Save is greyed out when transferring photos to hard drive from ipad

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lizzie1947 Author

Level 1

7 points

Save is greyed out when transferring photos to hard drive from ipad

trying to save photos from ipad to external hard drive using the Lightning USB camera adapter. When I select the photos and try to save them to my hard drive the save button is greyed out. How can I save my photos.

iPad Air 3, iPadOS 15

Posted on Dec 17, 2022 8:28 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

DerekM87

Community Specialist

Dec 19, 2022 2:41 PM in response to lizzie1947

Hi lizzie1947,

The steps to transfer data such as photos to an external storage device are here:

Transfer files between your iPad and computer with an external storage device

Connect your iPad or computer to an external storage device, such as a USB drive or SD card.
To connect to iPad, you may need a cable adapter. See Connect external storage devices to iPad.
The first time you connect the devices, select Trust when asked on iPad whether to trust this computer. (See the Apple Support article About the ‘Trust This Computer’ alert.)
Use a supported app like Files or Pages to copy files to the storage device.
For example, to copy a file from the Files app on iPad to the storage device, touch and hold the file, then tap Copy. Tap the name of the device (in the sidebar, below Locations). Select a location for the file, touch and hold the screen, then tap Paste. See Organize files and folders in Files on iPad.
Disconnect the storage device.
Connect the storage device to your other device, then copy the files to that device.
For example, to copy a file to your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window, select the storage device (listed below Locations in the Finder sidebar), navigate to the file, then drag it to a folder on your Mac. See Connect and use other storage devices with Mac in the macOS User Guide."

If you're still unable to successfully transfer them, let us know on which step you're getting stuck. We'll continue from there.

Cheers!

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Answer 2

lizzie1947 Author

Level 1

7 points

Jan 2, 2023 6:39 AM in response to DerekM87

Hello Derek, many thanks for your reply before Christmas. Have only just got round to trying out your suggestion but when it comes to transferring a file to my hard drive it is still greyed out and doesn’t allow me to save. I have done a test with just a USB stick and this was successful. So the problem would seem to be with the hard drive. I can open up all the files on the hard drive through my iPad and it would appear that all the previously saved photo files are still there. I will try to find out if it is possible that part of the hard drive is corrupted otherwise it is a trip down to the Apple store for a bit of help and advice. My hard drive is a WD Elements a few years old but should have masses of storage available. Once again, thank you.

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