Chromebook’s ChromeOS and iPhone’s iOS are two different operating systems, and often their combined uses lack straightforwardness. Then there are occasions when one needs to collaborate on the benefits of both in order to get a better user experience.
One such occasion is the need to transfer pictures from iPhone to Chromebook regularly arises. And it’s normal to wonder how to transfer photos from iPhone to Chromebook.
We answer you in 5 different ways that should feel quite effortless to you.
How to transfer photos from iPhone to Chromebook – 5 Ways
Here are five methods for transferring photos from your iPhone to your Chromebook. They are presented in simple steps that anyone easily understand and follow.
Method 1: Transferring photos from iPhone to Chromebook via Google Photos
Google Photos is a very user-friendly cloud storage tool for storing and managing pictures and videos. As for storage capacity, if you have a Google account, you get by default 15 GB of free storage that covers all your Google products like Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos among others.
However, Google Photos is only used for transferring photos and videos, not other files as you would in other cloud storages. But you don’t need to have creases on your forehead, we’d be covering that on method 2.
Now, how does Google Photos help in transferring photos from iPhone to Chromebook? The answer is called cloud-syncing.
If you’re unfamiliar with cloud syncing, I better tell you that this is a facility that allows users to save files, folders, or directories from their devices into the cloud. Once they’re on a different device, they get the benefit of accessing the files via the cloud. Google Photos is a fairly good option for cloud syncing.
Now, let me walk you through the steps of cloud syncing your photos from iPhone to Chromebook via Google Photos:
- First, download the Google Photos app on your iPhone.
- Do a lively index finger tap on your profile photo, then dive into the Google Photos settings.
- Find ‘Backup and sync’ and turn this option on.
- Choose the photos you wish to backup, then tap the Backup icon. Have patience until it’s completed.
- Now go to photos.google.com on your Chromebook. Log in with your Google account to find the synced photos.
- Choose the photos you want to download.
- Find the ellipsis (three dots icon), then tap the Download button to save them on your Chromebook.
Kudos on transferring photos from iPhone to Chromebook using Google Photos!
This is by far the simplest of techniques, but of course, there’s the stake of original quality backups. If you’re a professional photographer or take a lot of photos, there’s the problem of massive space requirements. Then again it brings the payment issue for extra storage in Google Photos. So please check further below, we promise you a few other solutions.
Method 2: Upload photos from iPhone to Chromebook via Google Drive/OneDrive/iCloud, etc.
Moving photos from iPhone to Chromebook can be handled with the help of cloud services like Google Drive, OneDrive and iCloud. Users who are more acquainted with these services may find it more comfortable to get these as a medium of transfer of photos.
Here’s how to transfer your iPhone Photos to Chromebook via these mediums:
Google Drive:
Google Drive saves you in a thousand different ways, and guess what? It is once again here to rescue you from the misery of getting confused about methods of shifting photos from iPhone to Chromebook. It is a cloud platform compatible with almost all devices, and it can store up to 15 GB of your data.
The best thing about Google Drive is that it surely is a free application and can be installed on your iPhone. To add more to your user experience, it has an online version that allows you to skip the download part and head straight to uploading photos.
So, let’s tell you how to transfer pictures from iPhone to Chromebook using Google Drive:
- First, download the Google Drive application on your iPhone.
- Then log in to your Google account.
- Next, you need to tap on the “+” (Upload) button. You’ll find it at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- In order to enter your phone’s gallery, click on “Photos and Videos” and select all the pictures you want to import.
- Then find the Upload button at the top-right corner and click to upload!
- After that, when the uploading process is finished, go to drive.google.com from the browser of your Chromebook.
- Finally, log in with the same Google account, and voila! You have found an array of synced photos from your iPhone.
OneDrive:
For users subscribed to Microsoft 365, they possess an alternative to the bare minimum of 15 GB of Google Photos storage on their Chromebook. They have access to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other Office apps and get 1TB of cloud storage in OneDrive. On a frugal note, that’s massive storage! But without this subscription, OneDrive users only get 5GB of free storage.
Here’s a shortcut on how to move iPhone Photos to Chromebook via OneDrive:
Configuring OneDrive on iOS means Downloading and installing the Microsoft OneDrive app on iPhone.
- First, go download the OneDrive app on your iPhone.
- Then sign in to your OneDrive account. If you don’t possess one, then create one.
- Then upload all your photos from your iPhone’s Camera Roll on OneDrive. Right next, exit the app on your iPhone.
- Then sign in to your OneDrive account from your Chromebook’s web browser.
- Now you can view and download your iPhone photos on your Chromebook.
So, your photos are synced to both your iPhone and Chromebook via Microsoft OneDrive.
iCloud
iCloud can both back up your iPhone and allow you to get access to media in iCloud on Chromebook. One precondition, however, is that you must have enough storage.
Once you’ve made room for your photos, go with the following steps in order to upload photos from your iPhone to your Chromebook with iCloud.
- Step 1: Enable iCloud Photos by following the flow of – Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Tap Photos > iCloud Photos in your iPhone. If it hasn’t been turned on, you have to turn it on by yourself. It may also take some time to upload your photos to the server.
- Step 2: In the case of the Chromebook, follow the flow in the order: ‘Open your browser > Off to the website of iCloud > Sign up with your Apple ID > Tap the Photos icon‘.
- Step 3: You have to wait till the iCloud photos are loaded, and then you have to tap on the photos you’d like to transfer to your Chromebook. Finally, tap on the Download button to finally get the transferred photos.
The above three are one of the most preferred cloud services across the globe for syncing iPhone photos to Chromebook. Hope they were crystal clear to serve your better understanding of the process of transferring photos from iPhone to Chromebook.
We’ll next cover the manual transfer of photos from iPhone to Chromebook as an alternative to these services.
Method 3: Transfer pictures from iPhone to Chromebook via USB cable
In this method, we’ll guide you in two parts. For the first part, follow these steps:
- First, you need to physically connect your iPhone to the USB port on your Chromebook.
- Once you do that, you’ll be prompted to provide permission to the Chromebook on your iPhone. Tap Allow.
Now, a little knowledge before you proceed to the second part. If your Chromebook has a USB-C port, which is usual for most Chromebooks, you’ll require USB-C to Lightning. For older budget models, you’ll need to manage a USB-A to Lightning cable; ChromeOS Files app will afterward show the photo data from your iPhone.
Since the Apple company is still using Lightning ports on the iPhone 14 series in 2023, please keep in mind that you’ll need a USB to Lightning cable for the connection. If you somehow don’t possess the cable that came with your iPhone, there are also a number of third-party opportunities that will be covered later in the article.
Nevertheless, the steps you need to follow for the second part are:
- Find the photos you want to transfer in the ChromeOS file of the iPhone.
- Drag and drop to the local storage of your Chromebook. Done!
If you have a large number of photos to move, you should consider using an external hard drive. Most Chromebooks have an onboard storage of 64GB to 128 GB, which is not much when you consider the storage of other non-Chromebook laptops. So, unless you have the high-end Chromebook model, the storage for photos might not be enough. In that case, you could use your cloud storage to store your photos.
Method 4: Move photos from iPhone to Chromebook via AirDroid file sharing application
Most applications mentioned till now were either cloud storage applications or apps that use cloud syncing features. However, in this section, we will discuss AirDroid, a file sharing application that lets you to transfer photos directly from your iPhone to your Chromebook. Users who are looking for a full-fledged wireless transfer of photos from iPhone to Chromebook, AirDroid is a good solution for them.
As it is a file transfer application, it comes in very handy at times. You don’t even need to buy any additional storage. In fact, all of its applications are free to install. That makes AirDroid a very feasible option for your transfer.
The steps you need to follow to use AirDroid for moving photos from iPhone to Chromebook:
- To begin with, install the AirDroid Personal Desktop Client (Free) on your Chromebook and AirDroid mobile app on your iPhone. (Create an AirDroid account if you didn’t have one before.)
- Make sure both your iPhone and AirDroid share the same WiFi network.
- Then login with your AirDroid account on the two devices.
- Now open the AirDroid mobile app on your iPhone, choose ‘My Devices’.
- Next, select your Chromebook to connect it to your iPhone.
- After that, go through the steps: File Transfer option > attachment icon > Files.
- Finally, choose the photos you want to transfer and push Send! They will then be transferred to the AirDroid software on your Chromebook.
Since the connection is using the HTTP protocol, the data transfer is not encrypted. Therefore, it’s not that secure. It’s the only setback in this process.
Method 5: Send photos from iPhone to Chromebook via Snapdrop
Snapdrop is a seamless way to transfer photos, media files, documents, etc., from your iPhone to your Chromebook. Similar to AirDroid, Snapdrop is also a great file sharing app. The main reason we’ve included the Snapdrop despite already having one file transfer is because of its encryption.
The AirDroid application mentioned previously uses the HTTP protocol and thus the connection is not encrypted and so not secure. However, Snapdrop uses HTTPS protocol; hence the transfer is wholly encrypted by DTLS.
Other than this, Snapdrop shares a lot of similarities with AirDroid, mainly being the use WiFi for transferring files. Since the preparations are done, let’s now move to the steps.
Here’s how to send photos from iPhone to Chromebook with Snapdrop:
- First, on your Chromebook, visit the snapdrop.net page on the Chrome browser.
- Then do the same on your iPhone. Use any browser and visit the snapdrop.net site.
- There you’ll find your Chromebook’s name with an icon appearing on your iPhone screen.
- Tap on it and then select the pictures that you want to send to your Chromebook.
- After that, on your Chromebook, tap on Download, and you are done.
Bingo! You mastered transferring a file wirelessly from your iPhone to your Chromebook!! The good news is you can do this from both ends, which is really amazing!
Conclusion
In the above five methods, you find an overall idea of how to transfer photos from iPhone to Chromebook or even vice-versa, all wrapped up appropriately for the needs and facilities you keep.
That is, you don’t have to vouch for Google Photos if you’re a Microsoft user. You’re free to transfer photos wirelessly from iPhone to Chromebook if you miss the right kind of USB. On the other hand, if you do happen to possess a USB, you know how to make good use of it.
We hope you get a good time transferring photos from iPhone to Chromebook now that you’ve read the article!
