Client Question: I can't see the photos on my iPad when I plug it in to my computer!

Julie Mc says:  "I hooked my iPad to the computer to transfer the photos.  I got a message advising to update my iTunes account to include the iPad which I did.  The iCloud settings are on for photos mail etc.  I thought this would let me share the photos but I cannot find them on my computer."

  Answer

When you plug in your iPad to the computer, your computer will normally start up both iTunes and iPhoto (on a Mac) or 'Autoplay' (on a Windows computer).

This can be a great cause of confusion, because you may be thinking that iTunes should show your connected device's photos in the 'Photos' area in iTunes.

This is not correct though. iTunes is the tool that you use if you want to transfer (sync) photos from your Mac or Windows computer back to your iPad or iPhone.  It is not the tool you use for viewing and importing the photos that are on your iPad.  

If all you are wanting to do is view or import the photos that are on your iPad/iPhone, just close down iTunes straight away (first stopping it from doing any syncing of your device).

Importing Photos onto a Mac Computer

On a Mac, your iPhoto app should already have opened when you plugged in the iPad/iPhone. It should show you all the photos that are on your iPad/iPhone, and give you the option to import these photos into iPhoto.  (If it didn't open automatically when you plugged in your iPad/iPhone, manually start it up.)

iPhoto will tell you if some of the photos on the iPad/iPhone are already imported - something that may have been achieved when you previously plugged in the i-device, or through iCloud's Photo Stream (depending on whether you have set that up on your i-device and Mac). 

iTandCoffee has a detailed guide about the whole area of photo sharing, iCloud/Photo Stream, importing photos to your computer, and much more.  If you really want to better understand all these areas, I would recommend you download this guide.  

Here is the link to the store page for this guide.

But what about if you have a Windows computer?  

iTandCoffee also has a great short guide that covers how to import photos onto a Windows computer.  This guide is availablefrom the iTandCoffee store by clicking here.

If you are an iTandCoffee Club member, you can access this guide for free by viewing this recently published Handy Hint on this topic.  

If you are not a member yet, but would be like to access Handy Hints like this at any time, click here to join the iTandCoffee Club.

  Check out our great set of guides about the Camera and Photos apps

Get individual guides about camera/photos

Guide to the Camera App

Viewing and Managing Photos with the Photos app

A guide to the more advanced features of Photos.

Transferring Photos from an i-Device to a Windows computer

Or get the full set of photo/camera guides and save

  Related Handy Hints (for iTandCoffee Club members)

Handy Hint 26: How can I delete photos in bulk from my iPad/iPhone using Mac!
Handy Hint 31: How can I delete photos from iPad & iPhone in bulk from Windows
Handy Hint 77: Importing iPad and iPhone photos to a Windows computer

  Why not join The iTandCoffee Club today?