How to Connect iPhone to Laptop Wirelessly or via USB

Why do you want to connect iPhone to laptop? Maybe you want to access iPhone files on PC or you want to transfer files between iPhone and laptop. Fortunately, there are many ways to help you connect your iPhone to your laptop.

Here in this guide, I’ll tell you all the info about how to connect iPhone to laptop on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7. You can read first and then choose the most suitable method.

• Part 1. How to connect iPhone laptop via USB
• Part 2. How to connect iPhone to laptop wirelessly

Part 1. How to connect iPhone to laptop via USB cable

If you have a USB cable at hand, then you may want to know how to connect iPhone to laptop via USB. The connection does not require the use of a network. This is a good choice when there is no Internet connection or when a large number of files need to be transferred.

Option 1. How to connect iPhone to laptop via iTunes

iTunes is the offical iPhone data management tool provided by Apple. It offers an easy way to help you manage all your media files. Once your iPhone is connected to iTunes, you can sync music, photos, videos, TV shows, podcasts, etc. to iPhone. However, it only supports one-way sync, which means that you cannot transfer files from iPhone to laptop.

Let’s see how to connect iPhone to laptop via iTunes and transfer MP3 to iPhone.

1. Download iTunes from Microsoft Store.

2. Open iTunes and plug in your iPhone > Follow the on-screen prompts to establish the connection between iPhone and iTunes.

3. After that, you can click File > choose Add File to Library to select the songs you want to add to iPhone.

4. Click Device tab > Choose Music under Settings > Select Sync Music and click Apply.

Option 2. How to connect iPhone to laptop via FoneTool

If you want to know how to connect iPhone to laptop via USB because you want to transfer files, then FoneTool is a good choice. FoneTool is one professional iPhone data management tool for Windows users, which supports data backup and data transfer.

● You can access iPhone photos, videos, songs, contacts, etc. on PC and transfer them to PC. Your files will be consolidated into different collections, which makes it easy to find the data you need to transfer.
● You are able to transfer files from PC to iPhone. It lets you preview and select the files you need and it will not erase any existing data on iPhone.
● You are allowed to transfer files between iPhone and PC/external hard drive/USB flash drive.

Let’s see how to access iPhone photos on PC with FoneTool.

1. Download, install and launch FoneTool > Connect your iPhone to laptop via the USB cable.

2. Choose Phone Transfer and go to iPhone to PC.

3. Choose Photos and you will see all your phone albums > Now you can select the photos or albums you need if you want to transfer them to PC.

4. Click Start Transfer > Select the destination and click Transfer.

If you want to backup your iPhone, you can go to Phone Backup and choose Selective Backup and Full Backup.

Option 3. How to connect iPhone to laptop via Windows Explorer

If you want to know how to connect iPhone to laptop to transfer pictures, then you can rely on File Explorer to make it. However, your photos are saved in different folders and you need to open those folders to find the photos you need. It’s not a good choice if you want to transfer photo albums from iPhone to PC.

1. Plug in your iPhone and trust the laptop.

2. Click This PC > Find your iPhone and open it.

3. Go to Internal Storage> DCIM > Open the subfolders to view your photos and copy them to laptop.

★Tips:

You can only access photos via File Explorer. If you want to see other files, you can turn to FoneTool.

If you meet any problems, you can go to this Can't View iPhone Photos on Windows guide to get some solutions.

Part 2. How to connect iPhone to laptop wirelessly

There are times when you may not have a USB cable on hand. In this case, how to connect iPhone to laptop wirelessly? There are 4 options for you to choose from.

Option 1. How to connect iPhone to laptop with iTunes

iTunes is not a bad choice if you want to connect iPhone to laptop wirelessly. You can connect iPhone to laptop with Wi-Fi and sync data. However, a USB cable is needed for the first time. After that, your iPhone will connect to iTunes automatically when they are connected to the same network.

1. Download iTunes from Microsoft Store.

2. Launch iTunes and connect your iPhone to computer via USB cable.

3. Click Device tab > Go to Summary > In the Options section, choose Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi > Click Apply to save the change.

Now when you disconnect your iPhone from your laptop, the Device icon will still appear in iTunes. You can click the Eject button next to the device to disconnect from iTunes.

Option 2. How to connect iPhone to laptop with iCloud

You can also take advantage of iCloud to connect iPhone to laptop wirelessly. You can first upload files from iPhone to iCloud and then you can easily access them on laptop. It’s a good choice if you want to access iPhone photos on PC. However, iCloud only offers 5 GB of free storage space.

Step 1. Upload files to iCloud

You can go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud to turn on the sync.

You can also go to Photos app > Select the photos you need > Tap Share and save them to iCloud Drive.

Step 2. Access files on laptop

• Open a browser and go to iCloud.com.
• Sign in to your account with your Apple ID and passcode.
• Now you can see your files. If needed, you can download them to your laptop.

Option 3. How to connect iPhone to laptop via Bluetooth

If your laptop has Bluetooth hardware and drivers for Bluetooth hardware, then you can connect iPhone to laptop via Bluetooth. You can follow the steps below to pair your iPhone with your laptop.

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Bluetooth to turn it on.

2. On your PC, go to Settings > Devices > Bluetooth.

3. In the Manage Bluetooth devices page, turn on Bluetooth > Wait for your phone’s name to appear on this page.

4. When you see your iPhone, click Pair button and a passcode will appear on your laptop.

5. Check the passcode on your iPhone and tap Pair to connect your device to laptop. After your iPhone has connected to laptop, you can transfer pictures or other files. However, it only supports a few types of files.

Option 4. How to connect iPhone to laptop via AirDrop-like app

How to connect iPhone to laptop wirelessly if Bluetooth does not work? In this case, you can rely on AirDrop-like apps to transfer files. Although AirDrop is not available on Windows laptop, there are some apps that can help you transfer files between iPhone and laptop wirelessly.

These apps use their own technology to connect your iPhone and PC. Below is an example of AirDrop iPhone 14 to Windows via SnapDrop.

1. Go to Snapdrop website (https://snapdrop.net/) on iPhone and laptop. Each device will be given a nickname.

2. On iPhone, tap the icon and you will see three options > Select one of them to select files you want to transfer.

3. Click Save on laptop to accept the files from iPhone.

Final words

That’s all about how to connect iPhone to laptop. All the above 7 methods can help you connect your iPhone to your laptop and transfer data.

Usually, you can connect iPhone to laptop via USB cable. If you want to easily view photos, videos, contacts, etc. on your iPhone, then you can use FoneTool.

When you do not have a computer at hand, you can connect your iPhone to laptop via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.