Fix iPhone or iPad not connecting to Mac via cable

Go through these troubleshooting tips if your iPhone or iPad running iOS 26 does not show up in Mac’s Finder, Photos app, Image Capture, or other applications.

You may need to connect your iOS device to a Mac or Windows PC using a USB cable to quickly transfer photos, sync music, use your iPhone as a pen drive, restore the device, and more.

Usually, this is a simple process: plug, trust, and then your iPhone or iPad shows up on the computer in Finder, Photos, Image Capture, or third-party apps like iMazing.

In case you’re having issues connecting your iPhone or iPad to Mac after updating to iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe, here are all the solutions that will help.

Change this wired authentication setting

iOS 26 adds a new safety feature that lets you control how your iPhone or iPad connects to another device via cable. You can choose to always allow, automatically allow when unlocked, or ask for your permission before your iPhone or iPad connects with a computer. I have found that whenever my device doesn’t show up on my Mac, temporarily changing this safety setting helps!

1. Disconnect your iPhone or iPad from Mac by unplugging the cable.
2. Open iPhone or iPad Settings and tap Privacy & Security.
3. Scroll down and tap Wired Accessories.
4. Select Always Ask.
5. Now, connect your iPhone or iPad to Mac via cable, and tap Allow on the “Allow accessory to connect?” pop-up. Then open Finder, Photos, Image Capture, or the relevant app on your computer, and your iPhone should appear there. You can now set the Wired Accessories back to “Ask for New Accessories” or whatever else you prefer.

Make sure you trust the computer

When you connect your iPhone or iPad to a Mac or PC for the first time (or after resetting iOS location and privacy settings), you have to click Allow on Mac and then tap Trust on your iOS device. Once this is done, your iPhone or iPad should appear in Finder, Photos, Image Capture, and other places.

If you didn’t go ahead with this trust process, try unplugging and replugging the device again. If you still don’t see the trust option, reset your iPhone or iPad’s location and privacy settings and then reconnect.

Go through all these quick tips

If the problem continues, follow these steps:

• Force quit and reopen the Mac app in question.
• Make sure the cable connections are perfect.
• Restart your phone and computer.
• Try using another USB-C or Lightning cable.
• Update to the latest version of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS Tahoe 26. This tip is really important.

Read instructions for the third-party app

If you’re not seeing your connected iPhone or iPad in a third-party Mac or PC app, check its documentation to see if it requires any specific steps.

I remember back in the day, some third-party device management apps would ask you to turn off Find My iPhone before you could use all features.

In current versions of iOS, turning off Screen Time settings may help.

Check out other app-specific guides

Many people had issues connecting their iPhone and iPad to Mac after updating to iOS 26. So, we have covered this problem for specific macOS apps in separate troubleshooting guides with specialized solutions. Make sure you go through them all:

• How to fix Image Capture not showing all iPhone or iPad photos
• Fix iPhone or iPad not showing in Mac Photos app
• iPhone not showing up in Finder on Mac? 15 solutions to fix this

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2026/02/12/ios-device-not-connecting-to-mac/