Help moving photos from phone to flash drive

[ssledoux]

If I want to move photos from my iCloud to a flash drive, and I have this little gadget, how do I do it? I obviously plug it into the port on the phone and put the flash drive in the other end, but what do I actually need to do to get the photos on the flash drive?

I’ve never done this because I always upload to my Mac, but my daughter is changing phones and setting up a new iCloud and stuff due to some fraud issues she has had, and she doesn’t want to lose all her pictures.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[goldmac2006]

If I want to move photos from my iCloud to a flash drive, and I have this little gadget, how do I do it? I obviously plug it into the port on the phone and put the flash drive in the other end, but what do I actually need to do to get the photos on the flash drive?

I’ve never done this because I always upload to my Mac, but my daughter is changing phones and setting up a new iCloud and stuff due to some fraud issues she has had, and she doesn’t want to lose all her pictures.

Any help would be appreciated.View attachment 2622103

Connect the usb drive on the usb side and plug the usb c into an iPhone 15 or later.

Open files.
Find the location of the external usb stick.

Then you save the images you want into the photos app in your iPhone by using the share sheet.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Connect the usb drive on the usb side and plug the usb c into an iPhone 15 or later.

Open files.
Find the location of the external usb stick.

Then you save the images you want into the photos app in your iPhone by using the share sheet.

OP wants to MOVE files from iCloud - what @goldmac2006 provided is the first step, that COPIES files to the USB stick. But it doesn't remove them from iCloud.

Once you have photos saved on a USB drive, you can then delete the photos from Photos.app. Keep in mind deleted photos stay in a "Recently Deleted" album for 30 days; so if the whole point of all this is to reduce iCloud storage usage you'll want to then delete the photos from "Recently Deleted" to free up that space.

Also keep in mind you can't share a photo to USB until it's on the phone - so if the photo IS on iCloud, it has to be copied down to the phone storage before you can then copy it to the USB storage. So keep a close eye on "Free" storage on the iPhone; if you don't have a ton of free space you'll want to do it in small batches (Select a few photos; Share to USB; delete photos; delete from "Recently Deleted"; rinse & repeat).

 

[goldmac2006]

OP wants to MOVE files from iCloud - what @goldmac2006 provided is the first step, that COPIES files to the USB stick. But it doesn't remove them from iCloud.

Once you have photos saved on a USB drive, you can then delete the photos from Photos.app. Keep in mind deleted photos stay in a "Recently Deleted" album for 30 days; so if the whole point of all this is to reduce iCloud storage usage you'll want to then delete the photos from "Recently Deleted" to free up that space.

Also keep in mind you can't share a photo to USB until it's on the phone - so if the photo IS on iCloud, it has to be copied down to the phone storage before you can then copy it to the USB storage. So keep a close eye on "Free" storage on the iPhone; if you don't have a ton of free space you'll want to do it in small batches (Select a few photos; Share to USB; delete photos; delete from "Recently Deleted"; rinse & repeat).

Correct.

The user can also use drag and drop in photos or files to throw it in the external storage drive

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Correct.

The user can also use drag and drop in photos or files to throw it in the external storage drive

Yes. Either way, it passes through the phone's storage first, though. So if local storage is pinched (which it often is) - definitely want to keep a close eye on it.

 

[goldmac2006]

Yes. Either way, it passes through the phone's storage first, though. So if local storage is pinched (which it often is) - definitely want to keep a close eye on it.

And do not disconnect the usb external storage device while data is being transferred. There isn’t an eject button on iOS and files app unlike when y’all disconnect these things safely from a Mac and use disk utility or finder for it.

 

[ssledoux]

Actually, moving them is the main concern, although I guess removing them is a good idea.

 

[joeblack007]

One other option (if you just want to get a copy of her photos that are in iCloud) is to have her sign into her account at https://privacy.apple.com/. She can use the 'Get a copy of your data' option and choose to download all the photos from her iCloud account onto a computer. Apple will determine the size of the library and will usually send a download link within a few days (took me two). After confirming all the photos are safely on a computer, they can be easily transfered to an external flash drive. After that, she can sign back into iCloud.com and begin deleting any photos she no longer wants on that account.

 

[goldmac2006]

One other option (if you just want to get a copy of her photos that are in iCloud) is to have her sign into her account at https://privacy.apple.com/. She can use the 'Get a copy of your data' option and choose to download all the photos from her iCloud account onto a computer. Apple will determine the size of the library and will usually send a download link within a few days (took me two). After confirming all the photos are safely on a computer, they can be easily transfered to an external flash drive. After that, she can sign back into iCloud.com and begin deleting any photos she no longer wants on that account.

Correct. Especially in a situation where the user has to deal with compromised Apple account or fraud they will need to safely delete the files after it’s been preserved on the external drive