Transfer photos between iPhones without iCloud — 4 ways

Would like to sync all the photos on your iPhone but don't want it to tell you the cloud storage is full while using iCloud? It's time to look for something without storage limits.

When it comes to smartphones, iPhone is certainly a revolutionary and magical product. And every time when you've got a new iPhone, you may want to transfer your memorable photos from the old iPhone to the new one since for most people, photos are always synonymous with precious memories. They'll want to keep them at all costs.

Usually, if you search online about how to transfer photos between iPhones, you will find the first official method that pops up is to use iCloud, a built-in feature on every Apple device. However, if you look into it, you'll know iCloud only offers every user 5 GB of free storage, which means you may receive the notification all the time, telling you "Your iCloud storage is almost full." It's pretty annoying, forcing you to look for other quick and efficient ways.

Therefore, in this guide, we've gathered four most useful and convenient ways to transfer photos between iPhones without iCloud. You can choose any of methods for your ease!

Try other quick ways to transfer photos from iPhone to iPhone without iCloud.

Sync photos from iPhone to iPhone without iCloud using iTunes

As we mentioned before, iCloud is not very convenient for photo transfer if all your iPhone photos are more than 5 GB. In that case, you can choose another functional software, iTunes, also from Apple, with more features.

iTunes does not directly transfer photos from one iPhone to another but to create a strong connection between your iPhones with the computer. In other words, it imports photos from your old iPhone to the computer, and then sync them to your new iPhone. This way, you won't be worried about your iCloud running out of storage.

Note: iTunes works on both Windows PC and Mac based on macOS 10.14 and the earlier.

First of all, backup your old iPhone to your computer.

• Run iTunes on your computer and connect your old iPhone.
• Click the phone icon at the top. Select 'Summary' from the left options.
• Locate 'Backups' and check 'This Computer'. On the right side, choose 'Backup Now'.

Backup your iPhone contents to the computer using iTunes.

After that, you'll get a full backup of your iPhone content on the computer. Now, unplug your iPhone, and connect the new one. And before you move photos from the computer to your new iPhone, you should be careful since it will overwrite the existing photos on your device.

• Plug the new iPhone into computer. And click the phone icon.
• When it shows your iPhone content, click 'Photos' from the left side.
• Tick 'Sync Photos', and select your desired photos from 'Choose photos from' option.
• Click 'Apply' to start the process.

Move pictures from your computer to the target iPhone without iCloud.

Transfer photos from iPhone to iPhone without iCloud via iPhone Data Transfer

Although iTunes lets you sync photos without storage limits, it takes you much time and efforts to finish the whole process. To make it easier for the photo transfer from iPhone to iPhone, you can try a third-party tool, iPhone Data Transfer, a simple and handy software that brings data transfer and management together in one place.

Apart from being able to handle all the basic things that iTunes can do, it offers even more. You can transfer pictures selectively as many as you want, or choose to sync all the iPhone photos to another device in only one step. And also, in case you'd like to transfer something else between iPhones, it supports other various files like videos, music, contacts, messages and more. You can simply copy all the data on your iPhone to another.

If you don't know how to use it, don't worry. Its simple and user-friendly interface makes all the operations at a glance. Everyone can manage it without hassle in just a few minutes.

Step 1: Launch iPhone Data Transfer and connect both iPhones

Connect your old iPhone first, and then the new one.

Enter your iPhone passcode or tap 'Trust' if asked.

Click the name at the top so you can switch to another iPhone.

Step 2: Move pictures from one iPhone to another iPhone

Go to 'Photos' and all your iPhone photos will be accessible.

Select what you want. You can choose multiple pics at a time.

Click the phone icon at the tool bar, and then select the target iPhone.

Add selected pictures from one iPhone to another iPhone by iPhone Data Transfer.

Wait a moment, all the selected items will be copied to your new iPhone very quickly. It's just as easy as a copy-and-paste operation since it doesn't require any network. Moreover, if you're asking whether it can be easier and quicker than two steps, iPhone Data Transfer will not let you down:

Move all iPhone photos to another iPhone in one step

After your iPhones are both connected to iPhone Data Transfer, click 'Phone to Phone' > 'Photos' > 'Start'. And all the photos on your old iPhone will be synced to the new iPhone immediately.

If all your iPhone contents are ticked by default, you can keep 'Photos' and deselect the others.

You can then access your photos on the target iPhone. In just one step, all the iPhone photos are transferred to another iPhone without using iCloud. And your photo will certainly not be blurred or damaged after the transfer.

Share iPhone photos with AirDrop

Instead of requiring a wired transfer, you can also pick AirDrop to help you share photos without using computer or cables. Unlike iCloud Photos which syncs all the photos on your iPhone, AirDrop allows you to send iPhone images selectively. And on top of that, AirDrop can quickly share a couple of photos without quality loss as long as the target iPhone is within Bluetooth and WiFi range.

Share files from iPhone to iPhone with AirDrop.

1. Open 'Photos' app one the source iPhone.

2. Pick iPhone pictures you'd like to send.

3. Tap 'Share' button and make it to use 'AirDrop'.

4. Find the target iPhone from the detected users and send the photos.

5. On the target iPhone, choose 'Accept' to receive the pics and wait for the transfer to complete so you can view the items on your new iPhone.

Pick your best iCloud alternatives

If you're tired of the annoying message saying that your iCloud storage is not enough for your data, the above-mentioned methods can give you a hand to transfer photos from iPhone to iPhone without using iCloud. Pick a method that you think most useful and give it a try!