How to Extract All Photos from an iPhone and Back Them Up to an External Drive on a Mac
Your iPhone has probably become your most important camera. Every trip, family event, and spontaneous moment ends up stored in that small device. But as the photo collection grows, so does the need to back it up properly. Apple’s iCloud system can store your pictures, but many people want a physical backup, something tangible that doesn’t rely on cloud storage or internet access. The most secure way to do this is to transfer all your photos from your iPhone to your Mac and then save them as individual image files on an external drive.
Understanding the Process
Before jumping into the steps, it’s helpful to understand what’s actually happening when you back up photos manually. When you plug your iPhone into a Mac, the computer can access your iPhone’s photo library through the Photos app or the Image Capture utility. These tools let you import your pictures directly to your Mac’s drive or to an external location.
Unlike iCloud, this method gives you control over where your photos are stored and how they’re named and organized. Once on your Mac, you can then copy them to your external hard drive, ensuring you have a permanent backup.
There are two main ways to extract your photos: using the Photos app or using Image Capture. The Photos app is simple and ideal for most users, while Image Capture gives you direct file access without adding the pictures to your Photos Library. Both methods will be covered here.
Step 1: Prepare Your Devices and Backup Drive
Start by connecting your external hard drive or SSD to your Mac. Open Finder to confirm the drive appears in the sidebar. It’s a good idea to rename it something recognizable, like “Photo Backup Drive.” Make sure it has enough space to hold all your iPhone pictures.
If your external drive is brand new or formatted for Windows, reformat it to a macOS-compatible system. The best options are APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for Mac-only use, or ExFAT if you also plan to use the drive on Windows computers. You can format it through Disk Utility, which is found in Applications > Utilities.
Once the drive is ready, create a new folder where you’ll store your backup, such as “iPhone Photo Backup.” Keep this Finder window open — you’ll need it later.
Step 2: Connect Your iPhone to Your Mac
Use your Lightning or USB-C cable to connect the iPhone directly to the Mac. When you connect it, your iPhone may ask whether to Trust This Computer. Tap Trust and enter your passcode. This allows the Mac to access your photos and videos.
After a few seconds, the Photos app may open automatically. If it doesn’t, open it manually from the Applications folder or Launchpad.
Step 3: Import Photos Using the Photos App
The Photos app provides the most familiar interface for importing pictures from your iPhone. Once it detects your device, you’ll see a section labeled Devices in the sidebar with your iPhone’s name. Click on it.
The main window will display thumbnails of all photos and videos on your iPhone. You can import all of them or just selected ones. To extract everything, click Import All New Photos in the top-right corner.
By default, Photos imports images into its library stored on your Mac’s internal drive. But since we want actual image files for backup, we’ll need to export them later. If your iPhone contains thousands of photos, this process might take some time. Let the import finish completely before proceeding.
Once the import is complete, all your pictures are now stored in the Photos app on your Mac. The next step is to get them out of the app as standard image files.
Step 4: Export Photos as Image Files from the Photos App
To turn your imported photos into individual files that can be stored on your backup drive, you’ll need to use the Export feature.
Open the Photos app and select Library from the sidebar to display all your imported images. You can select all of them at once by clicking on any photo and then pressing Command + A.
Next, go to the File menu at the top of your screen and choose Export, then Export [number] Photos. A window will appear with several export options.
For most backups, choose the following settings:
- Photo Kind: JPEG (for broad compatibility) or TIFF/PNG if you want lossless quality.
- Quality: High or Maximum for best results.
- Color Profile: Keep the default (sRGB).
- File Naming: Choose to use the original filename if you want to preserve the iPhone’s naming convention, or select a custom sequential name such as “Photo_001, Photo_002.”
- Subfolder Format: You can select “Moment Name” or “None.” “Moment Name” organizes pictures by the dates or events detected by Photos, while “None” puts everything in a single folder.
Once you’ve chosen your settings, click Export.
A Finder window will appear asking you where to save your exported photos. Navigate to your external backup drive and open the folder you created earlier (“iPhone Photo Backup”). Then click Export again to start saving the images directly to that location.
This may take some time, depending on how many photos you have. During the export process, keep your Mac awake and avoid disconnecting the drive.
Step 5: Verify the Backup
When the export finishes, open Finder and go to your external drive. You should now see all your photos saved as regular image files. Open a few at random to ensure they appear correctly and are not corrupted.
Check the file types and sizes. Each photo should be saved in the format you selected, such as JPEG or PNG. If you chose to export videos as well, they’ll appear in standard video formats like MOV or MP4.
Right-click the backup folder and select Get Info to view its total size. Compare it roughly with the amount of storage your iPhone photos previously used. The numbers won’t match exactly but should be in the same range, confirming that all photos were included.
Step 6: Alternative Method – Using Image Capture
If you prefer not to use the Photos app or don’t want your pictures added to the Photos Library at all, macOS includes another excellent tool called Image Capture. This method gives you direct access to the photo files on your iPhone.
Open Image Capture from Applications > Utilities. With your iPhone connected, it will appear in the left sidebar. Click your iPhone’s name, and you’ll see a list of all the photos and videos stored on the device.
At the bottom of the window, there’s an Import To menu. Use this to choose the location where your photos will be saved. Click the dropdown menu, select Other, and navigate to your external backup drive. Choose your “iPhone Photo Backup” folder and click Choose.
Now click Import All to begin copying every image and video directly from your iPhone to your external drive. Image Capture will save each file exactly as it exists on your iPhone — no reformatting, no renaming, and no quality loss.
This method is faster for people who want raw access to the files without going through the Photos app. It’s particularly useful if you prefer managing your photo folders manually or using third-party editing software instead of Apple Photos.
Step 7: Eject Devices Safely
Once your export or import is complete, eject both your iPhone and your external drive safely. In Finder, click the small eject icon next to each device name. Wait until they disappear from the sidebar before unplugging them. Never disconnect while files are still transferring, doing so can corrupt your data or damage the backup drive.
Step 8: Keep Your Backup Organized
After you’ve transferred everything, it’s a good idea to organize your photo backup for easier access later. You can sort photos by year, trip, or event by creating folders within your backup directory.
For example, you might create folders called “2023,” “2024,” or “Vacation_Italy.” Moving photos into these folders won’t affect their quality or metadata. If you ever need to find a specific photo quickly, organization now will save you time later.
You can also rename your photos to something meaningful if desired, but avoid removing file extensions like .jpg or .heic, since those indicate the image format.
Step 9: Keep Your Backup Updated
Creating one backup is not enough if you continue taking new photos. You should update your backup regularly, ideally once a month or after major events.
You can connect your iPhone, open Image Capture or Photos again, and import only the new photos since the last backup. Store them in a new dated folder so you always know which photos were added when.
If you’re worried about accidentally overwriting files, just create folders named with the backup date, such as “Backup_October_2025.” This way, you can keep all backups separate.
Step 10: Why Physical Backups Matter
Although Apple’s iCloud Photos is convenient, relying solely on it can be risky. If you delete a photo from your iPhone, it’s also deleted from iCloud and all other devices synced to your account. Cloud accounts can also be accidentally erased, locked, or corrupted.
Having an offline copy ensures that your photos are safe no matter what happens. Even if your iPhone breaks or your iCloud account becomes inaccessible, your external drive remains a reliable source of all your memories.
Step 11: Check for HEIC Files and Compatibility
Modern iPhones often save images in the HEIC format, which is more efficient than JPEG but not as universally supported by all systems. If you need your images to work on older computers, choose to export them as JPEGs.
You can also convert HEIC photos to JPEG after export by opening them in Preview on your Mac and using File > Export, then selecting JPEG as the format. However, if you plan to keep your photos within the Apple ecosystem, there’s no harm in keeping them as HEIC — it preserves the original quality at smaller file sizes.
Step 12: Back Up the Backup
Even though your external hard drive now holds all your pictures, that drive itself can fail. For maximum security, consider maintaining at least two backups, one on an external drive stored safely at home and another on a separate drive or network storage kept elsewhere.
Drives can fail unexpectedly due to age, physical damage, or electrical issues. Having multiple copies ensures you can recover your photos even if one backup is lost.
Step 13: Viewing Your Photos Later
The best part of having your photos saved as individual files is that you can view them anywhere without relying on specific software. Simply plug your external drive into any Mac, PC, or even some smart TVs and open the images directly.
You can drag them into editing programs, print them, or upload them to online storage or social platforms. Because they’re stored in standard formats, they’ll remain accessible for decades — long after software like Photos or iCloud may have changed.
Step 14: Transfer Videos
If you also shoot videos with your iPhone, the same methods work. Videos can take up more space, so make sure your external drive has plenty of free storage. The Photos app and Image Capture both handle videos in standard MOV or MP4 formats, which play easily on most computers.
Step 15: Troubleshooting Common Issues
A few issues can occasionally appear when transferring photos:
- iPhone Not Detected: Try unlocking your iPhone and reconnecting the cable. Use the original Apple cable if possible.
- Trust Prompt Not Appearing: Disconnect and reconnect the iPhone, then restart the Mac.
- Import Freezes: Close and reopen Photos or Image Capture, or restart both devices.
- Low Storage on Mac: If your Mac’s internal drive is full, use Image Capture to import directly to the external drive rather than the Mac.
- Duplicate Photos: Use date-based folders or file-name numbering to avoid confusion.
Extracting all your pictures from an iPhone and backing them up to an external drive using a Mac gives you true ownership of your memories. It might take a bit of time the first time you do it, but it’s a simple process once you understand the steps.
By using either the Photos app or Image Capture, you can move every photo off your iPhone as a normal image file, no cloud required, no special software, and no dependency on Apple services. Storing them on a physical backup drive means that no matter what happens to your phone, your pictures remain safe, accessible, and fully under your control.
In a world where digital memories are irreplaceable, taking a few minutes to create a proper photo backup is one of the smartest things you can do. Once your images are safely stored on your external drive, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your life’s moments are preserved, not just in the cloud, but in your hands.