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6 Ways to transfer videos (and photos) between iPhone and Windows (Wireless & Cable)

6 Ways to transfer videos (and photos) between iPhone and Windows (Wireless & Cable)

Still unsure on how to move your videos to your Windows computer? Don't worry! I have collected 6 FREE ways where moving your videos to you computer and vice versa without any difficulties!

Since the launch of the original iPhone back in 2007, moving media (inc. videos and photos) between your iPhone and Windows computer, has always been a challenge. Even though Apple offers iTunes for windows, you can still not transfer photos and videos to your iPhone natively. 

Well, in this article, I have collected multiple methods where we can solve this problem. Part of the reason to offer so many solutions, is to choose the one which is most suitable for you. For each solution, I state the advantages and disadvantages to help you with choosing your favorite one!

For this article, I have also created a video which is best suited if you're a more visual person. Of course, you could use the video for reference when reading this title in case you would like to see me performing the steps:

What do I need?

  • Your iPhone.
  • Your Windows computer.
  • Your iPhone lighting cable.
  • Internet connection.

Please note that Bluetooth connection is not required unless stated.

So, how do I transfer videos from iPhone to PC?

Here we are going to discover 6 methods which you can choose your favorite to use from now and on.

1. With Cable

For this, you need the original iPhone lighting charging cable. This is the classic and most popular method. Given that this method uses the built-in Windows Explorer app, the process is going to be a piece of cake.

iPhone to Computer

  1. Connect your iPhone to your computer in a free USB port.
  2. On your computer, launch File Explorer and click on "This PC" on the left.

  3. You should see your iPhone under Devices and drivers. Double click on it.
  4. Open the DCIM folder and you either see your photos & videos there or multiple folders.

  5. Right click and choose to short the folders by Created. Now latest created folders (each containing latest created photos and videos) will appear on the top.

  6. Open the folder where the desired images or videos are located and drag and drop them on your desktop (or any other location you prefer!).

The good thing is, is that you can transfer large files of multiple GB each without any problems. The one downside with this, is that you cannot move media files from your computer to your iPhone. You might feel very disappointment, but, we have only covered 1 method from the 6. The remaining methods, will allow you to transfer videos and images from your iPhone to your computer and vice versa!

2. With Cable and iTunes

While iTunes is no longer a thing for Apple, you can still download iTunes for Windows from Apple. While at the time of writing this article, there's no option for Windows 11, the top option for Windows 10 will work just fine. For this method, you still need the iPhone lighting cable.

iPhone to Computer

  1. On your iPhone, launch Photos and select the video (or videos) you would like to move.

  2. Tap on the share button (bottom left) and from the dropdown, choose Save to Files.

  3. Tap "On my iPhone" and save it under the desired app folder (in my case, Chrome). Tap on Save.

  4. Now back on your computer, launch iTunes if you haven't already.
  5. From iTunes, click on the iPhone-like icon right of the "Music" button on the top left.
  6. Under Settings from the left, choose File Sharing.
  7. Tap on the app to which you saved the video files(s) to.
  8. Drag and drop the video from the Documents window to Desktop or any other location.

Computer to iPhone

  1. Connect your iPhone to your computer in a free USB port.
  2. Download iTunes for Windows. Then launch iTunes and update if needed.

  3. From iTunes, click on the iPhone-like icon right of the "Music" button on the top left.

  4. Under Settings from the left, choose File Sharing.

  5. Here you will see apps that allow document sharing. Select the app you would like to use. Any app would work. I'll use Chrome for now.
  6. Drag and drop your video files under the Documents box.

  7. Grab your iPhone and go to Files.

  8. Tap on the "Browse" tab (more than once) on the bottom right.

  9. Under locations, tap on "On my iPhone".
  10. You should see the app folder that you chose from iTunes to move your files. Open the folder.

  11. Tap and hold the file and on the dropdown, choose share.

  12. Tap on Save Video.

  13. Now the video will be saved on your Photos app! Close Files and launch Photos to confirm!

Of course keep in mind that you need enough space on your iPhone to copy over the video on Files. If you are looking for a method where you don't need to save the video on the Files folder first, skip to method 5 or 6.

While this method allows you  to move videos and photos from both ways, there's no guarantee that the videos will be playable on Windows. This is because iPhone video formats may not be compatible. If you are unable to play a certain video, then you may download VLC and make it the default media player. VLC is perfect for playing multiple video formats without any problems.

3. Over the Air

Having to connect your iPhone to your computer every time you want to transfer a file, can be very tedious. Nowadays, we need better ways do tasks without having to use too many cables. That's why every method from now and on, will use the Internet & WiFi for the transfer to take place! For this, we are going to use VLC for mobile to transfer your favorite videos over the air. VLC for mobile is free to download from the App Store! Don't worry, Bluetooth is not needed!

iPhone to Computer

  1. Download VLC for Mobile.
  2. Launch Photos and select the video (or videos) you would like to move.

  3. Tap on the share button (bottom left) and from the dropdown, choose Save to Files.

  4. Tap "On my iPhone" and save it under the VLC folder.

  5. Launch VLC, and under the videos tab (bottom left), you should see the selected video there.

  6. On VLC, tap on the Networks tab and enable Sharing via WiFi.

  7. You should see an address there with numbers. Launch your favorite browser on your computer and write this address and hit enter.

  8. You should see your video there. Click on it to download it. The video should appear under Downloads once done.

Computer

  1. Download VLC for Mobile.
  2. Launch VLC for Mobile, tap on the Networks tab and enable Sharing via WiFi.
  3. You should see an address there with numbers. Launch your favorite browser on your computer and write this address and hit enter.
  4. Drag and drop a video in the browser window and wait until it's done transferring.

  5. The video now should be on VLC.


  6. On your iPhone, go to Files.
  7. Tap on the "Browse" tab (more than once) on the bottom right.
  8. Under locations, tap on "On my iPhone".
  9. Tap the VLC folder.

  10. Touch and hold the video and on the dropdown and tap on Share.

  11. On the dropdown, tap on Save Video.
  12. Launch Photos and you should see your file there!

While this method is a great alternative to using a cable, it still involves multiple duplication and hence, having enough storage on your iPhone is a must, especially for large video files. However, it's a very reliable method, if you have enough storage and a stable WiFi connection.

4. Via the Cloud

If you are looking to transfer videos from your iPhone to another computer away from you, then using a cloud based storage service is a good solution. In this case, we are going to use Google Drive as the "intermediator" of the transfer. So you will upload the videos on Google drive from your iPhone and then, download them on the computer and vice versa!

iPhone to Computer

  1. Download Google Drive from the App Store.
  2. Launch Google Drive, log in (or register) and tap on the My Drive tab on the top left.

  3. Tap on the plus (+) button on the bottom right and choose "Folder" to create a new folder. I named it as "Videos".

  4. Tap on the "Videos" folder you just created.
  5. Again, tap on the plus (+) button and choose "Upload".

  6. Choose Photos and Videos. Make sure to allow access to All Photos.
  7. Choose the video file(s) you would like to transfer. In my case, is under the "Recents" album.

  8. Once done selecting, choose "Upload" on the top right.
  9. Depending on your Upload speed, this should take some time to upload.
  10. Login to Google Drive on your computer and go on the "Videos" folder, under "My Drive".

  11. Once the video is done uploading on your iPhone, click on the video(s) and choose Download.
  12. Go to File Explorer and then to your Downloads folder. Your media files will be there.

Computer to iPhone

  1. Login on Google Drive on your computer.
  2. Under My Drive, create a new folder "Videos".
  3. Open the Videos folder and drag and drop your video file(s).

  4. On your iPhone, download Google Drive from the App Store.
  5. Launch Google drive, login and then go to My Drive tab.
  6. Go to the "Videos" folder you have created on your computer.
  7. Wait until the video has been uploaded on Google Drive.
  8. Once it's done, tap on the 3 vertical dots on the right of the video and choose Open In.
  9. On the popup menu, select Save to Files.
  10. On the menu, tap on On My iPhone, then tap Save on the top right.
  11. Launch Files and tap on the Browse tab.
  12. Select "On My iPhone" and the video should be located there.
  13. Touch and hold the video and choose Share.
  14. From the menu, select "Save Video".
  15. Launch Photos and the video should appear there.

While Cloud based solutions can be reliable, if your Upload Speed is slow, then this might just take too much time to finish, especially when you are transferring large or multiple video files. The other issue you may face, is that Google only allows you 15GB of free storage on Google Drive. If you are looking to transfer larger files, then Method 5 would be a much more suitable option.

How to test my WiFi Upload Speed?

I always tend to use Speedtest by Ookla. It's 100% free, and it will find the closest server to your location to maximize the accuracy of the measurement. The higher the results, the faster your connection will be.

5. Over the air, straight to your Photos album

While Cloud based solutions are pretty limited and so far, the file wouldn't be transferred directly to the Photos app, this method, guarantees that every video and image file, will be transferred between the iPhone Photos app and your computer. For this we are going to use a free 3rd party app. This method works at the time of writing this article. If for any reason,  the app becomes unavailable more limited for free users, move to method 6. 

Before we jump into the steps, here is what you need to do first:

  1. Download Simple Transfer from the App Store.
  2. Launch the app and allow access to All Photos.
  3. Swipe left below "Transfer Between Computer & Device" and you should see an address with numbers.
  4. Copy and paste the address to your favorite browser on your computer.
  5. You should see all your albums there.

Make sure to have Simple Transfer open on your iPhone for the page to be accessible on your computer.

iPhone to Computer

Usually your videos will be located under your Recents album on your iPhone. Given that Simple Transfer only allows only the first 50 videos and photos to be transferred, we are going to create a new album on the iPhone and move the video and image files there.

  1. On your iPhone, launch Photos.
  2. Tap on the Albums tab on the bottom right.
  3. Tap on the plus (+) button on the top left and choose New Album.

  4. Name it as you like, I named it as "Videos".
  5. Choose the videos and photos you would like to transfer to your computer. Once you're done, choose Done.

  6. Launch Simple Transfer again.
  7. Refresh the page on your computer and you should see the "Videos" album.

  8. Open the "Videos" album and select the files you would like to save on your computer. Then select Download Items.

  9. If you really want to, you may change the resolution. Otherwise, select Download.

  10. The files will be downloaded zipped. For this, it's helpful to use a software like WinRAR to unzip the file and get your photos and videos!

  11. Unzip the file and extract the video files to your location of your preference.

Computer to iPhone

  1. Create a new album on your iPhone by following the steps from 1 to 4 above.
  2. On the Simple Transfer page on your computer, click on "+ Upload".
  3. Choose the videos you would like to move to your iPhone and choose "Open".

  4. A new window should open on the browser. Change the Album to "Videos" and choose Upload.

  5. Once the upload is done, grab you iPhone and launch Photos.
  6. Tap on the Album tab on the bottom right.
  7. Open the "Videos" album and you should see the new files there. The files will also appear under the "Recents" folder.

Although you have to create a new album to get the transfer to work, you don't need to keep creating new albums every time you have to transfer. However, make sure to not occupy more than 50 items on the album you have just created.

6. Via Windows Network Sharing

This is the only method, where photos and videos will be transferred directly from your computer to your iPhone Photos app without any limits. All we need to do first, is to setup a sharing network on your computer, to which the iPhone will connect to and communicate with your computer. That way, photos and videos will be transferred by using a free 3rd party to allow the iPhone to connect to the network.

  1. On Windows, launch Control Panel.

  2. Choose Network and Internet.

  3. Then choose Network and Sharing Center.

  4. On the left, choose Change Advanced Sharing Settings:


  5. Under Private, make sure:
    • Turn on network discovery option is chosen.
    • Turn on automatic setup of network-connected devices checkbox is enabled.
    • Turn on file and printer sharing option is chosen.

  6. Under Guest or Public, make sure:
    • Turn on network discovery option is chosen.
    • Turn on file and printer sharing option is chosen.

  7. Save the changes and restart your computer to apply all the changes.
  8. Grab your iPhone and download FE File Explorer.
  9. Launch the app and enable access to networks.
  10. Tap on the plus button (+) on the top right.
     

  11. Choose Windows.

  12. Under the Network Neighbourhood, select your computer's network.

  13. From the popup window, choose to connect as User Account.

  14. Enter either your Microsoft login info (email as username and your password), or your Windows login username and password and choose Login.
  15. If you don't see any folders, then go back to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center, and under All Networks, select the "Turn on sharing so that anyone with network access can read and write files in the Public Folder" option.


    Remember that this option enables to everyone connected to your computer's network will have read and write access to it.
  16. Once that's done, go back to your iPhone and swipe up with your finger to refresh.

  17. Now you have gained access to your computer from your iPhone.

Now that we have everything setup, we can go ahead and transfer our files!

iPhone to Computer

  1. On your iPhone, tap on the Users folder. Navigate through the folders to find the videos you would like to save on your iPhone. In my case, the videos are under Users > georg.

  2. Tap on the 3 vertical dots and select "Share".

  3. Once the video is downloaded, from the menu, choose "Save Video".
  4. Make sure to allow FE File explorer to save in your Photos library.
  5. Launch Photos and you should see your videos there!

Computer to iPhone

  1. Launch FE File Explorer (or tap on the home button bottom left if already open) and select Photo Library.

  2. Allow FE File Explorer to access all your photos.
  3. Tap on the album where the video is located (usually Recents).

  4. Tap on the"Select" button on the top right, choose the videos and tap on the paper-like button on the bottom left.

  5. Select your computer, under Connections to copy the videos to.

  6. Navigate through the folders to the location where you want to save your files.

  7. Press on "Save" to save the video on the desired folder location.

  8. Find the folder on your computer and you should see the video there.

Given that this method offers a speedy way to move your videos from your Computer to your iPhone and vice versa, you may need to login every time you would like to make the transfer. This solution allows you to save your videos straight into your Photos app without intermediate steps.

Conclusion

Given that there isn't a native way to move videos and photos between your iPhone and your Windows computer, each solution will have its drawbacks and benefits. The most important aspect, is to choose the solution that works for you best. Personally, I like solution 5 and 6, because I don't have to manually copy and paste the photos from Files to Photos whenever I move media from my computer to my iPhone, but since I have my computer right next to me, it's easier to use the lighting cable to move media from my iPhone to my computer.

This article is to be updated every time I find a new solution to this non-ending problem, meaning that more solutions will be added to this article.

Finally, don't forget to let me know down in the comments section, which was your favorite solution and which one are you planning using in the future. Finally, I enjoy reading your feedback as much as writing those articles. If you see any issue or something is wrong on this how-to article, don't hesitate to let me know and I will fix it immediately.

And most importantly, stay safe and healthy!

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George K.

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