnails of your photos.

If you don’t want that to happen…

Try re-doing the drop down for what to do upon connection…

and select ‘no application’

The pop up no longer happens, but I still cannot download my photos from the iPhone...

I hope this helps.

If the trick of changing the Image Capture default app back to Image Capture didn’t work:

Disconnect from your Mac, on your iOS device Go to:

Settings > General > Reset Privacy and Location Settings.

Next, plug in your device, open Finder, (You’ll have to click “Trust” again as if you haven’t synced it before. Should work fine then.

Boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and try to connect with Image Capture from there. Reboot normally and check again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Hey there!

You can try what I have done, Hope one or all steps work:

I’d first try relaunching Finder. On the keyboard, press Command Option Escape > Finder > Relaunch. Then see if you can access Image Capture. If not:

1) Disconnect iPhone

2) On iPhone, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Location and Privacy Settings.

3) On your Mac, open Finder. while holding Option on the keyboard, click Go on the top menu and click on Library. In the Library, open Caches, delete the contents and restart your Mac.

4) Re-connect your iPhone, and in Finder, click “Trust”, as you have had to do when you first connected it.

5) If you still need to, Open Image Capture to make the setting change.

6) If you still need to, on the keyboard, press Command Option Escape > Finder > Relaunch, and try again.

The steps don’t take too much time, and either one, or the combination of them did work for me, good luck!

This got rid of one of the pop up windows for me. Then to get rid of the second pop-up, I temporarily told the computer to open up Photos app when the phone was plugged in, plugged it back in, photos opened successfully with no pop up, and THEN I switched it back to No Application. Now no more annoying pop-ups! Thank you.

Having trouble following what to do from your write up. UPDATE: so basically what you are doing is telling the image capture app to open when iPhone is plugged in, do that one then go back into image capture app and then tell it to not open any app. This worked for me.

Thanks for this. It resolved my problem with iPad Pro 10.5 and Mac Pro13 Retina with macOS Big Sur version 11.2.1.

I did the two steps. First assigning Image Capture as application to open, no error then. So, then I closed it and open again changing the setting to No Application, close it again, and from that moment on, the error message didn't appear any more when connecting the iPad to the Mac.

Hey there!

You can change the setting while the phone is either disconnected, or turned off, then plug it in again, click “Trust” in Finder, then sync normally.

If that fails, disconnect again, reset Location and Privacy settings on your phone in Settings > General > Reset. Connect and try again.

If that still fails, disconnect again. On your Mac open Finder, while holding the Option key, click, on the top menu, Go > Library > Caches. Delete the contents of the folder, restart you Mac and test again.

I believe, from what I’ve tried myself, that should fix it, Not sure which step did the trick, so you may try one, then the rest. Good luck!

P.S. When I checked it out, the default app to open Photos in Image Capture was Photos, changed it to Image Capture and it worked, afterwards was able to change it back again, but from what others have said here, if it’s already in Image Capture, changing it elsewhere (Such as No Application) may just do the trick!

But again I tried all three steps in one, so not totally sure that was the fix, but reading here it most likely was, but if you need to, give the others a shot!