How to Transfer Photos from PC to iPhone Without iTunes

Through this guide, you will learn easy ways to transfer photos from PC to iPhone without iTunes via a quick photo transfer tool, iCloud, or other cloud services like Google Photos, OneDrive, or Dropbox.

Have you ever met a situation where you find iTunes doesn't support some types of files when you use it to back up your device? Or do you find that iTunes is not working on your PC or runs very slowly while you sync photos or other files to your device? Under these circumstances, you may need an iTunes alternative to help you manage your files instead. Today's guide will explain how to use some proven iTunes alternative ways to transfer photos from PC to iPhone.

Transfer Photos from PC to iPhone with a Free iTunes Alternative

Free iPhone transfer software - EaseUS MobiMover is a powerful and user-friendly software designed to transfer photos from PC to iPhone without needing iTunes. It supports both Windows and Mac, enabling fast and easy photo transfer via USB without any network requirement. Users can select individual photos or the entire album and transfer them seamlessly while preserving photo quality.

Why Choose MobiMover for Photo Transfer:

• Maintains photo quality and metadata during transfer without compression or alteration.
• Allows users to preview and choose specific photos or albums to transfer, avoiding unnecessary files.
• Supports transferring photos from Canon to iPhone, compatible with external devices.
• Besides photos, it can transfer videos, music, contacts, messages, and more.
• Unlike iTunes, it won't overwrite the existing pictures on the iPhone, only adding new items.

This software is especially recommended for those who want to avoid iTunes' sync complexities or intermittent errors, allowing safe and efficient photo transfer from PC to iPhone:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your PC running Windows 7 or later. Launch EaseUS MobiMover and select "PC to Phone" on the main interface. Then, choose "Select Files" to continue. 

Step 2. With MobiMover, you can choose to transfer photos from PC to your iPhone as well as many other data types. Then, click the "Open" button to load the files. 

Step 3. MobiMover will show the files you've selected on the screen. If you've missed an item, you can click "Add Contents" to import more files. Next, click the "Transfer" button to start the transfer process. 

Watch this video to see how to transfer photos from your PC to your iPhone. It walks you through the simple steps, highlights key features, and shows you exactly how to select and transfer your images quickly.

Put Photos from Computer to iPhone with iCloud Photos

The iCloud Photo Library is another way to put photos from a computer to iPhone. You need to select your photos from the computer and upload them to iCloud.com. Then, your photos will be automatically synced to your iPhone. The iCloud app can help you achieve the same goal if you've previously installed this app on your PC.

To use iCloud to transfer pictures from PC to iPhone, make sure you have enough free space to store the photos to be transferred, or you may encounter issues like "iCloud photos not syncing" or "photos didn't transfer to new iPhone." If you are also interested in how to transfer videos from PC to iPhone, click here for more information.

To wirelessly transfer photos to iPhone without iTunes:

Step 1. Upload photos from the computer to iCloud.

• If you have installed iCloud for Windows, enable "Photos" > "iCloud Photo Library" via iCloud settings and copy the photos you want to transfer to the folder you set to upload pictures from.
• If you don't have an iCloud Control Panel, go to iCloud.com, sign in with the Apple ID you use on the target iPhone, choose "Photos," and upload the pictures you'd like to send to iCloud.

Step 2. Turn on "iCloud Photos" on your iPhone by going to "Settings" > [your name] > "iCloud" > "Photos".

Step 3. Go to the Photos app on your iPhone and see the photos from your computer. Download the items you want to transfer to your iPhone according to your needs.

Using iCloud is also a good choice when sending documents between a computer and an iPhone/iPad. Learn how to transfer files from PC to iPhone when sharing Word/Excel/PPT/PDF and other files from your computer to iDevice. By the way, when you need to transfer photos from iCloud to iPhone, you need to turn on iCloud Photos on your mobile device instead.

Copy Photos from PC to iPhone Using Google Photos

iCloud, although better integrated with Apple devices, offers limited free space (5GB) for you to store files. That's far from enough for users with a vast collection of photos and videos. Many of you may prefer a service that provides free and unlimited storage. And that's exactly what Google Photos does.

As indicated in its name, Google Photos is a photo-oriented storage service developed by Google. Unlike iCloud, which gives you limited free storage, Google Photos allows you to store photos unlimitedly.

To transfer photos from PC to iPhone:

Step 1. Go to Google Photos and sign in with your Google account.

Step 2. Click "Upload" > "Computer" to upload the pictures you want to transfer to the cloud storage.

Step 3. Download Google Photos on your iPhone. Sign in with the account you use on the computer.

Step 4. Go to the "Photos" tab and see the pictures from your computer.

Move Photos from PC to iPhone with OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive is a built-in utility on Windows and offers a mobile app for iOS. Most importantly, it supports photos, music, books, and other types of content, and thus, it is workable to transfer photos from PC to iPhone using this service.

Similar to iCloud, OneDrive offers 5GB of free storage for its users. If you are an Office 365 subscriber, you can enjoy up to 1TB of free OneDrive storage.

To copy photos from PC to iPhone using OneDrive:

Step 1. Set up OneDrive on your PC.

Step 2. Copy and paste the files or folders to the OneDrive folder on your computer.

Step 3. On your iPhone, download and install the OneDrive mobile app from the App Store. Afterward, sign in with your Microsoft account.

Step 4. After the syncing process, you can access the photos from your computer in the OneDrive app.

Transfer Photos from PC to iPhone with Dropbox

Another popular cloud-based storage service that you can apply to transfer pictures from PC to iPhone or copy iPhone photos to the computer is Dropbox. Other than photos, Dropbox also supports audio files, HTML files, texts, and more.

As for free storage, it varies depending on your account type. For example, a Dropbox Basic account comes with 2GB of free space.

To copy photos from PC to iPhone using Dropbox:

Step 1. Upload photos from PC to Dropbox.

• If you have installed Dropbox for Windows, go to "Files" > "My files" > "Upload files" to send the photos from the computer to Dropbox.
• If not, go to Dropbox.com, sign in, and upload the items.

Step 2. Download and install Dropbox on your iOS device and sign in with the account you use on your computer.

Step 3. Then, you can access and download the photos from the computer via the Dropbox app on your iPhone.

The Bottom Line

Transferring photos from PC to iPhone without iTunes is easier than ever, thanks to a variety of flexible options. Whether you prefer the fast, direct transfers of EaseUS MobiMover, the seamless cloud syncing of iCloud Photos, or the cross-platform convenience of Google Photos, OneDrive, and Dropbox, there's a solution to fit every need. Each method has its own strengths, whether it's speed, storage space, or ease of use. Choose the one that fits your workflow and start moving your favorite memories effortlessly to your iPhone without any hassle.

FAQs About Photo Transfer Between a PC and iPhone

After reading our guide above, you may know how to transfer photos from PC to iPhone. Do you want to learn more about the "photo transfer" topic? If you do, the following FAQs might be helpful.

1. Can I drag and drop photos from PC to iPhone?

You cannot directly drag and drop photos from a Windows PC to an iPhone using File Explorer because iOS does not allow manual file copying to the Photos app. However, with the help of third-party software like EaseUS MobiMover, you can safely transfer photos from your computer to your iPhone by dragging and dropping. This method ensures photos are properly imported and accessible in the iPhone Photos app without replacing existing content or risking data loss.

2. How to transfer photos from PC to iPhone with iTunes?

If you want to use iTunes to transfer photos from PC to iPhone, here are the steps.

• Launch the latest version of iTunes on your PC.
• Connect your iPhone to the computer and click on your device icon.
• Select "Photos" from the left panel, check "Sync Photos," then tick the box next to "Copy photos from."
• Click "Choose folder..." and select the folder that contains the photos you want to transfer.
• Click "Apply" to start transferring.

3. Can I transfer photos wirelessly from PC to iPhone?

Yes, using cloud services like iCloud Photos, Google Photos, OneDrive, or Dropbox, you can upload photos from your PC and access them wirelessly on your iPhone. Some third-party apps may also support Wi-Fi transfer.

4. Will transferring photos without iTunes affect photo quality?

Most methods, like EaseUS MobiMover and cloud services, preserve the original photo quality. Avoid methods that compress photos during transfer to maintain image clarity.

5. What if my iPhone runs out of storage during transfer?

You'll need to free up space by deleting unnecessary files or photos before transferring new ones. Alternatively, consider transferring only selected photos instead of entire albums.

6. How can I transfer HEIC photos from iPhone without quality loss?

Most transfer tools and cloud services support HEIC format natively. Some software also offers HEIC-to-JPG conversion during transfer if you prefer JPG.