By Madalina Dinita 31 comments Last updated December 29, 2022

When you connect your iPhone to your macOS device, you may sometimes get a message that says the Photos app is “Preparing to import from iPhone“. The message usually disappears after a few seconds. Unfortunately, your macOS device may occasionally get stuck on the “Preparing to import from iPhone” screen. If you already disconnected and restarted your devices but the issue persists, follow the troubleshooting steps below.

Check if your iPhone is asking you to trust the computer. Enter your passcode and confirm you trust the computer.

If you rarely plug your iPhone into your Mac, your iOS device may prompt you to confirm you trust the computer. Should the issue persists, unplug your iPhone, restart your Mac, connect the two devices again, and check the results.

Go to your iPhone’s gallery and delete some of your unedited photos. Many iOS users rely on Snapseed and other photo editing apps to edit their pictures, add various filters, and so on. Maybe the Photos app on your Mac is having trouble reading the HEIC files. If the issue persists, delete some of the pictures you edited, and check if you notice any improvements.

Put your iPhone into Airplane Mode, plug it into your MacBook, and check if you can import your photos. If the photo transfer process gets stuck, unplug your iPhone, and disable Airplane Mode. Wait for thirty seconds, and enable Airplane Mode again. Then connect the two devices and import the rest of the photos.

Try removing your passcode and Face ID, and check if the message disappears. Unplug your iPhone from your computer. Then go to Settings, and select Touch ID and Passcode. Turn Face ID and Passcode off. Connect your devices, and check if you can import your iPhone photos now.

If you can’t upload your iPhone images through Photos, use Image Capture to force the upload through this app. Launch Image Capture, and check if there’s a lock next to your phone. Click on it, and enter your passcode when prompted. Your photos should appear both within Image Capture and Photos.

Navigate to Personal Hotspot and toggle off the option that says Allow others to join.

It seems that having the hotspot on forces your iPhone to ask you to trust the computer. Surprisingly, when you turn off the hotspot, you’re no longer prompted to confirm you trust the computer.

The same goes for Image Capture. For example, if you launch Image Capture with your hotspot on, you’ll see a padlock next to your phone. But the padlock usually disappears if you disable the hotspot.

If the issue persists, reset your iPhone settings. Navigate to Settings, and tap General. Then select Reset, and tap Reset All Settings.

Keep in mind that this option automatically clears all your settings, including touch ID, Apple Pay, wallpaper, lock screen settings, and so on.

Disable iCloud photos on both your devices. On your iPhone, go to Settings, select Photos, and tap iCloud Photos. On your MacBook, navigate to Settings, click on Apple ID, and select Photos. Disable the option and check if the Photos app shows and imports all of your photos.

If the Photos app gets stuck on “Preparing to import from iPhone”, make sure to mark the computer as trusted. Additionally, delete unedited photos, enable Airplane Mode, and remove your passcode and Face ID. If the issue persists, check if you can import the photos using Image Capture. Then disable your hotspot, reset your iPhone settings, and disable iCloud Photos. Which of these solutions worked for you? Let us know in the comments below.