Your first photo transfer

Once Photo Transfer App is installed on both ends and they're on the same WiFi, transferring photos takes only a few taps. The exact path depends on which way you're going.

From phone to computer

There are two ways to send photos and videos from your phone to your computer. Both start the same way:

1. Open Photo Transfer App on your phone.
2. Tap Send.
3. Pick Computer.
4. The app asks you to choose Pick on computer or Pick on phone.

Pick on computer

1. Tap Pick on computer. Your phone is now waiting to be connected.
2. On your Mac or PC, open Photo Transfer App. Your phone appears in the desktop app.
3. The first time, your phone asks you to allow the computer: "'name' wants to connect. Allow?" Tap Allow once or Always allow on the phone. See Connect two devices over WiFi.
4. Browse your phone's albums and photos in the desktop app.
5. Select what you want, then click Download. Files arrive on your computer at full quality.

Best when you want to scroll your library calmly on a bigger screen and pick from there.

Pick on phone

1. Tap Pick on phone. Your phone's gallery opens.
2. Select the photos and videos you want to send.
3. The chosen items become a special Selected album on your phone.
4. On your computer, open Photo Transfer App. Your phone appears with the Selected album visible.
5. The first time, your phone asks you to allow the computer: "'name' wants to connect. Allow?" Tap Allow once or Always allow on the phone.
6. Open the Selected album, then click Download → Download Album. All the items you picked transfer at once.

Best when you already know which photos you want and prefer to pick them on your phone.

From computer to phone

The desktop app doesn't have a Send button. To push files from your computer to your phone, you connect the two devices the same way as for a phone-to-computer transfer, then use Add Files inside an album.

1. On your Mac or PC, open Photo Transfer App. Your phone appears in the device list — click it to connect.
2. The first time, your phone asks you to allow the computer: "'name' wants to connect. Allow?" Tap Allow once or Always allow on the phone.
3. Browse your phone in the desktop app and navigate to an album or folder where you want the new files to land.
4. Click Add Files. A standard file picker opens — choose photos and videos from your computer.
5. The files transfer to your phone and appear in the selected album.
6. Your phone skips files already in the album you chose (version 10.6 or later on iPhone and iPad, 10.5 or later on Android). A file counts as already there when the album has one with the same name, or a numbered copy of it such as IMG_1234 (1).jpg, with exactly the same size. On your phone, the transfer screen shows Skipped (n). A different file with the same name but a different size is still saved, as a separate copy.

What's preserved

• Full original resolution — nothing downscaled or recompressed.
• EXIF metadata, GPS, capture date — preserved end to end.
• Live Photos (iOS) — stay live between phones: another iPhone or iPad gets a Live Photo, and Android gets a Motion Photo. On a computer, download with All Representations to get the short video too, as a separate file next to the still photo. Web browsers, cloud services, and network drives get the still photo.
• RAW formats (ProRAW, DNG) — full bit depth preserved.
• HEIC photos — kept as HEIC, or converted to JPG if you turn on HEIC to JPG in More → Settings.

Where to go next

• Transfer photos from iPhone or iPad to Mac
• Transfer photos from iPhone or iPad to Windows PC
• Transfer photos from Android to Mac
• Transfer photos from Android to Windows PC