(http://www.iphonehacks.

com/)

What’s Hot:
iPhone X (/iphone-x) 2018 iPhones (/iphone-x) iOS 12 (/ios-12) iPhone 8 (/iphone-8) Jailbreak iOS 11.3.1 (/jailbreak-ios-11)
Electra Jailbreak (/electra-jailbreak)
Custom Search

How to Back Up Photos From iPhone to External Hard Drive

Posted by Khamosh Pathak on Jun 29, 2016 in iPhone 6s Plus (http://www.iphonehacks.com/iphone-6s-plus), Mac (http://www.iphonehacks.com/mac), Photos
(http://www.iphonehacks.com/photos), Top Stories (http://www.iphonehacks.com/top-stories)

j Share 2K s Tweet 9 2K
o SHARES
(http://www.facebook.com/share.php? (https://twitter.c
u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iphonehacks.com%2F2016%2F06%2Fback-
text=How+to+Back+Up+Photos+From+iPhone+to+External+Hard+Driv
up-photos-iphone-external-hard-drive.html) up-photos-iphone-external-ha

It’s amazing how quickly my 64 GB iPhone fills up with just the photos. Especially Live Photos. The best thing you can do for your photos is to enable
cloud backup. I recommend using iCloud Photo Library (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2015/01/icloud-photo-library-guide.html) – it’s
built right in. If you’re looking for a completely free option – Google Photos (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/03/google-photos-live-
photos-support.html) is also an awesome alternative.

But I also like to have a local backup of all my photos. And because my Mac is the 128 model (never again), I can’t really dump 40 gigs of photos on
there. That’s where my 1 TB external hard drive comes in. I periodically back up my photos to the external hard drive (last time I did was right before
installing iOS 10 beta (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/06/install-ios-10-beta.html)). If you want to do the same, follow the process
below. Windows users can check this post (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2017/10/how-to-backup-photos-from-iphone-to-external-
hard-drive-windows.html).

Step
j 1: Connect Your External Hard Drive To Your Mac
First, connect the hard drive to your Mac and make sure it shows up in the Finder’s sidebar. Copy something to the hard drive from the desktop just to
s
make sure it works. If it doesn’t then it might not be formatted to use with a Mac (most external hard drives aren’t). If that’s the case, you’ll need to
first reformat the hard drive to FAT format.

Step 2: Connect Your iOS Device To Your Mac

The first thing you need to do is connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac using the USB to Lightning connector you got with your device.

Step 3: Launch Image Capture

Image Capture on Mac is one of the most underrated utilities. To launch it, search for “Image Capture” using Spotlight search (using Cmd + Space
shortcut).

After you launch it, find your iOS device in the left sidebar and click on it.
You’ll now see a list of all the photos on your iPhone or iPad right there.

You can either use the keyboard shortcut Cmd + A to select all or just individually check mark all the images you want to import.

Step 4: Select Destination

By default, photos will be imported in the Pictures folder. Click the drop-down, and select “Other”.

Now select the folder in the external hard drive as a source.

Step 5: Click Import

Click the “Import” button and wait until the transfer is done. If the external hard drive is USB 2.0 spec, and you have a lot of photos, this could take
more than just a couple of minutes.

What’s Your Backup Policy?

How do you backup your data and photos? Share with us in the comments below.

Check out our category page for more tips and tricks for your iPhone:

iPhone Tips and Tricks (http://www.iphonehacks.com/iphone_tips_tricks)

Like this post? Share it!

j Share 2K s Tweet 9 2K
o SHARES

(http://www.facebook.com/share.php? (https://twitter.c
u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iphonehacks.com%2F2016%2F06%2Fback-
text=How+to+Back+Up+Photos+From+iPhone+to+External+Hard+Driv
up-photos-iphone-external-hard-drive.html) up-photos-iphone-external-ha

RECOMMENDED
Cardiologist: "I Beg Top 10 Mac Antivirus - Do New Snoring Solution Has
Everyone To Quit 3 Foods" Mac Users Really Need CPAP Makers Quaking In
SmartConsumerToday Protection? Their Boots
(https://rpptrk.com/5509f758- My Antivirus Review www.bestsnoringproducts.com

99e7-4aa9-b4a3- (http://click.clickntrax.com/9224ea8e-
(http://bestsnoringproducts.com/pre12.php?
e4670dfbf786? 8458-49c1-96d7- subid=perfdesk_$section_name$&utm_medium=Native&utm_source=Outbrain&utm_
a=&n=O&c=34136a2f-feaa- 820fe3521360?
43ee-abd9- source=16667&ADID=Place-
2d789fe4aef2&i=34136a2f- Here&sectionid=%24section_id%24&sectionname=%24section_name%24&publisherid=%24publisher_id%24&publisher
feaa-43ee-abd9-
2d789fe4aef2&sn=$section_name$&si=$section_id$&title=Stop+Over+Paying+for+Auto+Insurance%21&adid=000e888ce7bf4ced8f07131aebe29b9533&

Is Super Chewer BarkBox How to Backup iPhone or Apple's AirPods Will Gain
Really Worth It? One Toy iPad to External Drive 'Live Listen' Feature with iOS
Shredder's Review iPhone Hacks 12
Popdust iPhone Hacks
(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/05/backup-
(https://i.geistm.com/l/SCBullDog_Popdust?
iphone-ipad-external- (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/airpods-
bhid=5b0d62c2f71a9805859b44b4&bcid=5b0d57e8f71a9805859b4473&utm_campaign=OB_D_SC_Bulldog_Popdust_IntTech&utm_source=geistm&utm_m
drive.html?obOrigUrl=true) ios-12-live-listen.html?
obOrigUrl=true)
Recommended by

Subscribe to iPhoneHacks Daily Newsletter

Sign up for our iPhoneHacks Daily newsletter to get the top Apple news stories delivered to your inbox.

Subscribe

39 Comments iPhone Hacks !

1 Login

Sort by Best
$ Recommend 16 ⤤ Share

Join the discussion…

LOG IN WITH OR SIGN UP WITH DISQUS ?

Name

Jose Rafael Perez Balen • 2 years ago

How about a Windows version of this article?
6△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Gautam Mod > Jose Rafael Perez Balen • 2 years ago

Noted! We will update the article for Windows as well.

4△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Nicole > Gautam • a year ago

Is there a Windows option to do this ??
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

5723alex . > Gautam • 2 years ago

There is none.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
 MacMan > 5723alex . • 2 years ago
iMazing, brilliant program for mac and windows.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

5723alex . > MacMan • 2 years ago

Are you kidding ?
$34.99 - $64.99 to copy some pictures ?

Upload to the unlimited storage Google Photos. Edit, arrange, share... and download to your PC or any other device if you wish.

see more

1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

MacMan > 5723alex . • 2 years ago

There is always away to get it "free" just gotta look ;)
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Nicole > 5723alex . • a year ago

I tried this and it only copied some of my photos :(
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Philippe Pagni > Nicole • 6 months ago

I just tried, and exact same result for me, I don't understand why some were copied and not others.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Hacked2123 > Jose Rafael Perez Balen • 2 years ago

I just used ifunbox a minute ago...but I'm not sure that is all that much easier than going to PC and moving each file over.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Sydney • 9 months ago

thank you so much for this!!!

icloud photo library sucks because the photos' details like date created are all messed up!! :-)
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Cali Cottle Stoddard • 10 months ago

I have been trying to figure this out for SO LONG! Thank you!! I do have the problem of only seeing a portion of my photos, but I'm just so happy to
know there's a way to bypass the computer! Thank you!

see more

1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

tommy • 23 days ago

tried all the steps on my MacBook Pro but does not let me choose my external hard drive to import all my photos. the external hard drive and my
iPhone pops up on image capture but the choose button does not illuminate for me to click.. any suggestions?

see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

kcorchis • 2 months ago

Ok, so i followed the directions and i have over 12 000 pics on my phone, and i would only allow me to import 4500, and I have a 2TB external hard
drive, and no photos in the cloud. And the photos that were imported where random ones... HELP?!

see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Emmizzle • 3 months ago

SO HELPFUL!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

peterscot • 3 months ago

Thank you for this. I found that this is the best (and possibly only) way to backup Live photos (outside of cloud, of course).

In the Image Capture App, select "Keep Originals" and choose the folder. It saves the image as ".HEIC" extension along with a .MOV file. If you import
these back to "Photos" app, they reappear as "Live photos" all right.

see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Ori Oli • 5 months ago

This is great, but none of my photos are showing up when I select my phone in Image Capture-- any tips?
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Arthur • 5 months ago
Worked great. The only thing is the Hard Drive didn't show up at first in Image Capture. What I did was click Import and from there I was able to see
the external hard drive in Finder.

see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Sai • 6 months ago

Thank you so much
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Rachel Richards • 6 months ago

Thank you for this!!!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Rachel Richards > Rachel Richards • 6 months ago

Can you do a "how to" on how to access things on the cloud? I don't use it because I don't know how to access it. Maybe I'll just use Google
Photos instead. Esp because it's free.

see more

5△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Dan Lawrence • 7 months ago

Hi once ive done this, next time I go to backup is it going to want to replace the same photos or duplicate them?
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

arce • 9 months ago

THANK you so much! been stressing out how to directly copy it to hard drive!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Pony • a year ago

This was super helpful, thanks a lot!!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Karol Lopez • a year ago

How about a Ubuntu version?
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Japo • a year ago

Thanks for this. Really helpful! :)
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Mark Simon • a year ago
Great little tip, had no idea image capture was already installed on the Mac!! THANK YOU!!!!!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Carmine Incendio • a year ago

Is this still possible with iPhone 7 plus?
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Brian Loughlin • a year ago

never mind.... i found that little no smoking circle sign. clicked it and it asked me if i wanted to permanently delete these photos. i did
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Brian Loughlin • a year ago

ok.... so after some time, i finally have all my images from my camera roll on to my hard drive through the image capture as described.....the main
point of this was to clear space on my iPhone. so..... how do i delete the photos from the iPhone now. its not prompting me to do so like iphpto does...
please help

see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Geary Wootten > Brian Loughlin • a year ago

You have to do it manually by "selecting" on your camera roll and then delete. Then be sure to delete again by going to "recently deleted" on
your albums area.

see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Amruta Kudale • a year ago

Hello,

This was very helpful information. I would like to know, how can we save data from icloud to hard disk?

Thank you!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Jesh • a year ago

This is amazing! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Mert Gencer • 2 years ago

Hey, thanks for the information but I have a problem. I have 14k photos and 1k videos on my iPhone, however only 900 of them appear in Image
Capture. What can cause this and how can I solve this problem?
 see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

espy > Mert Gencer • a year ago

Same issue here! 14K pix + vids, 5.8K on IC. Super helpful article, though!!!

The hubs just showed me how to go to iCloud (which I rarely do) and look at my back up for pix/vids. Sadly, you have to click EACH AND
EVERY one to get it to download to your computer before saving it on your hard drive. (No select all?!?) There has to be a better way.

Till I figure it out, (or see an update here), I'll use the IC option and go back and double check the misses with iCloud. Cheers!

see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Melissa Gable > espy • 5 months ago

No need click each one, hit select, then drag your finger across the first row, drag your finder down all of them and it will select each
row you go by.

see more

△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

daisy h. > Mert Gencer • a year ago

Yes, I have the same problem too...
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Cassie Cooper > Mert Gencer • 2 years ago

did you resolve this at all? Im having the same problem :/
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Nicole Gagnon Newton • 2 years ago

 thank you, very helpful & easy instructions.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

✉ Subscribe d Add Disqus to your siteAdd DisqusAdd 🔒 Disqus' Privacy PolicyPrivacy PolicyPrivacy
Featured Stories

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/new-ios-12-settings.html)
Here Are the 20 New iOS 12 Settings You Should Know About (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/new-ios-12-settings.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/ios-12-new-features-gifs.html)
iOS 12’s Coolest New Features in GIFs (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/ios-12-new-features-gifs.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/watchos-5-features.html)
watchOS 5: All the New and Hidden watchOS 5 Features (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/watchos-5-features.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/gallery-ios-12-features.html)
Gallery: A Look at New iOS 12 Features (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/gallery-ios-12-features.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/macos-mojave-features.html)
macOS Mojave: All the New and Hidden macOS Mojave Features (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/macos-mojave-features.html)
Latest Posts

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/unleash-your-creative-writing-powers-with-the-master-storytellers-mac-bundle-deals-hub.html)
Unleash Your Creative Writing Powers With The Master Storyteller’s Mac Bundle [Deals Hub] (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/unleash-your-creative-
writing-powers-with-the-master-storytellers-mac-bundle-deals-hub.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/2018-iphones-feature-improved-face-id-algorithm-faster-unlock-speeds.html)
2018 iPhones to Feature Improved Face ID Algorithm for Faster Unlock Speeds (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/2018-iphones-feature-improved-face-
id-algorithm-faster-unlock-speeds.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/ios-12-hands-on-ipad-gestures.html)
iOS 12 Hands-on: iPhone X-like Gestures for iPad (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/ios-12-hands-on-ipad-gestures.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/ios-12-reporting-spam-calls-messages.html)
iOS 12 Has Built-in Reporting of Spam Calls and Messages (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/ios-12-reporting-spam-calls-messages.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/apple-watch-4-new-buttons.html)
Apple Watch Rumored to Adopt Solid State Buttons With Haptic Feedback (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/apple-watch-4-new-buttons.html)

Deals of the Day!

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/unleash-your-creative-writing-powers-with-the-master-storytellers-mac-bundle-deals-hub.html)
Unleash Your Creative Writing Powers With The Master Storyteller’s Mac Bundle [Deals Hub] (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/unleash-your-creative-
writing-powers-with-the-master-storytellers-mac-bundle-deals-hub.html)

(http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/charge-up-to-five-devices-in-your-car-with-the-rapidx5-5-port-car-charging-hub-deals-hub.html)
Charge Up To Five Devices In Your Car With The RapidX5 5-Port Car Charging Hub [Deals Hub] (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/charge-up-to-five-
devices-in-your-car-with-the-rapidx5-5-port-car-charging-hub-deals-hub.html)

Poll of the week!

 (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/poll-favorite-ios-12-feature.html)
Poll: What’s Your Favorite iOS 12 Feature? (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/06/poll-favorite-ios-12-feature.html)

Follow iPhone Hacks

! " + (http://www.youtube.com/user/iPhoneHacksTV?
%

(http://www.facebook.com/iPhoneHacks)
(http://twitter.com/iPhoneHackx)
(https://plus.google.com/+iphonehacks)
sub_confirmation=1)
(http://iphonehacks.com/feed)

Home (http://www.iphonehacks.com)

Disclaimer
This website is not owned by, is not licensed by nor is a subsidiary of Apple Inc. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc. The content of this website is not supplied or reviewed by Apple Inc. All articles, images, logos
and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owners. Please follow this link (/disclaimer) to read the complete disclaimer.

Contact Us
Advertise on iPhoneHacks.com (http://www.iphonehacks.com/advertise)

Contact/Tips (http://www.iphonehacks.com/contact)

Designed by Blog Consulting (http://www.blogconsulting.com/)