How to transfer photos and videos off your phone

It's unfortunate, but bad things happen to phones all the time. For instance, they break when dropped or get stolen. Many people have lost precious memories because of it. Moving photos and videos off your phone is the best way to protect them and free up storage space without permanently losing them.

You can use several reliable methods, whether you're using an iPhone or an Android device, to transfer photos and videos from your phone to a computer or cloud storage. Keep reading to find out how.

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iPhone users can also use Apple's cloud storage service, iCloud, to automatically sync and back up their photos and videos to the cloud. This will also make them accessible across all your Apple devices, as well as Windows. Follow these steps:

When you turn on Sync this iPhone, your photos and videos will be automatically uploaded to iCloud and securely stored in their original, full-resolution formats.

Be aware that just syncing your photos and videos to iCloud doesn't immediately free up space on your iPhone. You're creating a copy in iCloud, but the full-size photos and videos still remain on your phone. Now that your photos and videos are backed up to iCloud, here's the crucial step to actually clear space on your iPhone. You'll need to enable a special setting called Optimize iPhone Storage. Here's how to do it:

This setting keeps smaller, space-saving versions of your photos and videos on your iPhone while the full-resolution originals stay safely stored in iCloud. This way, your iPhone frees up storage space without deleting any photos and videos. However, note that this depends on the number of photos and videos you have and the overall space used. Optimizing doesn't guarantee immediate, huge storage savings. It can take time, especially for 4K videos.

Pro tip: Don't delete photos and videos manually to save space. If you delete a photo or video on your iPhone, it's also removed from iCloud. Let the "optimize" setting do the work for you.

For those of you who prefer not to pay for iCloud storage, several reliable products allow you to offload photos and videos from your iPhone, freeing up space while keeping your memories secure, without a recurring fee. Check out our top iPhone backup alternatives that don't require a subscription.

These external storage options offer a range of features to suit different needs, allowing you to prioritize what matters most, whether it's portability, storage capacity, speed or ease of use. By choosing the right device, you can efficiently manage your iPhone storage and avoid ongoing iCloud fees. Just remember to confirm that all photos and videos have been safely transferred before deleting them from your iPhone. Now, you'll also want to be sure to check this hidden folder on your iPhone that may be eating up your space.

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Google Photos is a convenient cloud storage solution that works across all devices, offering both free and paid storage options for backing up your photos and videos securely. You can back up your phone's photos and videos to Google Photos with the steps below.

Now that your photos and videos are safely backed up to Google Photos, you can free up space on your Android device:

That's it. You've now backed up your photos and videos, freeing up valuable storage space on your Android device.

On both iPhone and Android, deleted photos and videos usually go to a "Recently Deleted" or "Trash" folder and stay there for up to 30 days. To immediately free up space and ensure your photos and videos are truly gone, open this folder and permanently delete the photos and videos.

Pro tip: Always make sure your photos and videos are safely backed up before deleting them from your phone.

With the photos and videos stored safely on the cloud, you can access and download them anytime. Here is what you need to know:

Google Photos: You can access the photos and videos using the Google Photos app on either your Android device or iPhone. You can also go to the Google Photos website on your computer and sign in with your Google account to find the photos and videos.

iCloud (iPhone): Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple account. Afterward, click Quick Access in the top-right corner and select Photos in the menu, and you should then be able to see your uploaded photos and videos.

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If you're a Windows user, you can easily transfer photos and videos from your phone using the built-in Photos app to import your pictures and videos directly to your PC. Follow the steps below to do that.

If you moved your photos and videos to a computer and then deleted them from your phone, they're gone from the device but remain safe on your computer. Always double-check that your transfer was successful before deleting anything from your phone.

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For Android users, accessing the DCIM (Digital Camera Images) folder directly through Windows File Explorer provides a simple way to transfer photos and video from your phone to your computer. Here's how to do it:

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It's a mistake to wait until something happens to start moving photos off your phone. We recommend creating a backup schedule so that you're never without a way to restore them or free up space on your device. The initial moving process can be long, but doing it in the future will definitely be faster. You can also create extra backups by transferring the photos to external storage.

How do you feel about the role tech companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft play in managing and protecting your personal photos? Have you had any positive or negative experiences with their backup services? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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