How to Solve Can't Import Photos from iPhone to Mac Issue?

2023-05-11 00:00:00/Posted by Alleny Gavinto iOS Transfer Topic/Follow @ MobiKin

Help! The Mac won't let me import photos from my iPhone. I am trying to import my photos from my iPhone to my Mac and even though I already put trust this computer, the Mac insists that I haven't done it yet so I can't import photos from iPhone to Mac. I have done it many times and its still not working. Any idea of how to solve this?

Maybe you just had a wonderful holiday and you just came home and are ready to transfer the beautiful photos you took during your holiday from your iPhone to your Mac. Because you think it would be safer to import these photos taken with iPhone to Mac for backup. To your disappointment, however, you can't import photos from iPhone to Mac. You may encounter the following problems:

Not all photos importing from iPhone to Mac, only a small part of photos can be imported.
Sometimes the Photos application on your Mac doesn't recognize your iPhone.
Although iPhone was recognized, photos won t import from iPhone to Mac.

We know photos not importing from iPhone to Mac are very frustrating. Therefore, this article is dedicated to show you all the methods to help you solve the problem of can't import photos from iPhone to Mac.

can t import photos from iphone to mac

Part 1: How to Fix Can't Import Photos from iPhone to Mac
Part 2. How to Import Photos from iPhone to Mac with Assistant for iOS

Part 1: How to Fix Can't Import Photos from iPhone to Mac

Solution 1: Unlock your iPhone and let it trust your Mac

To transfer photos from iPhone to Mac, you need to unlock iPhone when connecting it to Mac, then a trust message will pop up on iPhone screen, you need to click "Trust" on the message to let your iPhone trust your Mac.

Solution 2: Reset Location & Privacy

This solution has been proven effective by many users. When you find that you have made your iPhone trust your Mac, but still iPhone wont upload photos to Mac, you can reset the Location & Privacy by following the steps below. Please note that if you haven't trusted the Mac on your iPhone, be sure to select "Trust" when you are prompted on your iPhone asking if you trust this computer.

Step 1: Unlock the iPhone, go to "Settings" > "General" > "Reset" > "Reset Location & Privacy" on the iPhone, then click "Reset Settings" to confirm.

Step 2: Reconnect your iPhone to your Mac and click "Trust" when you see the "Trust the Mac" alert on your phone screen.

Step 3: Try again to import photos from iPhone to Mac.

not all photos importing from iphone to mac

Solution 3: Don't import all iPhone photos at once

Instead of importing all your iPhone photos to your Mac at once, you can try to import a small portion of your photos at once. This is because it has been observed that the Photos application on a Mac can more easily handle file import tasks in such a way.

Solution 4: Turn off iCloud Photo Library

Some users report that temporarily turning off iCloud Photo Library can also solve the problem of photos not importing from iPhone to Mac. To turn off iCloud Photo Library, you need to on your iPhone, go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Photos > iCloud Photo Library and then turn it off. After that, restart iPhone and Mac, and reinstall Mac OS Catalina.

photos won t import from iphone to mac

When you want to turn on iCloud Photo Library again, you can click "System Preferences" > "iCloud" on your Mac to open "iCloud Photo Library" so that you can sync iPhone photos to your Mac via iCloud.

Solution 5: Check for updates on iPhone and Mac

Please note that if the software on your Mac or iPhone's operating system is too old, it may also cause the transfer of photos to fail. So, if iPhoto won't import photos from iPhone, you can check if there is software that needs to be updated on iPhone and Mac (this method is also effective for Windows users, you can check how to solve can't import photos from iPhone to PC ).

* Update iTunes to the latest version.
* Update the photo management applications on your Mac to the latest version, including iPhoto, Photos and Image Capture.
* Update iOS operating system on iPhone to the latest version. You can update the iOS operating system by going to Settings> General> Software Update.

Solution 6: Restart iPhone and Mac and reconnect iPhone

The last method is to restart all devices. First, disconnect your iPhone from your Mac and close all the programs involved on your Mac. Then restart your Mac and your iPhone. Although there is no trick to restart the device, it can actually help fix the glitches on the device. It is possible that after the device restarts, you suddenly find that you can already transfer photos from iPhone to Mac.

Check If You Need:

Part 2. How to Import Photos from iPhone to Mac with Assistant for iOS

If you have trouble in using Photos/iPhoto on Mac to import photos from iPhone to Mac, maybe you can turn to a more powerful tool to copy iPhone photos to Mac easily and quickly. MobiKin Assistant for iOS (Mac) is professional in transferring data between iOS device and Mac. It also equipped with the data management features that manage iPhone/iPad/iPod data on Mac by deleting, editing or adding items.

Transfer all types of photos (camera roll, photo library, photo stream, photo videos, etc.) from iPhone to Mac;
Transfer contacts, messages, notes, calendars, bookmarks, music, movie, books, photos, etc. from iPhone to Mac, and vice versa;
All models of iPhone are supported by this program well, including iPhone 11/11 Pro, iPhone Xs/Xs Max/XR/X, iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus, etc.;
Instead of syncing all data, you are allowed to preview and select what you really want to transfer;
Assistant for iOS is developed by an Apple-trusted developer, no data loss or info leakage problem would happen.

After reading the above, I believe you should be interested in learning more about Assistant for iOS Mac. So, read on to see how to import photos from iPhone to Mac by using this tool.

Step 1. Connect Your iPhone to Mac

Once you have downloaded and installed Assistant for iOS on your Mac, launch it and then connect your iPhone to this Mac with USB cable. Click "Trust" button to let your iPhone trust this computer, then you'll see the interface below on your Mac.

launch assistant for ios

Step 2. Select the photos you want to transfer

All file types will be displayed on the left side menu. Just select "Photos" tab and view the photos available under the category. Also, you can choose the album carrying the photos you wish to transfer to Mac.

solve photos not importing from iphone to mac

Step 3. How to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac

Select the photos you would like to transfer, hit the "Export" button on the top menu and choose a target folder on the pop up window. After selecting a location on your Mac, the exporting process will be initiated instantly.

Video tutorial: how to import photos from iPhone to Mac with Assistant for iOS: