How Do I Force Pics Taken With iPhone To Download To Photos On Desktop Mac?

Comments: One Response to “How Do I Force Pics Taken With iPhone To Download To Photos On Desktop Mac?”

Gary Rosenzweig

6 years ago

Are you using iCloud Photo Library? I'm going to assume that you are, based on the language in your question. I'm also going to assume you have Photo Stream turned OFF.

The first thing you need to do is to make sure you are logged into the same iCloud account on both your Mac and iPhone. Next, make sure iCloud Photo Library is turned on for both.

Next, make sure you phone is charged, plugged into power and connected to Wi-Fi. Your phone will not upload if it thinks it could drain your battery too much or use your mobile data plan. So to be sure this isn't the problem, get it charged, keep it plugged in, and make sure your Wi-Fi connection is working on the phone.

Now it should work. If not, the next thing to check is to see if this is a problem with your iPhone uploading, or your Mac downloading. To do that, simply go to the iCloud.com web site, log in with that same iCloud account, and check the Photos section. If you see the pictures there, then it means your iPhone is uploading fine and the problem is on the Mac end. If they aren't there, then the problem is with your iPhone.

One thing you can try then is to turn iCloud Photo Library off for the problem device, and then back on again. Then wait for it all to sync. Another thing you can try to do is to log out of iCloud completely on the problem device, and then log back in again. Both of these trigger things to be checked and restarted, so either may help. The first is simpler as it only affects your photos, whereas the second is more extreme as it affects everything iCloud.

If that doesn't work, and you've given things enough time, then you may want to call Apple or stop by the Genius Bar.