How to transfer photos from any phone to a Samsung Galaxy S10, using either a Mac or PC

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No matter what sort of phone you used before, knowing how to transfer your photos onto the Galaxy S10 is useful knowledge.

• If you've just bought a Samsung Galaxy S10, you should know how to transfer all your photos onto the new phone.
• Using a computer and a connection cable, you can transfer photos from any smartphone - Android or iPhone - to the Galaxy S10.
• Simply connect the old phone to your PC and import its photos and videos. You can then copy those files directly to your Galaxy S10's Camera folder.
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Transitioning all your data to a new phone can be a painful process, but it doesn't have to be if you follow the right steps.

Simply moving photos from any smartphone to the Galaxy S10 is simple, regardless of whether you're moving them from an iPhone or another Android handset. All you need is a computer - Windows or Mac - that will serve as an intermediate stop for copying the photos.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Galaxy S10 (From $599.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone Xs (From $999 at Apple)

iMac (From $1,099 at Apple)

How to transfer photos from an older phone to the Galaxy S10 using a PC

1. Connect your old phone to a Windows computer using a USB connection cable and be sure to unlock it.

2. Open a folder on the desktop and click "This PC" in the Navigation pane on the left.

3. You should see an icon for the old phone appear. Right-click it and choose "Import pictures and videos."

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Right-click your old phone's icon and choose to import your photos and videos.

4. Depending upon how many photos you have on your phone, this might take a few moments. When it's done, click "Import all new items now" and name the folder that the images will be copied to, like "Old Phone."

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Make the folder easier to find on your computer by giving it a distinctive name.

5. Click "Next."

6. Wait for the photos to be copied to your computer (again, this might take a while).

7. Connect your Galaxy S10 to the computer using its USB connection cable and make sure it is unlocked.

8. Open a folder and click "This PC" in the Navigation pane on the left.

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

When you connect your Galaxy S10, open its icon and then open the Camera folder, where you'll copy the photos.

9. Double click the icon for the Galaxy S10. Inside it, you should see an icon called "Phone." Double click that as well.

10. Double click the folder called "DCIM" and then double click "Camera." This is the folder where photos are stored.

11. If your computer automatically opened the folder with your old phone's photos, find it now. If not, open that folder - it's located in your Pictures folder, named with today's date, followed by any name you gave it, like "2019-06-25 Old Phone."

12. Select all of the photos and drag them into the Galaxy S10's Camera folder.

All of your old photos have now been transferred to your new Galaxy S10. If you want to save space on your computer's hard drive, you can now delete the folder of photos from your old phone.

When it comes to transferring your photos from a Mac, however, things are a bit more complicated. Depending on what kind of phone you have, you'll have to follow different steps.

How to transfer photos from an iPhone to the Galaxy S10 using a Mac

1. Install Android File Transfer, a program which you will use to copy the photos to your Galaxy S10.

2. Connect your iPhone to the Mac with a USB connection cable. Be sure that you turn on and unlock your phone.

3. Start Image Capture, a photo transfer utility that comes pre-installed on your Mac. The iPhone should automatically appear on the left side of the screen under "Devices."

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You can use your Mac's Image Capture utility to download all your iPhone photos.

4. At the bottom of the screen, choose the folder where you want to import your iPhone photos. You can select the desired photos and tap "Import" or simply tap "Import All." Wait for the photos to copy to the Mac.

5. Connect your Galaxy S10 to the Mac using a USB connection cable. Make sure the phone is on and unlocked, and if you see a window on the phone asking permission to allow access to phone data, tap "Allow."

6. Start Android File Transfer on your Mac.

7. Navigate to the folder where you want to copy the photos (this is typically DCIM/Camera).

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

You can copy iPhone photos to your Galaxy S10 using Android File Transfer.

8. Open the folder where you copied the photos from the iPhone. Select the photos and drag them to the desired folder in Android File Transfer.

Transfer photos from an Android phone to the Galaxy S10 using a Mac

1. Install Android File Transfer, which you'll use to copy photos to your Galaxy S10.

2. Connect your old Android phone to the Mac using a USB connection cable. Make sure it is turned on and unlocked. If you see a window on the phone asking permission to allow access to phone data, tap "Allow."

3. Start Android File Transfer on your Mac.

4. Find the photos you want to transfer to your Galaxy S10 (such as in the DCIM/Camera folder).

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Android File Transfer makes it easy to move photos back and forth between a phone and the Mac.

5. Select the photos you want to transfer and drag them into a folder on your Mac.

6. When the file transfer is complete, disconnect the old phone and connect your Galaxy S10. Again, make sure the phone is on and unlocked, and if you see a window on the phone asking permission to allow access to phone data, tap "Allow."

7. In the Android File Transfer window, navigate to the folder where you want to copy the photos, such as DCIM/Camera.

8. Open the folder where you copied the photos from the iPhone. Select the photos and drag them to the desired folder in Android File Transfer.