I have an iPhone 4 that does not update anymore, works deadly slow, and has zero free space on it. For some reason (subject for another question), I has to use it and, to make using it more comfortable, I want to free some space.
I found that decent amount of space is occupied by photos and videos, that I cannot afford to loose, so I want to move these photos and videos to PC, i.e. to copy them from iPhone to PC, and then remove them from iPhone.
I've connected iPhone to PC via USB cable, and Windows (I also have MacBook, but tried on Windows; let me know, if on MacBook my task is easier to solve) recognized it as external USB drive with two folders:
-
one folder named
DCIM, and -
another named something like
File Transfer
In these two folders there were more than a hundred photo and video files. I successfully moved all of them to PC, so now, Windows does not see any files on iPhone.
The problem is that iPhone still has zero free space and if I tap on Photo icon in it, I still see lots of photos and videos there. So my goal was not achieved. I don't know whether photos I still see on iPhone and photos I now have on PC are the same or not.
Could you help me?
Best Answer
You need a way to transfer original photos and videos from your iPhone to your PC. First copy/import them from your iPhone to Windows, then proceed to delete them from within the Photos app on your iPhone.
To copy/import using a Mac, connect your iPhone to your MacBook, and use a macOS built-in app called Image Capture. Upon launching, Image Capture will list your iPhone in the left pane. Selecting it will display all the photos and videos available on your iPhone. Simply select the desired ones and drag them into a folder of your choosing to copy them to your Mac. Once copied, you can also delete them from the iPhone using the Image Capture app.
For computers running Windows, you can download a 3rd party app called iExplorer to easily browse through and transfer all your photos and videos from your iPhone to your PC.
Developers of iExplorer have shared a tutorial article listing instructions on how to transfer photos from your iOS device to PC:
Note: No affiliation whatsoever to the developer of iExplorer.