Ultimate Guide: Best Ways to Transfer data between Two iPhones

Ultimate Guide: Best Ways to Transfer data between Two iPhones

Moving data between iPhones has been a challenge for many years. However, our guide will clear up all confusion by giving you as many easy ways to achieve this as possible.

If you have more than 1 iPhones in your house, then you probably have wondered for ways to transfer data from one iPhone to another. Perhaps your sister or father would like to send you some files to your iPhone but they found out that it's not the most familiar task.

In this article, I will show you the best ways to choose where you can transfer data from one iPhone to another. Some methods may have iOS version requirements but if they do, I'll make sure to mention it.

Please note that the methods I am about to show you, are not going to involve restoring your device. In case you are looking for transferring ALL of your data from one iPhone to another, there will be a new tutorial coming up soon for that. To get notified, feel free to either register, or subscribe to our emailing list.

#1 AirDrop

Probably the easiest way to transfer file without the use of cables. With AirDrop, you can transfer files such as photos, videos, Documents and even send website links to avoid copy and pasting and hence saving time. Here are the steps to use AirDrop on how to move 2 photos.

System Requirements: iOS 7 (iPadOS 13 for iPads) or newer for both Apple Devices.

  1. Enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both devices. Make sure both devices are connected in the same network.

  2. Go to Photos and and from the Libraries tab, you should see all of your photos. Tap on Select on the top right to choose the photos you would like to move.

  3. Tap on the Button with the arrow pointing up on the bottom left corner.

  4. Now you should see all your different contacts including recent contacted people to whom you can send the photos. We are looking for your other device. Tap on AirDrop.

  5. Now you should see your device by its name. In my case, I named the other device as "George Ka". To move your files, tap on that device and photos will now be sent.

Troubleshooting

  1. Cannot receive all these items at the same time.
    This typically happens when you are trynig to send different type of files at the same time, for instance, sending a pdf with a .docx file at the same time. There is not a real fix to this problem, other than to send the file individually and hence to avoid getting this error, attempt to send the files one by one.
  2. Device cannot be found
    Although Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is open for both devices, there can be the case where you are unable to see the receiver device (the device to which you want to send the files to) in your AirDrop devices list. Usually this problem is the result for the other device either not being in your contacts, or it has Receiving off in the AirDrop settings. To fix this problem, grab the receiver device and go to Settings -> General -> Airdrop and make sure "Everyone" is Enabled.


    Please keep in mind that this allows every nearby iPhone user to send you files as long as they are connected on the same Wi-Fi as you.
    If that didn't resolve this problem, it might be because you have turned off the receiver. Make sure the receiver device is turned off.

#2 iCloud

Every Apple device owner has access to their iCloud storage, as it's automatically enabled by the time you create your Apple ID. It's the easiest cloud storage to use as it's very well integrated into your device. All it takes to enable one Toggle so your device gets connected to your iCloud account if not already. Here is how to use it to transfer a few files to the receiver device.

  1. Enable iCloud Drive if not already enabled by going to Settings -> Apple ID account (your name below the Search bar) -> iCloud and enable iCloud Drive if not already enabled.

  2. Once that's done, go to Files to find the file which you want to move to the receiver. You may need to search for it. In my case, I want to transfer the PDF document.

  3. Tap and hold on the file until you get the drop down menu. Tap on either Copy or Move. Since I still would like to have a copy of the file, I will tap on Copy.

  4. By going back to the browse menu, tap on iCloud Drive.

  5. Tap on a folder where you would like to paste the file. Inside the folder tap and hold on the screen. A small black popup should appear. Tap on Paste.

  6. The file should appear on the folder. Now grab the receiver device and navigate to Files and go to the Browse menu. Tap on iCloud drive and go to the same folder you pasted the file on Step 5.

  7. From there, tap and hold on the file and on the dropdown menu, tap on Copy and repeat Steps 3-5, but this time, on step 4, move the file on a folder in On My iPhone section from the menu.

Transfer photos using iCloud

iCloud makes the process of moving/accessing photos from one device to another very simple. All you have to do, is to go to Settings -> Your Apple ID -> iCloud -> Photos and make sure iCloud Photos is enabled.

If the size of all of your photos and videos combined are bigger than space available in your iCloud storage, iCloud will refuse to transfer your photos.

Troubleshooting

  1. If you haven't upgraded your iCloud plan to more than 5GB of free storage that Apple gives you, you may end up running into "the iCloud is full" issues where iCloud will refuse to move your documents into the iCloud Drive, even if you have 100MB left. Apple will always will try to push you to upgrade your plans, but it's certainly not needed. All you will need to do is to delete some photos or videos or files stored in your iCloud account. For more guidance on how to do that, I have written this tutorial a while ago which will certainly help.

#3 Google Drive/Microsoft One Drive/Dropbox

As now cloud storage is becoming even more integrated to our society, there are more reasons to have an cloud storage account than ever before. The idea is simple. You upload the files you wish to transfer to the receiver to either Google Drive, One Drive or Dropbox, then you download the files on the receiver device. There are a few more steps to consider, but in terms of compatibility, it only requires both devices internet access to connect and upload/download the files. In this case, I'll use Google Drive as the process is the same for the other two.

  1. Download Google Drive from the App Store and create an account if you don't have one. In case you are on iOS version older than what Google Drive supports, you may access Google Drive from Safari.

  2. On the bottom left, you should see a plus button. Tap on it and then tap on Upload.
  3. Here you may have two options, Photos and Videos or Browse to send other files. In this case, I would like to send a PDF document, so I would select on Browse.

  4. Here you will be displayed with the latest files you have stored on your iPhone. If you cannot find the file you are looking for, you may search it on the search bar. Once you have found the file, tap on it. The file will now upload. The time required to upload depends on your internet connection.
  5. Once the file is uploaded, you should see a small popup on the bottom with a Locate button. Either tap on it or swipe up fast to refresh. The file should show on the top.


  6. Now grab the receiver device and repeat Step 1. Remember to login with the same Google account so you can download the file.
  7. Once you gain access to your Google Drive, the file should show up on the top. In case you cannot find it, search it by typing the exact title of the file. Tap on the file to open it.


  8. Tap on the 3 dots on the top right. You should get a list of actions. Tap on Open in.

  9. Tap on Save to Files. Now you will be asked where to save the file. Tap On My iPhone and pick a folder to store it. you may want to create a new. folder and store it there. Up to you. In my case, I'll save it under my PDF folder.

  10. Next, to locate the file, search on Files on the spotlight bar, by either swiping to the left of your Home screen or down.

  11. Navigating on the same folder you stored the file on Step 9. You file should be there.

#4 Using Third party software

There are many third party software out there aimed to resolve this ongoing simple-made-complicated issue. However, most of them over complicate the problem and do not allow you to make any transfers unless you purchase a plan. 

EaseUS MobiMover allows you to move up to 20 files for free per day and can be extended to unlimited with only 23.95$ one time purchase. Depending on whether you have a Mac or Windows, you may download the software here.

Once you download the software, connect both iPhones to your computer and launch MobiMover this is what you are going to see.

From here, choose the Phone to Phone option on the left and choose which iPhone you would like to send data from. In my case, "iPhone XR" acts as the sender and "George Ka" as the receiver, so I would like to send files from "iPhone XR" to "George Ka". Then click on Next.

Here you can move all of your photos, music podcasts, ringtones at once. However, what if you want to move specific files, so for instance a few photos or some songs? MobiMover allows you to do that. by choosing Content Management on the top left.

Here choose the type of file you would like to move. In my case, I will move a few songs, so I will select Audio and then Music.

In the music library, tick the songs you would like to move. Remember, in your free plan, you are only allowed to move up to 20 files per day.

Then tap on the 3 dots on the top right corner and select To Another Phone.

Now the selected songs have been moved to the receiver device successfully.

Phew... that was probably the easiest and fastest 3rd party software specifically for moving files between iPhones.

Awesome! Now you are an expert on how to move files between two iPhones! Of course, I am sure you may know some friends who might be at the same position as you were before making it to the end of this article. Hence, why don't you share this article with your friends if you have found it useful? I am sure they will appreciate it.

On top of that, I enjoy writing articles like these and helping people like you as much as hearing from you with regards how I did this time. Are there any areas where I could be more descriptive? Did I miss any important information? Don't hesitate to let me know down in the comment section and we will act ASAP.

On that note, I hope you are. keeping safe!

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About the Author

...
George K.

Admin of TechLunar

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