HT204597: If you can't import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer

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laurafromcalgary

Q: When I try to import the photos from iPhone to my Mac it will import some of them but not all of them. Why is this and how can I get the remainder of the photos?

When I try to import my photos from my iPhone 5C to my Mac OS X version 10.6.8, it will often just import some of them and not all of them.  If I try it again later it usually says that all the photos have been imported. Why is this happening and what can I do to fix the problem?

iPhone 5c

Posted on Jun 1, 2016 6:53 AM

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Q: When I try to import the photos from iPhone to my Mac it will import some of them but not all of them. Why is this and how can I g ... more

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  • by Demo,

    Demo Demo Jun 1, 2016 6:56 AM in response to laurafromcalgary
    Level 10 (94,797 points)
    iPad
    Jun 1, 2016 6:56 AM in response to laurafromcalgary

    You can only import photos that are in the camera roll. Are you trying to import photos from somewhere else?

  • by laurafromcalgary,

    laurafromcalgary laurafromcalgary Jun 1, 2016 7:06 AM in response to Demo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jun 1, 2016 7:06 AM in response to Demo

    I am trying to import the photos that are in the camera roll. When i click the Photos button on my phone they are all there in Photos and Albums.

  • by BBoiss,

    BBoiss BBoiss Jun 1, 2016 8:00 AM in response to laurafromcalgary
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    Jun 1, 2016 8:00 AM in response to laurafromcalgary

    laurafromcalgary wrote:

     

    I am trying to import the photos that are in the camera roll. When i click the Photos button on my phone they are all there in Photos and Albums.

    Your computer recognizes past imports, and so it sees the other photos/videos as being already imported to your computer.

  • by laurafromcalgary,

    laurafromcalgary laurafromcalgary Jun 1, 2016 8:11 AM in response to BBoiss
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jun 1, 2016 8:11 AM in response to BBoiss

    Yes, but the photos that are not importing are ones that have never been imported. I just returned from a 2 week holiday in Ireland. The last third or quarter of my photos imported but the rest did not.  I do not have iCloud on my home Mac so they are not hiding somewhere there.  I can still see them on my phone and iPad (I have iCloud on both of those).  Do I have to delete the ones that did import off my phone to have iPhotos see the rest?

  • by BBoiss,

    BBoiss BBoiss Jun 1, 2016 8:13 AM in response to laurafromcalgary
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    Jun 1, 2016 8:13 AM in response to laurafromcalgary

    laurafromcalgary wrote:

     

    Yes, but the photos that are not importing are ones that have never been imported. I just returned from a 2 week holiday in Ireland. The last third or quarter of my photos imported but the rest did not.  I do not have iCloud on my home Mac so they are not hiding somewhere there.  I can still see them on my phone and iPad (I have iCloud on both of those).  Do I have to delete the ones that did import off my phone to have iPhotos see the rest?

    I have a workaround for you then. Open the app, Image Capture, on your Mac and click on your device listed in the sidebar. Allow the images to all load and you can import all to a destination of your choosing.

  • by laurafromcalgary,

    laurafromcalgary laurafromcalgary Jun 1, 2016 8:37 AM in response to BBoiss
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jun 1, 2016 8:37 AM in response to BBoiss

    Thank you for trying to help me.  I followed your directions and it only sees the same photos that I have already imported.  It imported 160 photos on the first try but there are about 370 photos it is not seeing that are still on my phone.

  • by Demo,

    Demo Demo Jun 1, 2016 8:40 AM in response to laurafromcalgary
    Level 10 (94,797 points)
    iPad
    Jun 1, 2016 8:40 AM in response to laurafromcalgary

    Have you closed the apps on the Mac, whichever ones you are using to import the photos, restarted the Mac and restarted the phone? Are these photos that you took with the phone?

  • by BBoiss,Apple recommended

    BBoiss BBoiss Jun 1, 2016 8:49 AM in response to laurafromcalgary
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    Jun 1, 2016 8:49 AM in response to laurafromcalgary

    laurafromcalgary wrote:

     

    Thank you for trying to help me.  I followed your directions and it only sees the same photos that I have already imported.  It imported 160 photos on the first try but there are about 370 photos it is not seeing that are still on my phone.

    Hmm, as you mentioned the use of iCloud earlier on your devices, it is possible these other images have been optimized. Go into Settings>iCloud>Photos on your iOS device and toggle "Download and Keep Originals." Once this has completed, which may take a good bit of time depending on your WiFi connection speed, attempt your import again.

     

    If your device lacks the storage to do this, enable iCloud Photo Library on your Mac so they are automatically imported to it. (This does require that your Mac is running with OS X 10.10.3 or later.)  Go to System Preferences > iCloud > Options next to Photos, then select iCloud Photo Library.

  • by Demo,

    Demo Demo Jun 1, 2016 8:52 AM in response to laurafromcalgary
    Level 10 (94,797 points)
    iPad
    Jun 1, 2016 8:52 AM in response to laurafromcalgary

    laurafromcalgary wrote:

     

    I do not have iCloud on my home Mac so they are not hiding somewhere there.  I can still see them on my phone and iPad (I have iCloud on both of those).  

    Please explain in detail what this means. Do NOT toggle anything in the settings with regard to iCloud until you answer this question. Are you using iCloud Photo Library on the phone or are you using Photo Stream? You can check in Settings>PHotos & Camera.

  • by laurafromcalgary,

    laurafromcalgary laurafromcalgary Jun 1, 2016 9:25 AM in response to Demo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jun 1, 2016 9:25 AM in response to Demo

    Yes, they are photos I took with my iPhone.  I have closed the applications and shut down both the phone and computer and restarted them. I am using iCloud Photo Library on my phone. I have it on my phone and iPad so I can see the photos is both places. I do not have iCloud on my desktop Mac because my software is not up to date. So I plug my phone into the desktop Mac and iPhoto opens and I try to import the phone photos. This is where I only see some of the new photos. Does this help you?

  • by Demo,

    Demo Demo Jun 1, 2016 9:33 AM in response to laurafromcalgary
    Level 10 (94,797 points)
    iPad
    Jun 1, 2016 9:33 AM in response to laurafromcalgary

    Yes, it helps me understand what is going on. However, I do not use iCloud Photo Library. Take a look at this.

    iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

     

    See if you can download the photos to your Mac from iCloud.com. I am not sure if you can download the photos without having iCloud Photo Library enabled everywhere.

  • by BBoiss,Apple recommended

    BBoiss BBoiss Jun 1, 2016 9:39 AM in response to Demo
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    Jun 1, 2016 9:39 AM in response to Demo

    Demo wrote:

     

    Yes, it helps me understand what is going on. However, I do not use iCloud Photo Library. Take a look at this.

    iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

     

    See if you can download the photos to your Mac from iCloud.com. I am not sure if you can download the photos without having iCloud Photo Library enabled everywhere.

    I use iCloud Photo Library on all of my products. If you do not have iCloud Photo Library enabled, the option to toggle Download and Keep Originals is not even present.

     

    You can download them from iCloud.com directly to your computer by choosing "Select Photo" and then clicking the ones you wish to download (it will put blue checks on the selections). After this, there is a "Download" button you can click to download to your computer. I remember this having a Select All option even if by only using CMD+A but that doesn't seem to be working right now...Either way, whether you download them from iCloud.com or toggle the Download on your device and then import, the end goal will be achieved.

  • by laurafromcalgary,

    laurafromcalgary laurafromcalgary Jun 1, 2016 9:43 AM in response to Demo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jun 1, 2016 9:43 AM in response to Demo

    I don't seem to be able to get into iCloud.com on my Mac without changing my Apple ID password which I don't want to do. Maybe I will look into upgrading my operating system so I can have iCloud on all my devices. I hope this will solve the problem.

  • by BBoiss,

    BBoiss BBoiss Jun 1, 2016 9:49 AM in response to laurafromcalgary
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    Jun 1, 2016 9:49 AM in response to laurafromcalgary

    laurafromcalgary wrote:

     

    I don't seem to be able to get into iCloud.com on my Mac without changing my Apple ID password which I don't want to do. Maybe I will look into upgrading my operating system so I can have iCloud on all my devices. I hope this will solve the problem.

    Sorry to hear that. One suggestion on the Apple ID bit would be to double check that you are typing in your password with the capital letter and number. The capital letter seems to be the most frequently missed character. Otherwise, your browser may be attempting to Autofill this for you and have the incorrect information, so you could try erasing that bit and manually entering in the password.

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