{"id":28080,"date":"2016-09-27T21:01:56","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T13:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=28080"},"modified":"2023-04-06T19:14:13","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T11:14:13","slug":"transfer-photos-ios-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many ways to transfer photos or screenshots taken on your iOS devices to your Mac<\/strong>. For example, you can email them to your inbox, sync via Dropbox, connect your iPhone via a cable to your Mac and use Image Capture app, or use the offcial Apple way \u2013 send it via AirDrop. However, I still find all these methods not convenient enough.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like me, who want screenshots or photos taken on the iPhone to be instantly available on the Mac<\/strong> without needing to do anything else, you\u2019re in luck. I\u2019ve found a way to do this and it just needs an easy setup.<\/p>\n

What You Need:<\/h2>\n

First, make sure both your iOS and Mac meet the following requirements:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Both iOS and Mac are connected to an iCloud account of the same Apple ID.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Photo Stream<\/strong> is turned on for both iOS and macOS.<\/li>\n
  • Both iOS device and Mac are connected to Wi-Fi<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    With iCloud enabled on your iOS device, every photo taken on your mobile device will be uploaded to iCloud and made available on all other connected devices.<\/p>\n

    Setup for Easier Access <\/h2>\n

    However on the Mac, this folder of photos is hidden somewhere in the Library<\/strong> folder. We are going to find it, and make it more easily accessible.<\/p>\n

    Step 1:<\/h3>\n

    Right-click Finder<\/strong> on the dock, select \"Go to Folder<\/strong>\" or use the keyboard shortcut Command<\/span> + Shift<\/span> + G<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    \"go<\/figure>\n

    Step 2:<\/h3>\n

    Enter ~\/Library\/Application Support\/iLifeAssetManagement\/assets\/sub<\/code> and click Go<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \"sub<\/figure>\n

    This brings you to a folder name \"Sub<\/strong>\" and here\u2019s how it should look like.<\/p>\n

    \"sub<\/figure>\n

    Step 3:<\/h3>\n

    Now, with the \"Sub\" folder open and active, create a new Smart Folder: File > New Smart Folder<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \"create<\/figure>\n

    Step 4:<\/h3>\n

    Select the \"sub<\/strong>\" tab, click \"+<\/strong>\" button on the right, and select Image<\/strong> from the Any<\/strong> dropdown list.<\/p>\n

    \"sorts<\/figure>\n

    Step 5:<\/h3>\n

    Click \"Save<\/strong>\". Name it \"Photo Stream<\/strong>\" or anything else you want. Decide the location for this folder.<\/p>\n

    Check \"Add To Sidebar<\/strong>\" if you want the folder to appear on the Finder sidebar.<\/p>\n

    \"naming<\/figure>\n

    That\u2019s it!<\/h3>\n

    From here on, all photos you take with your iPhone or iPad can be synced automatically to your Mac, and be found in this folder.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There are many ways to transfer photos or screenshots taken on your iOS devices to your Mac. For example, you can email them to your inbox, sync via Dropbox, connect your iPhone via a cable to your Mac and use Image Capture app, or use the offcial Apple way \u2013 send it via AirDrop. However,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3397],"tags":[1846,3933],"topic":[4521],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are many ways to transfer photos or screenshots taken on your iOS devices to your Mac. For example, you can email them to your inbox, sync via\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are many ways to transfer photos or screenshots taken on your iOS devices to your Mac. For example, you can email them to your inbox, sync via\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-27T13:01:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-06T11:14:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/01.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hongkiat Lim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hongkiat Lim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hongkiat Lim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e3613a3bf757e4f67770f0b7a339edd0\"},\"headline\":\"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-27T13:01:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-06T11:14:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":376,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/01.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"iOS\",\"macOS\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Desktop\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac - Hongkiat\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/01.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-27T13:01:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-06T11:14:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"There are many ways to transfer photos or screenshots taken on your iOS devices to your Mac. For example, you can email them to your inbox, sync via\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/01.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/01.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat\",\"description\":\"Tech and Design Tips\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799,\"caption\":\"Hongkiat.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/hongkiatcom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/hongkiat\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/hongkiat\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e3613a3bf757e4f67770f0b7a339edd0\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat Lim\",\"description\":\"Founder and Editor in Chief of Hongkiat.com. Hongkiat is also a designer, developer, entrepreneur, and an active investor in the US stock market.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/hongkiat\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac - Hongkiat","description":"There are many ways to transfer photos or screenshots taken on your iOS devices to your Mac. For example, you can email them to your inbox, sync via","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac","og_description":"There are many ways to transfer photos or screenshots taken on your iOS devices to your Mac. For example, you can email them to your inbox, sync via","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/","og_site_name":"Hongkiat","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom","article_published_time":"2016-09-27T13:01:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-06T11:14:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/01.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Hongkiat Lim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hongkiat","twitter_site":"@hongkiat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hongkiat Lim","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/"},"author":{"name":"Hongkiat Lim","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e3613a3bf757e4f67770f0b7a339edd0"},"headline":"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac","datePublished":"2016-09-27T13:01:56+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-06T11:14:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/"},"wordCount":376,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/01.jpg","keywords":["iOS","macOS"],"articleSection":["Desktop"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/","name":"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac - Hongkiat","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/01.jpg","datePublished":"2016-09-27T13:01:56+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-06T11:14:13+00:00","description":"There are many ways to transfer photos or screenshots taken on your iOS devices to your Mac. For example, you can email them to your inbox, sync via","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/01.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/01.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/transfer-photos-ios-mac\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Fastest Way to Send Photos & Screenshots from iOS to Mac"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/","name":"Hongkiat","description":"Tech and Design Tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Hongkiat.com","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg","width":1200,"height":799,"caption":"Hongkiat.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom","https:\/\/x.com\/hongkiat","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/hongkiat\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e3613a3bf757e4f67770f0b7a339edd0","name":"Hongkiat Lim","description":"Founder and Editor in Chief of Hongkiat.com. Hongkiat is also a designer, developer, entrepreneur, and an active investor in the US stock market.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/author\/hongkiat\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4uxU-7iU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28080"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65848,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28080\/revisions\/65848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28080"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=28080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}