iPhone not showing all photos on Mac or PC

You keep telling us we have icloud turned on. I don't have it turned on and never have. I checked just now to be sure, and it's still not on. Normally, when I plug my iPhone 5S (ios 11.whatever) into my PC via USB to charge it at night, I can open it in Explorer, then open DCIM, and there should be numerous folders of photos (3 to 6 folders depending on if I've done much deleting). I then copy those photos to my PC and delete them on my phone. For the last few days, when I open DCIM, it only shows one folder, and it only contains about 12 photos. Tonight, to mess with me even more, it shows even less photos, than last night, though I didn't delete anything in my phone since last night. Where are all the folders of photos that I could see a week ago? They're not in icloud because I don't use icloud and it's never been turned on. Where else might they be? Thanks.

Please read through the articles I posted for you. You have iCloud Photo Library turned on on your device. The photos you are looking at are in iCloud, and can only be put on to your PC via iCloud Photo Library. You cannot import those photos directly from the iOS device since they are not in the Camera Roll.

You can go to Settings>iCloud, on the phone and turn off iCloud Photo Library, and all of the photos that are in the All Photos album will no longer be on the device.

Once you follow the procedures in the articles to get your photos downloaded to your PC, you can turn off iCloud Photo Library everywhere, and go back to the regular process of importing your photos to your PC: IMPORTING PHOTOS - WINDOWS/MAC

But right now, there is no way to move those photos from your phone to your PC. You need to download them from the iCloud Photo Library to your PC.

Cheers,

GB

OK, so photos on your device that can be imported are in the Camera Roll. If they are not in the Camera Roll on the Photos app on the device, then they cannot be imported to your computer. Where do they show up in the Photos app?

GB

You have iCloud Photo Library turned on. That means that all of your photos can be seen in iCloud, and if you want to see them on your PC, you will need to set up iCloud Photo Library on your PC: Set up and use iCloud Photo Library on your Windows PC - Apple Support

Here are some additional articles that will help you to understand how iCloud Photo Library works:

iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

iCloud Photo Library Help - Apple Support

Be sure to read the articles carefully, as iCloud Photo Library is a sharing service, not an archival one. That means that anytime you are accessing iCloud Photo Library (whether from your iOS device, your PC, or iCloud.com), anything you do to the photos (including deleting them) will occur across the Photo Library on all devices and computers.

Also, with iCloud Photo Library, because it is a sharing service, all of our photos in the Library are downloaded to all devices and computers using the library. You can turn on Optimization, which will save space by optimizing the photos on your devices and computers when needed (i.e., they won't all be full resolution, and if you want one of the optimized photos to be full res, you have to download it), but they all will be propagated everywhere that iCloud Photo Library is being used.

Best of luck,

GB

You are most welcome! iCloud Photo Library can be very confusing even for people who intentionally use it. Personally, I have abstained, and intend to continue to do so. I like deciding what photos I want on my phone, and I like having my photos safely stashed in my Photos Library on my Mac, backed up regularly to Time Machine. I use pretty much every other iCloud feature, but I'm just not enamored of iCloud Photo Library.

If you run into issues, don't hesitate to post back! 🙂

Best of luck,

GB

My pictures that are not in a DCIM folder due to the iCloud storage are available, painfully slow to download, but the .mov files (videos) always error and I can’t seem to download from the iCloud or import from photos app on Windows 10. Any suggestions? I’d hate to loose my baby’s first steps / words, etc.... thanks

Sorry, but you are describing a method that I am not familiar with. The photos import process is automated, and does not involve DCIM folders at all, so I really can't help you with the issue you are having.

Sorry,

GB

this is the best solution i've found.

iCloud Photo Library is another example through which you can extract photos or transfer the existing images available on the photo library to your iPhone in a few simple steps. We all know that both pictures and videos consume a lot of space in an iPhone, and in fact in any smartphone. However, with the help of iCloud Photo Library, users can transfer the pictures and videos to the Apple cloud service to free up space on their device. They can even see them online through their iCloud account from any device and at any time. The following are the steps through which you can quickly download pictures from iCloud Photo Library to your iPhone.

Step 1: You will have to activate the iCloud Photo Library, which you can do it from the settings application. Head to the app on your iPhone, scroll the list to find iCloud and opt for Photos. Swipe the iCloud Photo Library to the right to activate the service.

Step 2: In the same window, you will be able to find "Download and keep original" option. Activate the same.

Step 3: You can now launch your Photos application on your iPhone to view the photos available in the iCloud Photo Library app as it will synchronize the data automatically.

tfromglendale wrote:

this is the best solution i've found.

We all know that both pictures and videos consume a lot of space in an iPhone, and in fact in any smartphone. However, with the help of iCloud Photo Library, users can transfer the pictures and videos to the Apple cloud service to free up space on their device.

Step 2: In the same window, you will be able to find "Download and keep original" option. Activate the same.

Just a clarification regarding the sentences above:

iCloud Photo Library can free up some space on your device, and can manage it dynamically, but only if you turn on the "Optimization" option.

If you select "Download and keep originals", you will have the exact same number of photos on your device, taking up the exact same amount of storage whether iCloud Photo Library is on or not.

Best of luck,

GB

Im undergoing the exact same pain.. What is the solution for this? How do I transfer the photos now 😟

Sorry, but what thousands of other photos are you referring to? If they are not on your iPhone, then I'm not sure where they would be coming from? Can you elaborate?

Cheers,

GB