How to import videos from iPhone to Mac

Depending on your preferences and settings in iOS and macOS for Photos, videos may not automatically import from your iPhone to your Mac. Follow along below as we’ll look at a couple of options to transfer your videos from iPhone to your Mac.

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If you aren’t using iCloud Photo Library with your Apple devices, videos won’t automatically import to your Mac from your iPhone. We’ll cover how to manually import your videos by plugging your iPhone into your Mac, but first a little more background on iCloud Photo Library.

Two of the biggest benefits to using iCloud Photo Library are having one synchronized photo and video library across all of your Apple devices (and the web), and having the option to compress your library so it takes up less room on your devices.

If you’d like to learn more about iCloud Photo Library and see a detailed walkthrough of setting up this iOS/macOS feature, read more here.

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Note: Even though iCloud Photo Library will synchronize photos and videos across all of your Apple devices, you’ll need to be on Wi-Fi to do so, and longer videos may take awhile to show up on your Mac and other devices.

If you’d prefer to manually manage your videos (and photos) or in some cases maybe just want to import the occasional video(s) faster than what iCloud Photo Library provides, follow these steps:

How to manually import videos from iPhone to Mac

1. Plug in your iPhone to your Mac
2. Open Photos if it doesn’t automatically launch
3. Click on your iPhone in the side bar (left side of Photos)
4. Click Import All New Videos or click on desired videos and click Import Selected
5. Your newly imported videos are now on your Mac

Once you’ve clicked on your device, you’ll see the photos and videos you have already imported up top with the content you haven’t imported below.

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You can choose to import all new videos or choose a desired selection for importing.

Once the import is complete, Photos will show you the Last Import album.

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Click on Photos at the top of the side bar to view all of your photos and videos, which will include your newly imported videos. Be sure to check out our how to guide for more ways to get the most out of your Apple devices.

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