If you use an iPhone as your personal smartphone and a Chromebook at work or school, you might want to move files between these devices. Photos are one of the most common things people will want to move from an iPhone to a Chromebook. The new iPhone 15 models have great cameras, and you'll definitely want to sync those up for viewing on your ChromeOS device.

The good news is, there are a few convenient options on how to transfer your photos. If you subscribe to iCloud+, you can sync your photos from your iPhone and download copies or view them from the iCloud website on your Chromebook. Or, you can switch to using Google Photos on your iPhone to use Google Photos on your Chromebook. You even can use another service like OneDrive for backups. You even can copy and paste photos manually from your iPhone to your Chromebook over USB. Either way, you'll be able to enjoy your full-resolution iPhone photos on your Chromebook. Let's take a look at both options in more detail.

How to transfer photos from an iPhone to a Chromebook

If you want an easy way to get your iPhone photos on a Chromebook without the hassle, cloud syncing is your best bet. You'll have to pay for iCloud storage, but if you go this route, you can worry less as all photos will be backed up to iCloud for your viewing. iCloud+ costs as much as $1 a month for 50GB of storage, or $10 a month for 2TB of storage.

Sync your photos through iCloud

  1. Open the iOS Settings app.
  2. Go down to Photos.
  3. Turn iCloud Photos on
    Toggle switches for iCloud apps on iOS settings app
    iCloud photos in the WIndows 11 settings app
    The show all settings for iCloud in iOS
  4. Head to iCloud.com in Chrome.
  5. Choose Photos to access your photos.

Sync your photos through OneDrive

If you're subscribed to Microsoft 365 to access Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other Office apps, your subscription includes 1TB of cloud storage in OneDrive. That's a lot more space on the cheap and more bonus perks than what you might get if you pay for iCloud. It can be used to store and view your phone's photos online through your Chromebook. If you want to subscribe to Microsoft 365, it's $70 a year for personal, and $100 a year for a family of up to six people.

  1. Install the OneDrive app on your iPhone
  2. Open the app and choose your profile icon at the top left of the app.
  3. Choose Settings.
  4. Choose Camera Upload.
  5. Turn the Google switch for your account to on, and choose if you want to include videos or use cellular data for uploads.
    The main page in the OneDrive app on an iPhone
    The settings pop out page in the OneDrive app on an iPhone
    Sync settings on OneDrive on an iPhone
    All the sync options for OneDrive on an iPhone
  6. Visit the Photos section in the app.
  7. Allow all your photos to Sync.

Once the photos are synced, open Google Chrome on your Chromebook, sign into OneDrive on the web, and view your photos. You also can install the OneDrive Android app to see your photos on your Chromebook. These two methods are by far the easiest solutions, but of course, you can switch to Google Photos if you want to use a Google App on your Chromebook instead. Just download Google Photos on your iPhone. Then, tap your profile icon at the top right side of the screen, and choose Turn on backup to upload your iPhone's photos to Google Photos. You can then launch the Google Photos app on your Chromebook to see and download the photos exactly as you left them.

Transfer photos manually over USB

If you prefer to take care of business the old-fashioned way, you can easily do that as well. Just physically connect your iPhone to the USB port on your Chromebook. Keep in mind you'll need to use a USB to Lightning cable for the connection for iPhone 14 series or older phones in 2023. The iPhone 15, meanwhile, uses USB-C. If your Chromebook has a USB-C port, which newer Chromebooks do, so you'll need a USB-C to USB-C cable. For older Chromebooks or budget models, you'll need a USB-A to lightning cable. If you don't have the cable that came with your iPhone, you can also find a number of third-party options on Amazon.

  1. Plug your iPhone into your Chromebook.
  2. Choose Allow on the prompt on your iPhone.
  3. Open the Files app on your Chromebook.
  4. Choose Apple iPhone.
    iPhone in the ChromeOS files app
  5. Choose DCIM.
  6. Sort through the folders. They will be organized by date. Open the folder till you find the recent photos you want.
    A list if iPhone photos in the ChromeOS settings app
  7. Highlight the photos you want to copy and press Ctrl + C.
    Copying photos in the ChromeOS Files app
  8. In the sidebar, choose Downloads.
  9. Create a folder by pressing the three downwards-facing dot and choosing New Folder.
  10. Open the new folder you created. And press Ctrl + V to paste the photos.
    Pasting photos in the ChromeOS files app

That's pretty much all there is to it. The best way in my opinion to get photos between an iPhone and Chromebook is to use Google Photos. If Google Photos isn't your favorite cloud service, Dropbox or Amazon Photos are also great alternatives I've used as well. If you absolutely need to have all of your photos from your iPhone stored locally on a Chromebook, that process is pretty much plug-and-play too.