Archive. This is an archive of the Apple Support Community. Discussions are being restored and soon you will be able to read and post here again.
DarkLotusRen
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Photos app on Ventura not showing iPhone photos via USB

Photos on my desktop has stopped showing the pictures on my phone while plugged in via USB. I don't use iCloud and instead prefer to transfer my pictures from my iPhone (iOS 26.5) to my desktop (Ventura 13.7) using the USB cable. This has worked great up until today when I plugged in the phone only for Photos to display nothing and a "No Photos" text on the library window. See the screenshots. My phone has at least 100 new pictures and videos since the last import I made but none of them show up. It doesn't even show the "already imported" ribbon at the top of the window like usual.


Update: It is now showing the "Already Imported" section at the top again but still insists there are no new photos.

Posted on Oct 8, 2026 12:05 PM

6 replies

Richard.Taylor
User level: Level 7 (25,466 points)

Oct 9, 2026 9:48 AM in response to DarkLotusRen

Try this: Import to a new Photos Library on your Mac.  You can create a new Library by closing Photos and then option-clicking on the Photos icon. (The dialog may open behind other windows. I don't know why.) This new Library won't be your System Library, and that's OK. Later, you can switch between Libraries by double clicking on the one you want in the Pictures folder.


My imports from my iPad made more sense with a brand new empty Library.

Richard.Taylor
User level: Level 7 (25,466 points)

Oct 11, 2026 6:46 AM in response to DarkLotusRen

DarkLotusRen wrote: Whoops, I didn't notice the same name was on both comments.

I just pointed it out, because "just one folk" sounded funny to me.


As hiccups go, the first two troubleshooting steps are usually

  1. Restart the computer (of course)
  2. Re-start in Safe Mode. This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes, and it often helps. Safe Mode is different for different computers, so see this: 

           Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support 


For the iPhone, the equivalent is

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

This is different from a simple Power Off. For me, the logo appears  5 or 10 seconds past the "slide to power off" message. Wait for the logo; don't do the slide thing. 


Much of the ties, those will fix or at least point to the cause.

DarkLotusRen Author
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Oct 10, 2026 8:16 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Whoops, I didn't notice the same name was on both comments. My best guess is just some kind of hiccup where the computer wasn't properly seeing the phone. It didn't even show photos in Image Capture when I tried that as a work around. I assume restarting the computer cleared whatever bit of cache or something that was confusing it.

Richard.Taylor
User level: Level 7 (25,466 points)

Oct 9, 2026 8:50 AM in response to DarkLotusRen

I don't use the USB method-- I use iCloud Photos. But I just tried a USB import with a Library that is not the System Library and, with my iPhone, I got a limited number of pictures, 600, because my iPhone is Optimized, and most pictures' original files are off at iCloud.com. Are you sure your iPhone is does not have Optimize turned on?


I tried it with my iPad, which is not Optimized, and it is still "Preparing." Photos is having to look through thousands of pictures on my iPad and decide if any are already imported, and it has to compare pictures for duplicates. I'm not sure how long this takes-- it could easily be hours.


You've indicated that it took a while to find some "already imported" pictures. How long have you been waiting?


I'm using macOS 26.6.2

DarkLotusRen Author
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Oct 9, 2026 12:33 PM in response to DarkLotusRen

Thank you to the folks with suggestions. I ended up giving up yesterday and today when I turned the computer on and plugged in the phone just to charge it magically worked again. No idea what was wrong with it or what fixed it but everything has returned to normal.

Richard.Taylor
User level: Level 7 (25,466 points)

Oct 10, 2026 6:38 AM in response to DarkLotusRen

DarkLotusRen wrote: Thank you to the folks with suggestions. I ended up giving up yesterday and today when I turned the computer on and plugged in the phone just to charge it magically worked again. No idea what was wrong with it or what fixed it but everything has returned to normal.

Well, it was just one folk.I'm glad you're back to normal. I kinda wish I knew what it was…

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256372692