A failed import gives you almost nothing to go on. Windows says it found no new photos, or sits on "Preparing" forever, or shows the iPhone with an empty folder inside. There are only about eight real causes, and they are not equally likely. This page runs through them in the order that finds the problem fastest.
The quick answer: unlock the iPhone, tap Trust This Computer, and keep the phone unlocked for the whole import. That alone fixes most cases. If it does not, the next two suspects are a charge-only cable and Optimise iPhone Storage. And if what you actually want is the photos rather than a working import, you can skip it completely and send them over Wi-Fi instead. Free on the App Store
Start here: the Trust This Computer dialog is behind more failed imports than everything else combined
Before you change a cable or reinstall a driver, rule this one out properly. It is easy to think you have handled it when you have not:
- The iPhone must be unlocked when you plug it in. A locked phone will charge and will appear in Windows, but it will not hand over a single photo. This is deliberate, and it is why an import can "see" the phone and still find nothing.
- The Trust prompt only appears on the phone, and it times out. If you plugged in while the screen was off, the prompt may have come and gone. Unplug, unlock, plug back in, and watch the phone screen.
- Keep it unlocked for the whole transfer. If the screen locks partway through a large import, the transfer can stall or fail with no useful message. Set Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock to Never while you import.
- If you once tapped Don't Trust, the prompt will not come back on its own. Reset it with Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy, then reconnect and you will be asked again.
If the phone is unlocked, trusted and still importing nothing, move to the cable.
Your cable may be the problem: charge-only cables carry power but no data, and they look identical
- Many cheap cables have no data wires at all. They are built for charging, and there is no way to tell by looking. The phone charges perfectly, which is exactly what makes this so hard to spot.
- The tell is that the phone charges but never prompts. No Trust dialog, no appearance in File Explorer, no error. Just charging.
- Test with the cable that came with the phone, or any cable you know has moved files before.
- Try a different port, and prefer one on the PC itself. Front-panel ports, hubs, docks and monitor USB ports add a layer that can drop the data connection while still passing power.
- A worn Lightning or USB-C port on the phone can do the same thing. Pocket lint compacted into the port is a genuinely common cause. Look into it with a light before assuming the worst.
Windows sits on "Preparing" or finds nothing at all: what to try, in order
If the phone is unlocked, trusted and on a known-good cable, and the Photos app still will not pull anything in, work down this list. Each step is quick and they are ordered by how often they turn out to be the answer:
- Give a large library several minutes before deciding it has hung. The Photos app enumerates every item before it shows you anything, and on a library of tens of thousands that genuinely takes a while with no progress shown.
- Unplug and replug with the phone unlocked and the screen on. More effective than it sounds, because it re-triggers the whole handshake.
- Restart both devices. Windows caches the device connection, and a stale entry survives replugging but not a reboot.
- Check Device Manager for a warning triangle. Under Portable Devices or Universal Serial Bus controllers, look for "Apple iPhone" or "Apple Mobile Device USB Driver". Right-click and Update driver if it is flagged.
- Try File Explorer instead of the Photos app. They use different paths to the phone. If Explorer can browse the photos and the Photos app cannot, the connection is fine and the Photos app is the problem, which narrows things considerably.
Photos are missing rather than absent: iCloud Optimise Storage keeps the originals off the phone
This is the cause people never guess, because everything appears to work. The import runs, it succeeds, and half the library is not there, or the files that arrive are far smaller than they should be.
- Optimise iPhone Storage replaces full-size photos with small previews. The originals live in iCloud, and only a lightweight version stays on the device to save space.
- A USB import can only take what is physically on the phone. So the previews come across and the originals do not, which is why the count or the file sizes look wrong.
- Check it at Settings > Photos. If Optimise iPhone Storage is selected rather than Download and Keep Originals, this is your answer.
- Switching it back takes time and space. The phone re-downloads every original, which needs both enough free storage and a good connection. Start it and leave it on Wi-Fi and power.
- Or take the originals from iCloud directly. Sign in at iCloud.com on the PC and download from there, which bypasses the phone entirely.
The photos import fine but Windows will not open them: that is HEIC, not a failure
- .HEIC is Apple's photo format, and older Windows installs have no idea what to do with it. The import worked; the viewer is the problem.
- The fastest permanent fix is on the phone. Set Settings > Camera > Formats to Most Compatible and every new photo is a standard JPEG.
- For photos you have already taken, set Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC to Automatic, and the iPhone converts them to JPEG as they transfer.
- Or teach Windows the format with the HEIF extensions from the Microsoft Store. We cover which one is free and which is not in the HEIC on Windows guide.
If what you want is the photos rather than a working import, you can skip all of this
Everything above is worth doing if you are archiving a whole library off the phone. If you are only troubleshooting because you need some photos in an email, the import is the wrong tool and there is a shorter path.
- No cable, so no Trust dialog and no driver. Camera to Clipboard sends the photo over your local Wi-Fi instead, which removes every cause on this page at once.
- It arrives on the clipboard, not in a folder. Press Ctrl + V and it is in the document. Nothing to locate afterwards.
- No HEIC problem. The photo arrives as a standard JPEG, so Windows opens it without any extension installed.
- Nothing is uploaded. The transfer goes directly between the two devices, so it works even on a network with no internet, and on your phone's own hotspot.
- One photo or a batch. Select several from your existing library and send them in one go, or take a fresh shot. Videos too.
Every cause ranked: how common it is, how long the fix takes, and how much trouble it is
Click any column header to sort (best first; click again to reverse). Sorting by "Time to fix" gives you the fastest things to rule out first.
| Cause | How common | Time to fix | Difficulty | The giveaway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone locked or not trusted | Very common | Seconds | Trivial | Phone is visible but shows no photos |
| Charge-only cable | Common | Seconds, if you have another | Trivial | Charges, but no Trust prompt ever appears |
| iCloud Optimise Storage | Common | Hours to re-download originals | Moderate | Import succeeds but photos are missing or tiny |
| HEIC files Windows cannot open | Common | A minute | Trivial | Files arrive fine, nothing will display them |
| Photos app stuck on Preparing | Occasional | Minutes | Easy | Explorer can browse the phone, Photos cannot |
| Apple Mobile Device driver | Uncommon | Minutes | Moderate | Warning triangle in Device Manager |
| Dirty or damaged port | Uncommon | Minutes | Moderate | Cable must be held at an angle to charge |
A checklist to run top to bottom when nothing above has worked
- Unlock the iPhone and set Auto-Lock to Never.
- Unplug, replug, and watch the phone for the Trust prompt.
- Swap to a cable you know has carried data before.
- Move to a USB port directly on the PC, not a hub or a monitor.
- Restart the PC and the phone, then reconnect.
- Open File Explorer and look for Apple iPhone > Internal Storage > DCIM. If the photos are there, use Explorer and stop fighting the Photos app.
- Check Settings > Photos for Optimise iPhone Storage.
- Check Device Manager for a flagged Apple device.
- If you only wanted the photos rather than a working import, send them over Wi-Fi and move on.
Common questions about failed iPhone imports on Windows
Why are my iPhone photos not importing to my PC?
In most cases the iPhone is locked or has not been trusted. Unlock it, tap Trust This Computer, and leave it unlocked during the import. The next most common causes are a charge-only cable that carries power but no data, and iCloud Optimise Storage, which leaves only small previews on the phone.
Why does my iPhone show in File Explorer but the DCIM folder is empty?
An empty or partly empty DCIM folder almost always means the phone is locked, or that Optimise Storage has moved the full-size originals off the device. Unlock the iPhone first. If photos are still missing, turn off Optimise iPhone Storage and let the originals download back before importing.
How do I get photos off my iPhone when the import keeps failing?
Skip the import entirely and send them over your local Wi-Fi instead. Camera to Clipboard sends one photo or a whole batch straight to your PC's clipboard so you can paste them, which avoids the cable, the Trust dialog, the driver and the HEIC format all at once.