Iphone Not Showing Up In Photos App On Mac

Iphone Not Appearing On Mac
Iphone Pictures Not Showing Up On Computer

Back up your library

We explain 7 simple ways to transfer photos and video from an iPhone to a Mac. Find out how to use iCloud photos, Photo Stream, iCloud Files, Messages, Airdrop and more to import photos to your Mac. The Photos app itself is a photo library manager like no other and users weren’t likely to want to browse their photos and videos from Finder when they had Photos. While Photos is still around, iTunes isn’t and the Finder is how an iPhone is synced. The device being absent from the sidebar matters a whole lot more now. The option to show.

Create a new Photos library and see if your issues persist: Quit Photos. Press and hold the Option key while you open Photos. In the dialog that appears, click Create New. Give your new library a name, then click OK. Note whether Photos opens successfully with this new library. To return to your main Photos library, quit Photos.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings your name iCloud Photos. You can also open the Photos app, go to the Photos tab, and scroll to the bottom of your screen. On your Mac, open the Photos app. Select Photos in the sidebar, then click All Photos in the list of tabs in the toolbar.
So, if you fancy a peek outside the Apple garden, then read How to back up photos on iPhone for some other options. You may also be interested in How to resize images on a Mac.
The Photos apps may not be able to access the iPhone while Dropbox is accessing the iPhone. Have you tried disconnecting and reconnecting the iPhone after the desktop Dropbox import completes? If you enabled iCloud Photo Library on your Mac and iOS device, your photos might already be on your computer. In which case, there is nothing to import.
Some iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max users have discovered that iTunes does not recognize the new iPhone connected to a Mac. Instead, launching iTunes with iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro connected via USB cable does nothing, and the iPhone does not show up in iTunes, it does not sync, backup, or appear to exist at all within iTunes.

Before following any of these steps, it's a good idea to create a backup of your photo library, even if you use iCloud Photos. You can use Time Machine, use a third-party backup solution, or copy the library to an external drive. By default, your photo library is stored in the Pictures folder within your home folder.

Make sure that your software is up to date

Photos is part of the Mac operating system. You can avoid or fix many issues by running the most up-to-date version of macOS. Learn more about updating the software on your Mac.

If you use RAW images in Photos, learn more about the digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

If you have trouble migrating an existing iPhoto or Aperture library to Photos

You might see an alert message when you first open Photos or migrate an existing iPhoto or Aperture library. Learn what to do if Photos can’t copy or create a library.

If the Media Browser isn't showing your photos and videos

Use the Media Browser to make images from your photo library available in other apps, like Pages and iMovie. The Media Browser shows only the contents of the Photos library designated as the System Photo Library. If you have more than one Photos library—and the one you're using isn't set as the System Photo Library—the Media Browser won't show its contents.

Follow these steps to designate the current library as the System Photo Library:

Choose Photos > Preferences.
Click the General button at the top of the Preferences window.
Click Use as System Photo Library.

If you're having other issues with Photos

If you're experiencing other issues—like missing or blank photo thumbnails, unexpected behavior, or if Photos won’t open—try to see if it's an issue with your library by following these steps.

Create a new Photos library and see if your issues persist:

Quit Photos.
Press and hold the Option key while you open Photos.
In the dialog that appears, click Create New.
Give your new library a name, then click OK. Note whether Photos opens successfully with this new library.

To return to your main Photos library, quit Photos. Then open it again while holding the Option key, select your main library, and click Choose Library.

Alternatively, you can open Photos in another user account on your Mac and note whether Photos opens successfully.

If Photos opens with the new library, or in a different user account, it might mean that there's an issue with your library. Follow the steps to use the Photos library repair tool on your main Photos library.

Learn more

Learn how to create and order print products like books or calendars in Photos with Project Extensions.
Get help with iCloud Photos.

iPhone photos not showing up on PC/Mac computer? Please keep reading and you will learn several ways to fix iPhone 6/7/8/X//11 and new iPhone 12 photos not showing up on computer.

iPhone Photos Tips

Export Photos from iPhone

Import Photos to iPhone

Fix iPhone Photos Problems

Other iPhone Photos Tips

AnyTrans – Get iPhone/iCloud Photos Show Up

Connect iPhone and open AnyTrans on computer: View iPhone photos with Device Manager, check iCloud pictures with iCloud Manager. Then, you can move them to PC/Mac easily.

I have an iPhone XR with more than 1000 photos and a windows 10 PC. When I plug in my iPhone and it is recognized, but there are no photos stored in DCIM folder after I opened the folder titled Internal Storage. Why iPhone photos not showing up on PC? I’ve tried everything I could do, nothing works. Please help! Thank you.

Having too many pictures saved on iPhone will waste the limited storage, that’s why we want to import iPhone photos to PC or Mac to free up space. However, sometimes you may encounter the iPhone photos not showing up on computer just like the above user. It can happen to old iPhone SE/6/7/8/X/11, and even the latest iPhone 12 series, especially on Windows PC computer.

In this guide, we will show you some potential fixes to fix the above issue, and provide you with an iOS Photo Manager that helps make iPhone photos show up on PC/Mac computer (My Photos, Albums, Photo Stream and other categories like Places & People, Live Photos, etc).

Quick Fixes on iPhone Photos Not Showing Up on PC/Mac Computer

Below are some normal solutions to fix the iPhone connected to pc not showing photos problem. If these solutions fail to help you out, simply move to Method 2 to get the best solution to fix the issue effortlessly.

For PC Users:

Here are several quick and potential fixes to solve iPhone photos not showing up on PC.

Restart your iPhone and Windows PC. This is the simplest way to try and it will not erase any data on your iPhone.
Make sure the iPhone is NOT locked and it is showing the home screen when you plug it in.
Try to connect iPhone with a different USB port if you have one.
Try enabling Windows AutoPlay. When you turn AutoPlay on, you can choose what should happen when you plugin with your iPhone on your PC, and it allows you to import photos from Camera Roll to PC.

For Mac users:

Normally, iPhone photos not showing up on computer issue seldom happens on Mac computer. If you are unlucky and stuck on this problem, you can try the following solutions.

Restart your iPhone.
Restart your Mac computer.
Reconnect your iPhone to the computer.
Change another Apple USB cable.

Best Solution to Make All iPhone Photos Show up on PC/Mac

Some users can’t access one single iPhone photo on the computer while some users can only access a few iPhone photos. Frankly, the iPhone not showing all photos on the computer issue is quite normal.

On PC, only photos on Camera Roll could be displayed, so there is no way to display photos on Photo Library or Photo Stream. To check photos from My Photos, Albums, Photo Stream, Places & People, etc, you might need some professional iOS data managers like AnyTrans. It enables you to preview all iPhone photos, including iCloud photos, and you can transfer them to computer or iTunes/iCloud/iOS device.

AnyTrans – iPhone Photo Transfer

It allows you to view & transfer iPhone photos to PC/Mac directly.
View all photos on PC/Mac, like My Photos, Albums, etc.
Convert incompatible HEIC photos to the computer automatically.
Add photos to the iPhone from the computer without data erase.

Free Download100% Clean & Safe

To fix iPhone does not show any pictures, or not all iPhone photos showing up on the computer, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone and computer

Free download AnyTrans and launch it on your computer > Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB cable > Click “Photos” category on the right side.

Choose Photos Category

Step 2. Choose the album you want to view

Scroll down to the category management page, all photos on your iPhone could be displayed. You can view all the photos from My Photos or any one of the albums like Places, People, Live Photo, etc. And you can move your mouse on the top-right corner, here you can choose to download any photos to computer, upload photos to iCloud, and transfer them to another iDevice, and more.

Step 3. View your iPhone photos on computer

Just click the corresponding button at the top right corner to do the task. If you want to move the photo files to computer, just Select All or some and click To PC button.

Select the Photos and Send to Computer

Tips: If iCloud photos not showing up on computer

Open AnyTrans and click iCloud Manager > Sign in your Apple ID and password > Click Photos and you can preview, download or upload photos in iCloud. Other iCloud data are supported.

On Mac, photos can all be displayed on iPhoto. If you find iPhoto doesn’t show all your photos, check if you have enabled iCloud Photo on both iPhone and Mac. If iCloud Photo on both iPhone and Mac is enabled, try to take some new pictures and see if photos are on Mac. If not, you may also try to use AnyTrans to view photos from iPhone on Mac computer.

Since Apple started using HEIC format for saving images on iOS devices since iOS 11, as it is not widely compatible as JPG. Many users want to convert their HEIC photos to JPG or other formats, and you may try iMobie HEIC Converter to do that.

And If the only problem you met is can’t view HEIC photos on Windows PC or Mac, here are two articles that can help you with that.

Iphone Not Appearing On Mac

Solution 1. USounlock your iPhone

If your iPhone is locked, the DCIM folder containing all your pictures on your Camera Roll would be empty. Just unplug your iPhone and then unlock your iPhone screen > Plug in your iPhone back to the computer > Once your phone is recognized by computer, DCIM folder can be seen.

Solution 2. Authorize the Computer

Connect your phone with a USB > Open iTunes > Go to Menu > Account > Authorizations > Authorize this computer > Provide username and password. After that, you can now see the DCIM folder.

Can’t Miss:
How to View Photos from Photo Stream >
How to View Photos from Photo Library >

Bonus Tip: What to Do When Photos Not Showing Up on iPhone

Why photos or videos are not loading or missing in the Photos app? Here are some possible ways for you to get them back:

Tip 1. First Make Sure You’re Signing in with the Same Apple ID

With the same Apple ID signed in, you can keep your photos and other iCloud data up to date on all of your iCloud signed-in devices. So, view and change your Apple ID first to make sure all photos and videos are updated to every device. You can go to Settings > [Your Name] to see your name and Apple ID on iPhone.

Tip 2. Make Sure the iCloud Photos is On

Iphone Pictures Not Showing Up On Computer

Since iCloud Photos can automatically upload and safely store all your photos and videos in iCloud, so you can browse, search, and share from any of your devices. If you took photos but photos not showing up, you can turn on iCloud Photos on your iPhone:

Go to Settings > Tap [Your Name] > Click iCloud > Choose Photos > Then toggle on iCloud Photos. Go to Mac to turn on: Click Photos > Preferences > iCloud > Choose iCloud Photos.

Also Read:How to Manage & Free Up iCloud Storage >

Tip 3. Check if you Hide the Photos or Videos

Go to Photos > Albums > Hidden to check if the missing photos or videos are stored here. If yes, select the photo or video > Tap the Share button and choose Unhide.

Unhide your Photos or Videos

iOS 14 feature allows you to hide the Hidden album so it doesn’t appear anywhere in the Photos app. You can go to Settings > Photos > Find Hidden Album to toggle it on or off.

Tip 4. Recover Photos from Recently Deleted

Except for recovering photos on Hidden Album, you can find if the missing photos are remaining in the Recently Deleted album for 40 days. If you accidentally deleted your photo or video, it will go to the Recently Deleted folder. To recover them: Go to Photos > Albums > Recently Deleted under Utilities> Choose the photos and Recover.

The Bottom Line

That’s how to fix your iPhone pictures not showing up on a PC or Mac computer and photos not showing on iPhone. I hope you have fixed the problem successfully with the above solutions. If you have any other ideas about this issue, please share it with us in the comment section. We will go through the problem and reply to you soon. Besides, use AnyTrans to manage and sync photos or other data and it will make your Apple life better.