How Do I Get Pictures Off My Phone (iPhone & Android)

With the continuous improvement of your phone camera, you are more and more willing to take photos with the phone in your hand to capture wonderful moments. However, the more photos you take, the less space there is on your device. That could give rise to problems like insufficient iPhone storage, iPhone running slow, or iPhone stuck issues. Given that, it's necessary to get photos off your iPhone to free up your device space. What's more, to avoid unexpected data loss, it is a good choice to transfer your iPhone photos to a computer to make a backup.

Then how can you get pictures off your phone? Depending on the operating system you use on your phone, iOS or Android, the ways for you to transfer photos vary:

How to Get Photos Off iPhone

If you are an iPhone user, there are three main tools for you to get photos off your phone onto a computer. With File Explorer and Photos, you don't need any third-party tool to transfer your iPhone photos to a PC, while with an iPhone data transfer tool, you can even transfer many other types of files between your iPhone and a computer. 

Tip 1. Transfer iPhone Photos to PC with File Explorer/Photos

Generally, you can't manage your iPhone data only via a USB connection. But that's not the case when it comes to photos. Actually, you can access and transfer your iPhone photos by connecting your iPhone to a computer using a USB cable. Both File Explorer and Photos, the pre-installed utilities on Windows, will help.

To get photos off your iPhone with File Explorer:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your PC with a USB cable and make sure it is recognized by the computer.

Step 2. In any File Explorer window, go to "This PC" > "Apple iPhone" > "Internal Storage" > "DCIM."

Step 3. Now you can see all folders that save your iPhone photos.

Step 3. Manually copy them from your iPhone storage to the computer.

Afterward, you can go to the Photos app to delete photos from your iPhone to free up your device space.

To get pictures off your iPhone with Photos:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone and the PC.

Step 2. Launch the Photos app and click the "Import" button from the top right corner. Then choose "From a connected device."

Step 3. Wait for Photos to load the photos on your iPhone and then select the pictures you want to transfer.

Step 4. Click the "Import [number] items" button to start transferring photos from your iPhone to the computer. (If you want to delete the original files from your iPhone, also check the "Delete original items after import" option.)

Tip 2. Get Photos Off iPhone to PC with EaseUS MobiMover

If you only want to get your iPhone photos onto your computer, it's unnecessary to use any third-party program. However, if you also want to get photos from your computer to the iPhone or want to share files from one iPhone to another, using an iPhone data transfer tool like EaseUS MobiMover is advisable.

Unlike File Explorer and Photos which only allow you to access your iPhone photos and transfer iPhone photos to the computer, EaseUS MobiMover has more advanced features. With it, you will be able to:

• View and manage your iDevice content from a computer
• Transfer files between an iDevice and a computer
• Share data from one iPhone/iPad/iPod touch to another

To get photos off your iPhone:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable and run EaseUS MobiMover. Choose "Phone to Mac" from the main screen and click the "Next" button to continue. You can also go to "Content Management" > "Pictures" > "Photos" to transfer photos from iPhone to Mac selectively.

Step 2. Make sure the "Pictures" category is selected. Other than photos, you can also transfer videos, music, ringtones, contacts, messages, and other supported files from your iPhone to the Mac. Also, you can change the position you want to house the files you transfer. 

Step 3. Click the "Transfer" button to start transferring photos as well as other files from your iPhone to Mac at a fast speed. Depending on the size of the files, it may take seconds or a while to complete the process. 

As you may have noticed, there are many other features in addition to data transfer:

The backup manager helps you to back up and restore your iDevice data, either all at once or selectively.

The WhatsApp manager works to transfer WhatsApp messages from an iPhone to a PC or from one iPhone to another. Besides, you can also back up and restore WhatsApp data if you need to.

The file conversion features convert iPhone photos to JPEG so that you can open and view them on a Windows-based computer freely and convert video to MP3 so that you can extract audio from videos.

How to Get Pictures Off an Android Phone

As for Android phones, it is actually easier to get things done. There are not so limits as an iOS device. File Explorer and Photos are also applicable to get photos off your phone and there are also third-party Android data transfer tools available.

Tip 1. Get Photos Off Android via File Explorer/Photos

The steps to transfer photos from an Android phone to a PC using the Photos app are almost the same as the steps above. Given that, here I'd like to show you how to use File Explorer only.

Step 1. Connect your Android phone to your PC with a USB cable. When a prompt appears asking what to do with the USB, choose "Transfer Photos."

Step 2. Now you can see a window pops up on your PC and shows your internal storage. Double-click it.

Step 3. Now you can see folders that store your phone photos, generally including DCIM and Pictures.

Step 4. You can open one of them to check its sub-folders and copy the items you need from your Android phone to the computer.

Tip 2. Transfer Photos from Android to Computer with Android Data Transfer Tool

Getting photos off your Android phone is a very basic feature in almost every Android data recovery tool. And there is an ocean of choices available for you. Whether you prefer a desktop tool or a mobile app, you can find them on the Internet or from the app store on your phone.

The Bottom Line

Whether you are using an iPhone or Android phone, now you know how to get pictures off your phone and then free up your device space. If you don't have too many photos, there are other ways you may like, including using a social networking app or email. You can send pictures from your phone to another device to get photos off your phone. Afterward, you can choose to delete them from your mobile device to get more space.