Why does it take so long for my iphone photos to show in Windows File Explorer with my newer phone

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Level 1

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Why does it take so long for my iphone photos to show in Windows File Explorer with my newer phone

I used to have an iphone 5s. I could take a photo, hook it up via usb to my windows desktop, and immediately download the photo I had just taken, do what I need to do to it and send it..

I upgraded to an iphone 13, and honestly, as far as transferring photos over goes, I'm finding it to be a major downgrade.

Am I doing something wrong? Sometimes I have to wait quite a long time 'til I can finally download the photo I took. It's got to the point where it's slowing my workflow when I just need to send a customer a quick photo. I have to email to to my personal email address to get it onto my desktop instead, if I don't want to wait 'til it feels like co-operating. It's very inefficient compared to how it used to be.

iPhone 13, iOS 18

Posted on Dec 6, 2024 4:31 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 7, 2024 10:08 AM in response to BecksEden

I would expect that, if all things are the same, then the 13 should be way faster than the 5s. So I'm trying to think of things that might be different. You didn't tell us much about your Windows machine (and if you did, I still wouldn't know much…) Some Windows systems don't really care for newer picture formats like HEIC. So in the Phone's Settings>Apps>Photos you may need to set "Transfer" to Automatic.

Are you using iCloud Photos? If you are, and if you have Optimize Storage turned on for Photos, then pictures may have to be downloaded from iCloud before sending. If you really only keep a small number of pictures on your phone, and you have lots of storage room, then you should turn off Optimize and switch to "Keep Originals." In fact, if you don't use iCloud Photos to synchronize your pictures on your phone with a computer, then you really don't need to have iCloud Photos turned on at all.

Plugs and cable can really affect data transfers. I would try swapping cables to see if that helped. If you have a chance, you should try a different computer to see if that makes a difference. The app you use, if it's not been upgraded recently, might be surprised by the newer phone.

Let us know what, if anything, works…

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Answer 2

Dec 21, 2024 9:52 AM in response to BecksEden

Photos really wants to save battery life and not interfere with your use of the phone. Do things go faster if you plug the phone in and leave it alone for a while?

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Answer 3

BecksEden Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 21, 2024 8:52 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hi Richard. Thank you for your help.

Ok, so I did already have "automatic" selected in transfer settings, and I don't use icloud photos. I have tried many cables to date. All the same.

That said, sometimes the photos do show on file explorer, sometimes they don't. It just seems very inconsistent. Ah well, I guess I will have to live with the regret of upgrading my phone - it was going to have to happen sometime.

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Answer 4

BecksEden Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 22, 2024 4:05 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hi. The photos do become available if I leave it for a while whether I plug the phone in or not. But isn't that rather defeating the point, which is that I used to be able to see them straight away. It's such a nuisance when I need to quickly edit send a photo to a customer.

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Answer 5

markwmsn

Level 6

17,197 points

Dec 6, 2024 4:05 PM in response to BecksEden

Do you keep a lot more photos on the new phone than you did on the old one?

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Answer 6

BecksEden Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 6, 2024 5:23 PM in response to markwmsn

Hi. No, not at all. My habit is to remove photos from my phone and store them elsewhere, so there are relatively few photos on there - same with both phones. Thanks.

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Why does it take so long for my iphone photos to show in Windows File Explorer with my newer phone

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