Dear Tech Savvy: I have way too many videos on my iPhone and I would love to learn how to send them to Zip drives that play the files like a movie and also to a DVD.
Answer: I understand this as I’ve got a lot of photos and videos as well and keep a ton of things on my phone. There are several ways to transfer images from your phone that should come in handy but it depends on what you may have in terms of other equipment.
You can use a cord with a USB connection to connect to a computer, use AirDrop with a Mac, use a cloud storage service, use an external storage drive, or use a thumb drive.
Depending on your version of the iPhone, you likely have a charging cable and if you have one with a USB connection on the other end, you can use it to link to a computer and move photos or videos whether your computer is a Mac or a pc.
“Simply plug the cable into a computer’s USB port, and in Windows Explorer (for Windows) or Finder (on a Mac), click the drive letter of your phone or tablet (such as D: or E:) and enter the folder called DCIM, which holds all your captured photos and videos,” USA Today reported.
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If using a PC, Apple Support recommends using the Windows Photo app and using the latest version of iTunes, then connect with the USB cable and there should be prompts along the way to assist in the transfer. Microsoft Support directions say to connect the USB cable, turn on and unlock the iPhone, select the start button — the little Windows icon — on the PC and then choose Photos to open the photos app. Then select import from a USB device and follow instructions from there.
If you don’t have a cable with a USB adapter on one end and an Apple Lightning connector on the other, they are about $9 at Best Buy from a recent online search. There are also useful adapters with a Lightning cable to link to your phone — the same connection where you typically plug it in for charging — that has a USB port — meaning you could plug in a memory stick for a quick transfer of videos or photos.
There are lots of brand options here and costs range from about $8 to $16 for the adapter depending on what you are looking for. There are hubs that have lightning ports and allow an HDMI cord, a flash drive, USB and card reader — a six in one adapter — for about $30. Be sure to check the details to make sure it is compatible with your phone.
If you have a Mac laptop or desktop, use AirDrop to quickly send photos and videos from your iPhone.
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Go to the video you want to move. Pick the share button — which looks like a box with an arrow coming out of the top. It’s the icon on the farthest left side on the bottom menu of options that pops up. Once you tap the share icon, a host of options pops up including AirDrop. Tapping AirDrop should show your other device, such as your laptop, as the one to pick. Bluetooth or Wi-Fi need to be on and within range. Apple has a good tutorial on how to use AirDrop on an iPhone or iPad.
But the easiest option may be a specialized thumb drive or memory stick with both a Lightning connector and a USB. They are designed to plug into the phone’s charging port. I used a SanDisk and opened the app on my phone. You can use it to backup all your photos and videos or select certain ones to copy. Once images are copied, you can use the USB connector to move them to another device like a laptop or keep them stored on the thumb drive.
Confirm the photos or videos are where you want them and then remove the videos from your phone to free up more space. Once you copy the image, the SanDisk will ask if you want to delete the image from your phone to free up space and will let you know how much space it will give you. SanDisk iXpand Luxe was featured by Wired as the best USB flash drive for phones but there are many brands to choose from. Just be sure to check out reviews.
Wired reported the flash drives declined in popularity with the advent of cloud storage, but they offer portability with a lot of information that can be stored on something that fits in your pocket or can be on a keychain and are affordable with growing capabilities and data transfer speeds .
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If you want to free up a lot of space, just be sure to pick a large enough thumb drive to do the job. For example, a SanDisk with 256GB costs about $58 on a recent search. There are other brands to choose from.
Be sure your phone is fully charged when you start since you are using your charging port for the transfer because it can take a fair amount of time to transfer all your files. Or select certain groups of images to backup and complete the task in bunches instead of all at once.
If you have a lot of files you want to move at one time, a hub that will allow you to keep your phone charged while you transfer photos may be the best option. If you have photos or videos that you just don’t want to lose, having a backup that can be stored in a different location than your phone, can be a definite plus.
The thumb drive also provides a way to keep those items without paying a monthly fee for cloud space. Once you have the videos on your thumb drive, you can transfer them easily to your computer via the USB connector to put on a DVD or an external drive.
I hope this helped provide some options. Thank you for writing into Tech Savvy with the question.
Renee Richardson, managing editor, may be reached at 218-855-5852 or
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