How to import photos and videos from external drive to iPhone

Learn how to directly copy pictures and video files that are on a thumb drive, SSD, or hard disk to the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad, without relying on a Mac or Windows PC.

This post is related to another post of ours where we showed you how to export and back up your iPhone or iPad photos and videos to an external drive.

What you need

Aside from your iPhone or iPad, your thumb drive, SSD, or hard disk must be compatible with iOS and meet the power requirements:

• This means the external storage device must be formatted as APFS, macOS Extended (HFS+), exFAT, FAT, or FAT32.
• The drive’s power requirement must be 4.5 watts or less.
• If your storage drive doesn’t have a USB-C end, you’ll need an appropriate USB hub or adapter.

Before you begin

• I recommend you hold back from selecting more than a few hundred files for copying or importing in one go. If the process gets stuck, try again.
• Don’t exit the Files app until the media import is complete. The latest version of iPadOS 26 has better background file handling, but it’s still best to let the process complete without any intervention.
• Don’t fidget with the device, as that may cause your external drive to disconnect from your iPhone.
• If the file thumbnails appear grayed out even after the transfer is complete, simply force close and reopen the Files app.
• If the files haven’t fully transferred and the process has failed or stopped, delete those half-copied files and start over.

Copy photos and videos from an external drive to your iPhone or iPad

1) Connect the storage drive to your iPhone or iPad’s USB port. Tap Allow on any pop-up that might appear asking your permission to allow the accessory to connect.

2) Open the Apple Files app and tap Browse. Then, tap your external drive under the Locations heading. You’ll see all the files on this drive here.

3) Tap the three dots menu button at the top, followed by Select.

4) Then, select individual files or hit the Select All button, and import them to the Photos app or Files app by following the steps below.

Import to the Photos app

If you’ve selected only JPG, PNG, HEIF, MOV, and other supported files, tap the share button and then choose Save N Items from the iOS Share Sheet. This will import the files and add them to your Photos app.

Open the Photos app to see such items. You can also tap the info button ⓘ or swipe up on one of these photos to find the “Saved from Files” label, confirming this media was added from the Files app.

Import to the Files app

After selecting the files on the external storage drive, tap the three dots menu button and choose Copy N Items. Then, go to On My iPhone/iPad or iCloud Drive location in the Files app. Touch and hold on an empty spot and select Paste.

Alternatively, tap the folder icon after selecting the files and then navigate to a folder inside On My iPhone/iPad or iCloud Drive. You can also create a new folder by tapping the three dots button. Finally, tap the Copy button.

Once the photos are in your Files app, you can select them and then use the Save Image option in the Share Sheet to copy them to the Apple Photos app.

Eject the external drive

Once you’ve copied the photos and videos, just unplug the external drive from your iPhone or iPad’s USB port. Unlike Mac and Windows PC, there isn’t a safe eject option for externally connected storage drives on iOS and iPadOS.

Also, check out: How to erase and format external drives on iPhone or iPad

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/11/03/import-photos-from-external-drive-to-ios-device/