[Fixed]iPhone Photos Not Showing Up on Mac? Real Solutions Here!

 Applies To: iPhone XS/XS Max/XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus, iPhone 6/6s

Many iPhone users have found that the photos from their iPhone not showing up on Mac in iPhoto or Photos App when they try to import photos from iPhone to Mac. According to other users, a similar situation is that iCloud photos not showing up on Mac when they sync photos from iPhone to iCloud and want to access the photos from iPhone on Mac. No matter what kind of situation you are in, you can get your problem solved by reading this article that covers a FREE and effective way to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac without iCloud and useful fixes to iPhone photos not showing up on Mac. (The fixes to iPhone photos not showing up on PC Windows 10 are also provided.)

Part 1: What to do when iPhone photos not showing up on Mac in iPhoto/Photos

In most of the cases, you use iPhoto or Photos App in order to import photos from iPhone to Mac. If transferring photos from iPhone to Mac is your main purpose, you can get things done by using Solution 1 at no cost. If you still want to import photos from iPhone to Mac via iPhoto/Photos, the fixes are also provided below.

Solution 1: Transfer Photos from iPhone to Mac without iPhoto/Photos for free

Other than using iPhoto or Photos App, you can import photos from your iPhone to Mac with other iPhone data transfer tools, among which EaseUS MobiMover Free is the only one you can use without any cost or limitations. With MobiMover installed on your Mac (also compatible with PC), you can transfer files between an iOS device (iPhone/iPad in iOS 8 or later) and a computer or between two iOS devices.

What can MobiMover transfer or manage for you:

Photos: Camera Roll, Photo Library, Photo Stream, Photo Videos

Videos: Movies, TV shows, Music Videos

Audios: Music, Ringtones, Voice Memos, Audiobooks, Playlists

Others: Contacts, Notes, Messages, Voice Mails, Books, and Safari Bookmarks

As shown in the list above, you can transfer photos in Camera Roll, Photo Stream, and Photo Library from your iPhone to Mac. It’s really a good choice when you seek a solution for how to transfer photos from Mac to iPhone and vice versa or when you face the iPhone photos not showing up on Mac in iPhoto/Photos issue. Now, follow the steps below to safely and quickly import iPhone photos to Mac.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to Mac with a USB cable. Run EaseUS MobiMover, choose "Phone to Mac" and click the "Next" button to continue. 

Step 2. Check the category/categories you want to copy from your iPhone to Mac. As you can see, you can copy other supported files together with photos from your iPhone to Mac all at once. After that, don't forget to customize the storage path for the exported photos unless you want to save them on your desktop. 

Step 3. Now, click the "Transfer" button to start transferring photos or other files from your iPhone to Mac without iTunes. Exporting files from iPhone to Mac with MobiMover is the right way for backup to avoid unexpected data loss. 

In addition to being an iOS data transfer tool, MobiMover can also serve as a free iPhone content manager that helps to manage your iPhone content by deleting/editing/adding items from a computer. Don’t hesitate to give it a try.

Solution 2: Check whether you have enabled iCloud Photo Library

As you may know, by turning on iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone and Mac, the photos on your iPhone will be automatically synced to your Mac, which might be the very reason why your iPhone photos are not showing up on Mac (because the photos have existed on your Mac already). Thus, when you find your iPhone photos not showing up on your Mac, go to check whether you have enabled iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone and Mac. If the option is on, you don’t need to import photos from your iPhone to Mac via iPhoto/Photos anymore because the photos have been synced to your Mac. However, if you still want to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac via iPhoto/Photos, turn off iCloud Photo Library on both your iPhone and Mac, and then do it with ease.

Solution 3: Stop/Remove photo storage service

If you reported your problem as iPhone photos not showing up on Mac in iPhoto, you can also check whether you are using other photo storage services like Dropbox. Services like Dropbox might conflict with the iPhoto App on your Mac, which is likely to cause the iPhone photos not showing up on Mac error. If that’s the case, stopping or removing the service will fix the issue.

Solution 4: Restart your Mac and iPhone

When your iPhone photos are not showing up on Mac, one of the common solutions is to restart your devices. Just perform a restart on both your iPhone and Mac, unlock your iPhone, connect it back to your Mac, and see whether the problem still exists. (Don’t forget to choose Trust when a prompt appears on your iPhone screen asking you whether to trust this computer.)

The four solutions above show you what to do when your iPhone photos are not showing up on Mac in iPhoto or Photos App. If you find your iPhone photos not showing up on Mac in iCloud when you try to download iCloud photos to Mac, follow the tips in Part 2 to help yourself out.

Part 2: What to do when iCloud photos not showing up on Mac

What do you use iCloud photos for? If your answer is to sync photos from iPhone to Mac, you can easily do it with the help of Solution 1 in Part 1. If that’s not what you want, you can try the potential tips below to fix the iPhone photos not showing up on Mac in iCloud issue.

Tip 1: Make sure you have signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID

For photos to be synced to your iCloud devices, you need to ensure that you have signed in to iCloud on your devices with the SAME Apple ID.

Tip 2: Check the Internet connection on your iPhone/Mac

If you have a poor network connect your iPhone or Mac, the photo syncing is likely to fail. Stable Wi-Fi network is required when you want to sync your iPhone photos to Mac via iCloud. Thus, when your iPhone photos are not showing up on Mac in iCloud, or in other words, iCloud photos are not syncing to Mac, you should have a check of the network connection on your devices. If there is something wrong with it, don’t hesitate to fix it immediately.

Tip 3: Turn on iCloud Photo Library/My Photo Stream

To access photos your photos and videos from all your iCloud devices, you need to turn on iCloud Photo Library/My Photo Stream on both your iPhone and Mac. If iPhone photos are not showing up on your Mac in iCloud, you should also check whether the options are set up correctly.

• On iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and then switch on iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream.
• On Mac: Go to System Preferences > iCloud, make sure Photos is selected and click Options next to it. Then turn on iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream.

Tip 4: Check your iCloud Storage

iCloud storage is limited and photos always take lots of your iCloud space. If you are complaining that not all iPhone photos are showing up on your Mac, the insufficient iCloud storage space might be the culprit. If that’s the case, you can transfer photos from iPhone to Mac using the method introduced in Solution 1, free up your iCloud space, or buy more iCloud storage.