I am unable to import all photos to my computer?

Question

Level 1

32 points

I am unable to import all photos to my computer?

I have an iPhone 5s IOS 8.3, and a Windows 8 Computer. I plug in my iPhone with a USB, and my computer recognizes it fine. I go to my "My PC" then "Sara's iPhone" and get to the DCIM files. That's really the only place I can go. There are 3 folders with only about half of the pictures on my iphone on there collectively. So, I can't find about 400 of my pictures to upload to my computer.

I also wanted to upload photos directly onto my Google Drive App, and the app only recognized 200 (out of 800) photos on my phone. I thought my computer would find the other missing pictures, but I guess not. So that's where the problem was really noticed.

I've already looked it this tutorial: iOS: Unable to import photos to computer - Apple Support, and it has yielded no helpful results. I've also gone to "This PC", right-clicked my device, and hit "Import photos and videos." Even then it only recognized about 90 "new" photos.

All I need is for the first half of my pictures to be found and uploaded, and if anybody could fix that for me, I would be seriously grateful.

iPhone 5s, iOS 8.3

Posted on Jun 14, 2015 1:22 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 4, 2017 11:21 AM in response to ellesee3124

YES!!! This was the fix for me. Thank you!

Summary: You can't download photos that have already been uploaded to iCloud. So, log into your iCloud account in order to access them and download to your computer.

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Answer 2

Series25

Level 1

12 points

Oct 17, 2017 2:09 PM in response to sarajan3

i still do not understand this icloud ********. all i know is that i cannot gat fotos off of my iphone 6 that i took today!!!! they are on the phone but will not show on my pc and no one seems to know why!!!!!!

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Answer 3

Oct 17, 2017 2:17 PM in response to Series25

How are you trying to get them off your iPhone? Start here: Syncing photos via iTunes

Alternatively: Copying personal photos and videos from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer

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Answer 4

Jun 14, 2015 1:25 PM in response to sarajan3

I don't know if this is the issue, but you can only import photos taken with the phone. Photos that were transferred from your computer cannot be copied back to your computer; it is assumed they are already on it.

If that is not the issue, have you seen this Microsoft Help article? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/import-photos-videos

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Answer 5

sarajan3 Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 14, 2015 1:42 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

All missing photos were either taken with the phone, or saved onto the phone via the message app or an internet browser on the phone.

And when following the Microsoft tutorial, the same problem occurred.

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Answer 6

Jun 14, 2015 1:45 PM in response to sarajan3

Where these photos ever imported to a computer in the past? Normally imported photos are marked as "imported", and will not import a 2nd time.

When you go to Settings/General/About how many photos does it say you have?

You can try a reputable 3rd party solution such as TouchCopy.

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Answer 7

sarajan3 Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 14, 2015 1:55 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Some of the photos were uploaded to the Google Drive app only, but none to my computer. And, my iphone says that I have 600~ pictures, but thats because I uploaded and deleted the ones that my computer recognized.

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Answer 8

sarajan3 Author

Level 1

32 points

Jun 14, 2015 2:13 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

And, I talked with Microsoft and they said I need to update a driver or download a new one. What would I do for my device?

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Answer 9

Jun 14, 2015 2:44 PM in response to sarajan3

To update the drivers the easiest way is to remove and reinstall iTunes. It on'y replaces the app, your iTunes data will be unaffected. See: Removing and Reinstalling iTunes

Be sure to do this from an account that has Administrator privileges.

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Answer 10

Jun 29, 2015 1:52 PM in response to sarajan3

Have you turned on iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone/iPad? I did this and found that any photos that had already been uploaded to iCloud Photo Library were no longer available for import to my computer.

Only the photos that had not yet been imported to iCloud Photo Library were still available. Initially, I had lots of issues getting iCloud Photo Library to finish the upload - it stalled, so half my photos were left on my iPhone and not uploaded. I had to turn it off a couple of times (wiping all the photos already uploaded) and re-start it.

You can view and manage uploaded iCloud Photo Library photos at www.icloud.com, by logging in with your iCloud Apple ID. On Mac, they can be viewed and managed using the new Photos app in OS X 10.10.3.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 11

jkdoody

Level 1

9 points

Jul 14, 2016 11:42 AM in response to sarajan3

Hello. I'm having this problem too. I have 1500 photos on my iPhone and my PC only finds about 100 and it's NOT because I've already downloaded the others. Did you find any solutions to this problem? Thanks in advance.

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Answer 12

LynneRob

Level 1

4 points

Oct 6, 2016 12:02 AM in response to sarajan3

Re the last response to turn off Icloud photo library - it asks Remove photos from this phone? If I click on this, will it remove them forever? Or will they come back if I switch the Icloud photo library back on again?

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Answer 13

Oct 6, 2016 6:35 AM in response to LynneRob

If you turn off iCloud Photos on any device they still remain in iCloud, and will be restored if you turn it on again.

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Answer 14

JerYurk

Level 1

4 points

Oct 6, 2016 6:55 AM in response to LynneRob

LynneRob,

It will not remove the photos forever. It will only stop the task your phone is trying to complete uploading photos to iCloud.

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