How to Transfer Files from Laptop to iPhone in 5 Ways

Method 1. How to Transfer Data from Laptop to iPhone with iCloud

Applies to: Photos and videos

Are you going to copy photos and videos from your computer to your iOS device? If so, using iCloud could be one of your choices. iCloud is available on both Windows PC and Mac, which makes it possible to send photos from a laptop to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch or vice versa.

While using iCloud, you need to sign in to your computer and iOS device with the same Apple ID, connect your devices to a stable and reliable network, and make sure there is enough free space in iCloud to store the files you are going to transfer.

If you decide to transfer pictures from laptop to iPhone using iCloud, go to the guide on how to transfer photos from PC to laptop for detailed steps.

Method 2. How to Send Files from Laptop to iPhone with iCloud Drive

Applies To: Documents

iCloud Drive is a service under iCloud that allows you to access your documents across your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, and Windows computer. With iCloud Drive enabled on your devices, you can wirelessly transfer files from laptop to your iPhone or vice versa.

To transfer files from laptop to iPhone using iCloud Drive:

Step 1. Go to "Settings" > [your name] > "iCloud" on your iPhone and toggle on "iCloud Drive".

Step 2. Upload the files you want to transfer from your computer to iCloud:

If you have installed iCloud for Windows, go to turn on "iCloud Drive" and put the documents you'd like to send to the iCloud Drive folder on your laptop.

Method 3. How to Transfer Data from Laptop to iPhone with Other Cloud Services

Applies To: Photos, videos, audio files, Word/Excel/PPT files, texts, and more

Except for iCloud, there are many other cloud storage services that enable you to share files between your laptop and iPhone. Services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive all will help you transfer files from laptop to iPhone or transfer data from iPhone to laptop.

There are the universal requirements you need to meet while using these cloud-based services:

• Use the same account on the devices

• There is enough storage

• Your devices are well-connected to networks

Make sure you meet the requirements and follow the steps below to see how to share files between an iOS device and a computer. Let's take Dropbox as an example.

To copy files from laptop to iPhone:

Step 1. Download and install Dropbox on your iPhone and the laptop.

Step 2. Sign in to Dropbox with the same account on your devices.

Step 3. On your computer, upload the files to Dropbox from the application. (If you are not willing to download the software, you can send the files from laptop to Dropbox via Dropbox.com.)

Step 4. Go to the Dropbox app on your iPhone to access and download the files from your computer.

Method 4. How to Send Files from Laptop to iPhone Using Email

Applies To: Photos, videos, documents...

Any file that can be added to an email as an attachment can be transferred from your PC to iPhone or vice versa via an email. If you don't intend to transfer files in bulk, using an email to send files between your computer and iPhone is the easiest and quickest way.

To send files from laptop to iPhone via an email:

Step 1. Create a new email on your laptop.

Step 2. Add the files you want to transfer to the mail as attachments.

Step 3. Send the email to your own account.

Step 4. Check the email on your iPhone and download the attachments to your device.

Method 5. How to Sync Data from Laptop to iPhone Using iTunes

Applies to: Photos, videos, music, audiobooks...

The five ways above show you how to transfer files from laptop to iPhone without iTunes. If you prefer, you can also sync data from PC or laptop to your iPhone using iTunes.

iTunes will help you in two ways. You can either iTunes syncing or iTunes File Sharing to send files from PC to iPhone.

To use iTunes syncing to perform data transfer, you should know that the existing data on your iOS device will be replaced by the newly synced items. Thus, be careful not to erase important files on your iDevice. To learn how to use iTunes syncing, go to read the guide on how to transfer audiobooks to iPhone with iTunes.

To send files from laptop to iPhone with iTunes File Sharing:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your laptop with a USB cable.

Step 2. In the iTunes Window, click the device icon and click "File Sharing".

Step 3. Select the app that you want to transfer a file to or from.

Step 4. To copy files to your iPhone, click "Add", select the file you want to transfer and click "Add" to continue.

Step 5. Go to the app you just selected to check the transferred files.