How to Transfer iOS Screenshots to Your Mac Easily

By . in Mobile. Updated on .

If you love taking a lot of photos and screenshots with your iPhones or iPad, I bet you hate the transferring of the photos part. Cable transfer and Dropbox sync… while they work for a few shots, transferring photos in bulk would be a definite headache or at the very least, super time-consuming.

Skipping the unnecessary, since you now have iCloud, why can’t every photo and screenshot captured on your iOS devices appear automatically on your Mac? Well actually, it can.

In this quick guide, you will find out how you can access photos and screenshots saved on your iOS, directly on your Mac without doing anything. This little trick utilize Photo Stream on iCloud making your files appear on your Mac without third-party apps.

Get iOS screenshots automatically on Mac

Since we will be using iCloud, make sure you have registered for an account and have Photo Stream set ON.

1. Use Photo Stream on iOS and Mac

To set Photo Stream on your Mac, go to System Preference > iCloud and make sure Photo Stream is ‘checked’.

Photo Stream Mac

On your iOS, you can go to Settings > Photos and set Photo Stream to ‘ON’.

iCloud
2. Locate Photo Stream folder in Mac

When your Photo Stream is active, iCloud will automatically sync all your files and photos. Since Photo Stream on your Mac is now on active mode, all saved screenshots and photos on your iOS device will sync automatically to your Mac in a hidden folder. To access these files, follow these simple steps;

  1. Hover your mouse over Finder on the Dock, option-click and select ‘Go to Folder’.

    Go

  2. In the search bar, look of ~/Library/ and hit ‘Go’.

    Go to Folder

  3. When the hidden Library folder is open, navigate to Application Support > iLifeAssetManagement > assets > sub then in the field, type ‘png’ and select ‘Portable Network Graphic Image’ from the popup.

    Sub PNG

  4. Now hit the save button.

    Save

  5. When a popup appear, name the folder as ‘Photo Stream’ or ‘screenshot’ or anything so you can remember. Leave the ‘Add To Sidebar’ option checked and click ‘Save’.

    Add to Sidebar

Now you already have a shortcut named ‘PhotoStream’ on your Finder sidebar, so whenever you take a photo or screenshot from your iOS device, you will see those saved items appear in this folder.

Sidebar

Conclusion

When it’s all set, you can easily make a screenshot and take photos with your iPad or iPhone, and access those images from your Mac right away!

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