iphone sync stuck on syncing photos (step 6 of 6) waiting for items to copy

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Level 1

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iphone sync stuck on syncing photos (step 6 of 6) waiting for items to copy

I have an iphone 8 and a MacBook Pro (Early 2015), iOS version 11.1. Both have been updated and restarted. I connected my phone to my computer (by wire) to sync, and the sync is stuck at "syncing photos (step 6 of 6) waiting for items to copy" I tried changing the settings and re-syncing, I also tried unselecting photos & syncing, and then reselecting photos & syncing, and that just ended up deleting all my photos from my phone. I have TONNES of storage space on my phone. I do not want to use the cloud (I don't want to pay for it). can someone please help me! TIA

Posted on Dec 17, 2020 7:17 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 20, 2020 11:31 AM in response to clevrgrl

Hi clevrgrl,

We understand that it's taking your MacBook Pro quite a bit of time to sync photos to your iPhone, and we're glad you reached out here in Apple Support Communities.

To clarify, are you wanting to sync photos from your MacBook Pro to your iPhone, or the other way around? The reason we ask is that the sync process in Finder is a single-direction transfer that copies your photos from your Mac to the iPhone. Depending on the amount of data being transferred, this could take some time. We have more information at Use the Finder to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with your computer

When photos are synced from your Mac to your iPhone, they can't be deleted from the iPhone itself, you would need to deselect the photos in Finder and then sync again. This is why when you deselected the photos on the Mac and synced again, the photos were removed from your phone, and is expected behavior.

If you're taking photos on your iPhone and want to transfer them to your Mac, you'll want to follow the steps in Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

If you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know.

Have a great day!

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Answer 2

clevrgrl Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 22, 2020 6:22 PM in response to MichelleT18

I am trying to get the phones on my Mac to my iphone 8. They *used* to be there, but most recently when I connected my iphone to my Mac (to transfer some recent pics to photos), the pics disappeared from my iphone. I can't make them sync to my phone now. I even tried restoring my phone to factory settings and re-syncing to a back up.

As well it's not that it's taking quite a bit of time. The sync finishes, and even though i've checked "sync all photos and albums" My photos are not on my phone anymore.

Also I tried deselecting and reselecting photos AFTER the photos randomly disappeared from my phone. They did not get removed from my phone because I deselected them.

Please help

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Answer 3

karina184

Community Specialist

Dec 23, 2020 5:51 AM in response to clevrgrl

Hi there!

We really appreciate you sending these additional details over. If you try syncing one or two albums from the Mac, will they transfer to the iPhone?

This will help us isolate the problem a little more.

All the best.

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Answer 4

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Dec 25, 2020 10:16 AM in response to clevrgrl

Hi clevrgrl,

We can imagine this is a big inconvenience for you. When you have a chance, we encourage you to contact our Apple Support advisors at Get Support so that they take a closer look into the issue. They'll have access to some additional tools that we don't have here in Apple Support Communities.

Cheers!

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Answer 5

clevrgrl Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 23, 2020 5:57 AM in response to karina184

No. That did not work. I tried that too.

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iphone sync stuck on syncing photos (step 6 of 6) waiting for items to copy

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