How to Wirelessly Transfer Photos From Your Phone to Your PC

Want to send photos from your smartphone to your Windows computer? You can always use a direct cable connection, but you might find it quicker and more convenient to transfer them wirelessly from phone to PC. Luckily, there are a few different options available to help.

Microsoft’s Photos app will let you sync photos via OneDrive or iCloud, while its Phone Link app will let you access your phone's pictures from Windows. Intel Unison can sync photos from your phone to a Windows 11 PC. There are also other third-party apps that can help you transfer photos from your phone to your computer. Let’s check out all your options.

Sync OneDrive with Windows Photos App

You can import photos directly from your phone through the built-in Photos app, but that requires a direct cable connection. To go a wireless route, you can instead sync photos through Microsoft OneDrive or iCloud. To use OneDrive, download and install the OneDrive app on your iPhone or Android device.

Open the app, tap the Photos icon at the bottom, and then tap Turn On at the top of the screen to enable Camera Upload. Any photos stored on your phone will now automatically be copied to the OneDrive Pictures folder. Next, you need to enable OneDrive syncing in the Photos app.

Microsoft has two versions of this app—one for Windows 10 and one for Windows 11, with the Win 10 version known as Photos Legacy in Win 11. To set up syncing in the Windows 10/Photos Legacy version, click the ellipsis icon in the upper right of the app and select Settings.

Turn on Show my cloud-only content from OneDrive, then click the drop-down menu under Photos include OneDrive content from and choose the Pictures folder only if you want to just see photos from that folder.

Now you can head to Folders > OneDrive > Pictures to see your synced pictures. Drill down until you see the album of photos you want and right-click any image to run commands like share, copy, delete, or print.

If you are using the Windows 11 version of the Photos app, you would click the gear icon and scroll down to the OneDrive Accounts section in Settings. Enable the switch next to your OneDrive account to enable syncing.

Now you can click the entry for your OneDrive account in the app's left sidebar to see all your synced photos. Drill down to see a specific album of photos, then right-click a picture to access the menu where you can run different commands, such as copy and share.

Sync iCloud with Windows Photos App

If you already sync your photos with iCloud, iPhone users can now access their pictures in Windows through Microsoft's Phone Link feature. However, this method only works with Windows 11. To set this up, you need to install the iCloud for Windows utility app. You then have to open the app and check the box next to Photos.

Choose iCloud Photos in the pop-up window and click Done. Click Apply, and then you can close the iCloud window. In the Windows 11 Photos app, click the Gear icon and turn on Show iCloud Photos in settings. Click the iCloud Photos entry in the left sidebar to see all your synced photos.

Keep in mind that syncing your iCloud photos in Windows this way does come with its own issues. The Windows Photos app does not carry over any folders or albums you may have created in iCloud. This means everything is just thrown in to one folder without any of the organization you may have set up elsewhere.

The app also doesn't support true two-way syncing. If you delete or modify a photo in Windows, it doesn’t get deleted or modified in iCloud or on your iPhone. So this option is best suited for just viewing your iCloud photos in Windows.

Sync Photos with the Intel Unison App

Intel’s Unison app allows you to sync photos and other content between your iPhone or Android device and your computer. The main limitation is that the app works only with Windows 11, and you must have the 22H2 update. Grab Unison from the Microsoft Store and download the mobile version from the App Store or Google Play.

Open the Window app to see QR code. Use the mobile app to scan the code to connect the app between both devices. After the two devices have successfully paired, you’re then taken to a Let’s get started screen. From there, click the option for Manage photos.

By default, any recent photos stored on your phone should automatically appear in the Unison app on your computer. To send specific photos to your PC, tap the Sent tab in the mobile app and then tap the arrow icon at the bottom. Choose Gallery, then select the photos you wish to transfer, and then tap Add.

The Sent section on your phone displays the names and thumbnails of the transferred photos. The Unison app on your PC shows the names of the transferred files and displays the photos in the app. You can then right-click on any transferred or synced photo in the Unison app to download, save, delete, copy, or open the image.

Sync Photos with the Phone Link App

Microsoft’s Phone Link app allows you to control your phone from Windows. The latest version of Phone Link now supports iPhone, but the photo syncing method work only with Android devices. Phone Link should already be installed in Windows, but you will need to download the Link to Windows app on your Android device.

To sync your photos, open the Phone Link app on your PC. Windows 10 users can just click the Get Started button. In Windows 11, you have to click Android. Confirm your Microsoft account and click Continue.

Now open the Link to Windows app on your Android phone. On your PC, check the box for I have the link to Windows app ready and click the Pair with QR code button. In the Link to Windows app on your phone, tap Link your phone and PC.

Tap Continue and then scan the code with your phone. Tap Continue on your phone and grant the necessary permissions, especially the one to access your photos and videos. Your PC and phone are then linked.

In the Phone Link app in Windows, click Continue and then Get started. Choose the View my photos option to see all your synced pictures. As many as 2,000 photos on your phone will appear in the app on your computer. Right-click a specific photo to open, copy, save, share, or delete it.

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Photo Transfer App 

Photo Transfer (iOS, Android) allows you to move photos from your iPhone or Android device to your computer via Wi-Fi. If you’re using the free version of the mobile app, you can transfer up to 10 photos at a time. For $6.99, the paid version kicks in more features, such as no transfer limits and full-resolution transfers. 

Install the app on your phone and use the dedicated web page to transfer photos onto your computer. Open the app on your phone and click the Send button. A variety of options are available for sending photos, but try sending photos over Wi-Fi. If you’re using a Windows PC, tap the Windows icon. You are then told to run the Photo Transfer App on your computer or use your web browser.

If you plan to use the software on a regular basis, install the free Windows or Mac version on your computer, as it’s easier to use than the web page. Open the app on your computer, click the Discover Devices button, then select your phone. You can select either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to run the transfer.

Authorize the connection from your phone. Your photo albums and libraries should then appear in the app on your computer. You can now browse through your photos. Right-click a specific photo to download it to your computer, delete it from your phone, or download and delete it. You can also select multiple photos to download or delete in one shot.

PhotoSync 

PhotoSync (iOS, Android) also uses mobile and desktop apps. You can transfer photos to a Windows or Mac computer, a network-attached storage device, or an online storage site such as OneDrive or Dropbox. The basic app is free but limits your photos to low-quality JPG images. For $2.99, the Pro edition will deliver higher quality images and other bonus features.

Download the app on your phone and then install the free PhotoSync Companion for your Windows PC or Mac. Fire up the mobile app, and it automatically displays your camera roll. Select the photos you want to transfer, then tap the red transfer circle in the upper-right corner. You can now opt to transfer all the photos in your library or just the selected images.

Choose the destination, such as your computer, another phone or tablet, or a storage site. If you select your computer, make sure the companion app is running on your Windows PC or Mac. In the mobile app, tap the name of your computer, and your photos are then transferred.

PhotoSync creates a subfolder under your Pictures folder. That folder then opens automatically for you to view the transferred photos.

WiFi Photo Transfer

The free WiFi Photo Transfer app (iOS only) generates a local web page on your network so you can view and download photos from your phone. Fire up the app on your phone and enter the URL displayed on the screen into your desktop browser. This page shows all the photo libraries from your phone with the most recent at the top.

Click the Recents link to see all your latest photos. Click the Download in .zip button, then select one or more photos and click the download selected button. Your photos are then downloaded in a single zip file that you can then unzip on your PC.