Photos doesn't see all images on my iPhone

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Level 1

4 points

Photos doesn't see all images on my iPhone

I have an iMac Pro running macOS 12.7.6 Monterey. I also have an iPhone 17 Pro with about 3500 images on it.

When I connect my iPhone to the Mac and run either Photos or Image capture neither program sees all the images. Normally they see between 1400 to 1900 of them. I need to unplug the iPhone and replug it a few times before the Mac sees all the pictures.

But not quite. There is a least one image that the Mac refuses to see. It's just a snapshot taken with the iPhone camera. That makes me wonder if there are more images that Photos/Image capture never sees and never imports.

I tried more than one cable. I even bought a high quality cable (that supports USB-3 speeds). It did not help.

What do I do?

(I don't want to use iCloud for various reasons.)

iPhone 17 Pro

Posted on Aug 26, 2026 12:19 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 27, 2026 8:23 AM in response to Lennart_T

What happens if you export that one picture by selecting it and using Share>Save to Files? If you share to On My Phone, then can you see the picture in the Files app? If so, what happens if you go to that picture in Files and Share>Save Image? Do you see a new version in Photos? Does your Mac see this version?

You can use the Share to Files command to export pictures to an external drive plugged in to the phone, as well.

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Answer 2

Lennart_T Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 28, 2026 7:30 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

I did empty the folder on the SSD (and emptied the trash). Then I connected it to the iPhone and exported unmodified originals. Now Photos on the Mac saw 32 images as already imported...

I think it helps importing from the iPhone if I have it connected to the Mac for a few minutes before launching Photos. It might be a coincidence, but it has showed all the iPhone images in Photos on the Mac more than once this way.

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Answer 3

Lennart_T Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 26, 2026 12:58 PM in response to Lennart_T

I just ran Boot Camp with Windows 10 on my iMac Pro. Windows did see all images, except that single one that I noticed missing on the Mac as well. It did take a while to find all images.

I could e-mail me the single offending image from the iPhone and import it into Photos on the Mac without problems.

NOW Photos sees the offending image as already imported.

So what is so special about this image since neither Windows nor macOS sees it?

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Answer 4

Lennart_T Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 28, 2026 7:07 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't know you could plug an external drive to the iPhone. I saved all my 3500 plus images to an external SSD. Then I connected that SSD to the Mac. Photos wanted to import most of them, it didn't see them as duplicates.

Anyway, I the connected my iPhone to the Mac and Photos found four images not previously imported, so at least it did something good.

Oh, and I could not save more than about 800 images at a time from the iPhone to the SSD. (I first tried all and it didn't work, the 1400 and it didn't work, then about 800 and that worked.)

I will keep experimenting. I guess I will try to save the unmodified originals next time from the iPhone. Not that it should matter as I never manipulate any images on the iPhone.

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Answer 5

Aug 28, 2026 7:21 AM in response to Lennart_T

Lennart_T wrote: Oh, and I could not save more than about 800 images at a time from the iPhone to the SSD. (I first tried all and it didn't work, the 1400 and it didn't work, then about 800 and that worked.)

I think that the limit is 1000 per export.

Exporting Unmodified Originals is faster. The "edited" version must be created each time from the original and the database, so it takes a bit longer.

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Answer 6

Aug 28, 2026 8:03 AM in response to Lennart_T

Lennart_T wrote: …I think it helps importing from the iPhone if I have it connected to the Mac for a few minutes before launching Photos. It might be a coincidence, but it has showed all the iPhone images in Photos on the Mac more than once this way.

You may be right about the time. The thing is that the pictures you see on the screen, and pictures that are exported, may not actually exist as files, and they are created for the export. The process seems different that a couple of OSs ago, and that might work-- I haven't tested it. Let us know what you find…

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