Copy photos from iPhone to Windows without quality loss

Question

What’s the best approach to copy photos and videos from iPhone to windows 11 without the loss of quality?

I’m not using iCloud as of now.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Source: Apple KB - Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC

Import to your Windows PC

You can import photos to your PC by connecting your device to your computer and using the Windows Photos app:

1. Update to the latest version of iTunes on your PC. Importing photos to your PC requires iTunes 12.5.1 or later.

2. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your PC with a USB cable.

3. If asked, unlock your iOS or iPadOS device using your passcode.

4. If you see a prompt on your iOS or iPadOS device asking you to Trust This Computer, tap Trust or Allow to continue.

Then visit Microsoft’s website to find out how to import photos to the Windows Photos app in Windows 10 or Windows 11.

If you have turned on iCloud Photos, you’ll need to download the original, full-resolution versions of your photos to your iPhone or iPad before importing them to your PC.

When you import videos from your iOS or iPadOS device to your PC, some of them may appear the wrong way up in the Windows Photos app. You can add these videos to iTunes to play them in the correct orientation.

If you want to ensure photos from your iOS or iPadOS device have the best compatibility with Windows 10 or Windows 11, try following these steps:

1. On your iOS or iPadOS device, open the Settings app.
2. Tap Camera, then tap Formats.
3. Tap Most Compatible. From now on, your camera will create photos and videos in JPEG and H.264 formats.

Answer 2

I finally found a reliable way to get photos from my iPhone to my Windows 10 PC!

Short answer: Plug in the iPhone with a USB cable, unlock the phone, "trust this computer" if prompted. Hit Win+E to open Explorer, right click "Apple iPhone", choose "Import pictures and videos". It just works! There are plenty of options, I was happy to see it includes an option to delete them from the device after a successful copy.

Long answer: As someone who works with computers and software development, I couldn't believe how difficult it was to figure this out, especially imagining how many people must want to do this basic thing, and how long iPhones and PCs have been around, it's inexcusable!

The first method I was doing was to open up the directories and start copying photos over like it was an SD card, but this is very problematic, eventually Windows just loses the connection, or the folders stop showing their contents, and I have to reconnect and figure out where I left off. It's too sketchy to trust any "move" operations, so I would do "copies" and then carefully select and delete from the phone after checking file counts/sizes to verify a successful copy. I thought there has to be a better way...

I tried the "official" way, to use Windows' "Photos" app, which has an "Import" button right at the top, which displays the photos and videos on your phone, and you can just select and drag them to a local folder on the left panel, and it seems like it would work but it just... doesn't. If I try to drag any more than a handful of photos at a time, it just gives up, no error message, nothing.

I tried the iTunes software. There's only an option to "sync" from your computer TO your phone... what?! I never found an option to copy off the phone. Apple should be ashamed.

Finally some desperate searching led me to the above solution, and it works perfectly, no new software needed. My search also led me to this page and its single unhelpful copy/pasted answer from a Windows website, so I wanted to share what I found.