How do I move photos from iPad to PC?

[lbeck]

This seems like a simple task but Windows Explorer doesn't handle it well.

• Plug in iPad - it shows in Explorer like an external HDD
• highlight a folder and choose "select all"
• right-click, drag to PC folder and choose "move here"
• Progress bar begins
• only 4 or 5 of 50 iPad folders are transferred with no Win error messages or dialog
• Subsequent tries show copies of folders already moved and maybe a few others??

I tried using iTunes to do this but this program is apparently designed to backup files not to move them to PC "My Pictures" library. I tried PhoneBrowse (freeware) to do this but I can't tell if it will retain details like date, camera settings, etc. is important to me. Right clicking on individual files in PhoneBrowse doesn't show detailed data.

 

[marsmimar]

I apologize in advance. I'm not at all familiar with Apple products so this is me just thinking out loud.

Since the iPad shows up in Windows Explorer like an external hard drive, can you use Ctrl+A (to select all), then use Ctrl+C to copy all photos that were selected, then go to your Windows folder of choice and use Ctrl+V to paste the photos?

What happens if you just select a few photos at a time? Will they copy over?

Another thought is if you have a Dropbox account could you upload your photos from the iPad and then download them to the PC? (This might work well for a few photos but not for many gigabytes of photos.)

Some articles that may shed more light on the subject. Again, my apologies if none of this applies to your situation.:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4155226

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201302

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204095

 

[lbeck]

What happens if you just select a few photos at a time? Will they copy over?

Yes, But it is inconsistent. I tried *select all/properties* and compared the entire group of folders after dragging/dropping the folders one-by-one and there is indeed a considerable difference indicating that all did not copy over even that way. If I view properties folder by folder I can find where the discrepancies lie but this is a tedious task.

Given that there are programs, freeware and paid, that report the ability to do the copy iPad -> PC indicates that this is a common problem. It just seems that Win Explorer should be able to handle this.

I'll explore the URLs that you suggest.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Apple would prefer you to use ITunes if you have a beef please refer to their forums,
You wouldn't want to "move to" or even Cut anyway and why would you expect an Apple product to be completely compatible with a windows machine or the other way around ?
In a perfect world yes but not the case with MS and Apple.

I agree you'll need to open the folders select all and copy then create the same folder structure if you wish and paste.
Just life in the big Apple

But then again unless your using a M$ mobile device Move to or Cut still isn't a good idea = to many things can go wrong which will corrupt files.
Cheers.

 

[lbeck]

Apple would prefer you to use ITunes if you have a beef please refer to their forums

Yeah, Seems that I've heard that Apple and MSFT are irreconcilable competitors. But given the ubiquitous nature of iPhones, pads and such, it seems that MSFT would do a better job of at least opening a dialog box stating that the transfer isn't compatible instead of a GUI that appears to show that the file/move process was successful. I was close to erasing my photos from my iPad after the *move* process appeared to be successfully consummated. It was only after I started checking that I found that the group of files was mismatched file-wise.

Maybe the objective of MSFT is to trick users into losing data and thereupon convincing them to exclusively use MSFT products.

 

[lbeck]

A little more info in case someone stumbles across this thread with the same dilemma. It appears that Windows doesn't like folders with the "local Disc" files included, whatever that is.

I found this by opening separate iterations of Windows explorer side by side with the iPad folders loaded onto one and the Windows folders on the other. I found that the folders without the *local disc* files copied fine. I manually selected only the JPGs from the folders with "local Disc" and dragged them to the appropriate windows folders and the transfer worked fine that way.

 

[Lilyheye]

You can use iTunes to move photos from ipad to PC.

 

[harperrn]

I like to use iExplorer to transfer the files to my PC from any other Apple devices.

iExplorer

 

[GokAy]

I like to use iExplorer to transfer the files to my PC from any other Apple devices.

iExplorer

I don't trust these apps to be honest, they are usually useless unless you buy them. How is this one?


Another method, you can install OneDrive on iPad and let it backup photos. Then download to where ever you want. You also get a 15GB bonus free space doing so.

 

[KatrinaKaif]

I like to use iExplorer to transfer the files to my PC from any other Apple devices.

iExplorer

I don't trust these apps to be honest, they are usually useless unless you buy them. How is this one?


Another method, you can install OneDrive on iPad and let it backup photos. Then download to where ever you want. You also get a 15GB bonus free space doing so.

I need to transfer photos from iPad to computer. I never heard OneDrive. What is it?

 

[Barman58]

Step by step instructions - How to Quickly Transfer Images from an iPad to a PC

Onedrive is a cloud storage system provided by Microsoft, A bit like apples iCloud

 

[GokAy]

There has been a bug though, sometimes OneDrive reports all pictures have been synced but misses some photos. Only way to correct this is to sync those photos manually.

USB method (I used to use it) would be nice if you could sort by date etc. Having 100s of folders is not productive. Is there an efficient way to use it?

 

[Barman58]

I guess I've been lucky with Onedrive, Ive used it from the time when it was a trial of a thing called Mesh, without any issues at all.

I think the only way you could improve the functionality of explorer is to replace it with one of the many alternate file managers.

I am in a different position to most as I am a serious amateur photographer and all my transfers, and image organization, is done within Adobe Lightroom CC 2015.

 

[GokAy]

I thought I was alright too, until one day I got struck with it

 

[ThrashZone]

Yep the best most straight forward method is to upload to Onedrive manually = no waiting for it to engage

Also Onedrive app does not upload the original file size by default so anyone that uses Onedrive app should review the upload settings and make sure the original size is indeed being uploaded instead of a compressed version.

Otherwise Onedrive is good if used as what it is a website to go to and.....