Mobile phone

Import photos from iPhone or other mobile phone

If you have a camera phone, you can import the photos you take with it into iPhoto.

Note:  If you’ve turned on Photo Stream on your iPhone, and Automatic Import is selected in the Photo Stream pane in iPhoto preferences, the photos on your iPhone may have already been imported into iPhoto.

To import photos from iPhone:

  1. Connect your iPhone to your computer using the Dock Connector to USB cable that came with your iPhone.

    If iPhoto wasn’t already open, it opens for you (unless you changed this preference in iPhoto or your iPhone is locked).

    After your iPhone is connected and turned on, iPhoto opens in import view and your iPhone appears in the Source list.

    Image of import view with an iPhone connected

    It might take some time for your iPhone to appear, depending on how many photos you’re importing.

    iPhoto displays photos you’ve already imported in a separate area from new photos.

    If you’ve already imported all the photos on your iPhone, a message appears. To delete the photos from your iPhone, click the Remove Photos button.

  2. By default, iPhoto divides photos into separate Events during the import process.

    You can optionally enter a description in the Event Name field.

    If you don’t want iPhoto to automatically create Events, deselect the Split Events checkbox.

    If you want to change the time frame used to sort your photos into Events, you can change it in iPhoto preferences.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To import all new photos shown in the iPhoto window, click the Import button that displays the number of photos.

    • To import a selection of photos, press the Command key while clicking photo thumbnails, or drag to select a group of photos, and then click Import Selected.

  4. To cancel photo transfer at any time during your import, click Stop Import. Then, in the dialog that appears, choose to continue importing the photos, keep the photos that have been imported and stop importing the remaining photos, or delete the photos that have been imported.

  5. After the import process is finished, drag the device icon to the iPhoto Trash and disconnect your iPhone from your computer by unplugging the Dock Connector to USB cable.

    Important:  Before you disconnect your iPhone, wait until all photos have been imported into iPhoto (or until you click Stop Import).

To import photos from another mobile phone:

  1. Connect the phone to your computer, and then copy the photos from your phone to your computer.

    For more information, see the instructions that came with your phone.

  2. Follow the steps in Import photos from your hard disk or other computers.