How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to Seagate External Hard Drive

If you need a way to transfer photos from iPhone to Seagate external drive, finding details in this passage. And FoneTool mentioned in Method 1 might be the best wired way!

Kathy by Kathy Updated March 24, 2025
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Best way to transfer photos from my iPhone to an external hard drive?

I have a 2 TB hard drive and would like to copy a bunch of photos off my phone and onto there. What would be the most efficient way to do this?

- Question from Reddit

Photos on your iPhone often contain valuable memories and important information. As your photo library grows, you might need to transfer them to a Seagate external hard drive to free up storage or create a backup. How can you efficiently complete this process, whether using a computer or not?

This guide provides all the answers, helping you choose the best method based on your needs!

1. How to transfer photos from iPhone to Seagate external hard drive [Easy]

When you need to transfer photos from iPhone to external hard drive using PC, a professional iPhone data transfer software named FoneTool will be your best helper, especially when you need to move a large number of high-quality pictures.

FoneTool

Powerful iPhone Data Transfer Software

  • Transfer lots of full-resolution photos from iPhone in a very short time (No data loss).
  • Various external hard drives are supported, like USB, HDD, SSD, CD, etc.
  • You can preview and choose photos on iPhone to start the transfer.
  • Change the Transfer Settings to save pictures anywhere you need (PC/USB).
  • Various iPhone models and iOS versions are supported, even the latest ones.

Now you can follow the guidance below to transfer photos from iPhone to external hard drive using PC.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone and Seagate external hard drive to your Windows computer with USB cables. Click the Phone Transfer option > Go to iPhone to PC > Click Get Started.

go to iPhone to PC transfer

Step 2. Choose photos or videos you need under the Photos/Videos tab and click OK.

choose photos to transfer

Step 3. Choose your Seagate drive as the destination from the Transfer Settings to save photos > Click Start Transfer to begin.

start to transfer photos from iPhone to Seagate external hard drive

👉️ Tip: This powerful software can also help you transfer photos from external hard drive to iPhone, so you can go to Phone Transfer > Choose PC to iPhone to easily transfer photos from Canon to iPhone efficiently.

2. How to transfer photos to Seagate external hard drive with Windows Explorer

You can also rely on the built-in File Explorer to transfer photos from iPhone to Seagate external hard drive on your Windows PC.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone and Seagate external hard drive to the Windows PC > You may need to click Trust on iPhone to continue.

Step 2. Go to This PC from the Windows PC, and find a new device named xxx iPhone.

Step 3. Double-click the iPhone and open the Internal Storage > DCIM folder, then preview your pictures and move them from iPhone to external hard drive via Copy and Paste.

transfer photos via Windows Explorer

⚠️ Note: If your iPhone photos are not showing up on PC, that may be because your PC can’t recognize the default file format for Apple devices like HEIC format, you can try to use the powerful FoneTool mentioned in Method 1 to continue the transfer.

3. How to add photos from iPhone to Seagate external hard drive wirelessly

Or you can choose to upload iPhone photos to iCloud, them download them to your Seagate external drive. However, iCloud only offers 5 GB of free storage, so if you need a large number of file transfers, buy more iCloud storage or turn to another way to make it.

👉️ Tip: You need to launch the Settings app on your iPhone to enable the iCloud Photos at first. Just tap the profile on the top of the screen > Choose iCloud > Photos > Turn on the iCloud Photos or iCloud Photo Library option and then you can upload photos to iCloud.

Now you can follow the guidance below to upload photos from iCloud to your external hard drive.

Option 1. Import photos from iCloud to Seagate external hard drive via iCloud.com

You can go to iCloud's official website from your computer to move your photos to the external drive.

Step 1. Go to https://www.icloud.com/ on your computer and log in with your iCloud account.

Step 2. Go to the Photos icon and click it > View all uploaded iCloud photos > Choose the data you need and click the download icon to save them to your computer.

⚠️ Note: With this way, you can only download or delete no more than 1000 photos at one time.

Step 3. Once all photos are downloaded, just connect your hard drive to the computer and move photos from the computer to it.

Option 2. How to transfer iCloud photos to Seagate external hard drive [Professional]

If you need to transfer a large number of photos from your iCloud to a Seagate external hard drive, choosing the professional FoneTool will be a nice way. It's not only a powerful iPhone data transfer tool, but also a handy iCloud manager.

Highlights:
· You can download, upload or delete iCloud (Drive) data from Windows computer.
· Fast download speed allows you to save lots of iCloud photos quickly (No data loss & no unknown error).
· FoneTool uses professional SSL encryption and will never access any information on your account.
· You can also transfer photos from one iCloud account to another in one click.

Now just click the download button to get FoneTool on your Windows PC and transfer them to your Seagate external hard drive.

Download Freeware Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

Step 1. Connect your Seagate external drive to the computer > Install and launch FoneTool > Go to My iCloud > Log in with your account > Choose Manage iCloud to continue.

manage iCloud

Step 2. Go to the Photos option > Choose the data you need > Click the Download button.

choose iCloud photos to download

Step 3. Set your Seagate external hard drive as the Download Location from the pop-up window > Click Download to confirm your choice.

confrim to download iCloud photos

4. How to transfer iPhone photos to Seagate external hard drive on Mac

For Mac users, you can use the built-in Image Capture software to add iPhone photos to your Seagate external hard drive.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone and external hard drive to the Mac at the same time. Launch the Image Capture on your computer.  

Step 2. Click your iPhone under the Device section from the left side of the interface. Click the Import To pop-up menu, then you can choose to import the pictures to your external hard drive.

Step 3. You can select Import All to transfer all the items or choose Import to select specific images you need to transfer.

import photos to seagate external hard drive on Mac

5. How to connect iPhone to a Seagate external hard drive directly

Can I connect my iPhone to a Seagate external hard drive? Of course! If you only need to transfer a small number of photos from your iPhone to a Seagate external hard drive, you can accomplish this directly using either a Lightning-to-USB adapter or a USB-C cable.

Step 1. Connect the Seagate external hard drive to your iPhone directly via an external hard drive with the Lightning to USB adapter or a cable > Go to the Files app on your device > Browse to check whether the external hard drive is connected successfully.

Step 2. Go to the Photos app > Choose the targeted photos and videos> Tap the Share button, and choose Save to Files. Tap On My iPhone and select your Seagate external hard drive to save your photos.

⚠️ Note: For photos and videos that have been edited on your iPhone, you can only export the unmodified original version in this way.

Conclusion

Now you can know how to transfer photos from iPhone to Seagate external hard drive. Here we offer 5 ways to help you make it via a USB or wirelessly. If you want to connect your Seagate to your iPhone directly, you can use a Lightning-to-USB adapter or a USB-C cable. For a large number of photo transfers, choosing FoneTool mentioned in Method 1 might be the best.

FoneTool - All-in-one iPhone Data Manager

Transfer, backup and manage data on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in an easy way.

  • iOS 18 Compatible
  • iPhone 16 Supported

Free iPhone Manager - FoneTool

  • Full/Selective Backup iPhone
  • Transfer between iPhone and PC
  • 1-Click Transfer iPhone to iPhone
  • WhatsApp Backup & Transfer
  • Fully compatible with iOS 18
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