Photos app freezes upon import / photo importing problems

I've done a lot of messing around with this problem. I'm a Windows programmer, so to see this issue persist for such a long time makes my blood boil - Microsoft will say it is a problem with the Apple driver that connects with the iPhone, and Apple will say it is a problem with the Windows software. I say it is both.

The thing is, it appears that the driver attempts to convert the images and videos on the iPhone to a form acceptable to the PC - like converting .heic photos to .jpg, or converting movies. I believe this is where the problem begins - a think particular images or movies are failing the conversion, and the driver either faults and stops in its tracks without detecting the problem gracefully, or Windows Photos does not handle the fault in a graceful manner and just blocks or crashes

I've found that...

• set the phone to download the images in original format. Windows 10 can now handle .heic images.
• movies that have been slo-moed or timelapsed may cause problems.
• images that originate from sources other than the camera can cause problems.

Going through and deleting those on the phone may work.

In the end, with 9,000+ photos and movies on my phone, I gave up. I tried iCloud photos - unbelievably slow - would have taken months to upload. In the end I just paid for Google Photos space - took a few days to upload but it worked and now I have a backup.

I reckon it is about time for a class action against Apple and Microsoft for blatantly ignoring this issue for so long, treating people with contempt by not acknowledging the value of our personal photos and movies, and providing pathetic solutions to the problem over and over again, like - have you updated iTunes and Windows - of course we have - we are not bloody stupid!

Come on Microsoft - pull your bloody fingers out of your holes and get together with the Apple engineers and solve this problem ASAP!

SOLUTION!

Hey everyone. I have this problem since September. I tried everything and every time my Photos App freezes while it scans for import from my iPhone. 

First of all I tried the process to a new PC with the exact same windows (and photos)  version only to find out it works normally and it is not an iOS issue.

What I did is this:

Press import as normal while you remember the number that your scan freezes and press "Cancel" once, before it reaches this number. Basically, dont let it freeze and press cancel in time. If it freezes, kill the task and launch again. Just a random number before the one it freezes works. After that, press import again and you will notice that the scan number continues from the one you pressed "cancel". But this time it will reach the max number and you will get to the "choose what to import" screen. 

I tried the process  10 times exactly and it worked all times. This looks like a good workaround until the App gets fixed (maybe in November update?). Please try this and post.

Hello, I was trying to import photos from my iPhone via charging cable and upon import the photo app freezes. I reset my phone and tried again and it worked for the first import but another problem is that I can only upload 3-4 videos at a time before the photos app says something went wrong and I have to start the whole process all over again. Because of this, when I go to import again it just freezes once it hits my total photo and video count. This problem has been persistent ever since I started uploading photos and videos this past year or two and it really hinders my progress. Thanks for any help.

-Gabriela

Hi,

I had the same problem with my iphone 6s and windows 10. I try not to update my iphone software if I can help it, because I always have some problem or other afterwards which drives me nuts! I hadn't updated the software for about a year, but thought my phone wasn't working properly because I hadn't updated for so long (frustratingly it actually turned out to be a problem with the 3 network crashing!)

Up until I downloaded the latest iphone update I had no problem with my phone downloading photos and videos to my PC. But since then, no matter what I tried, I could not import any new photos or videos I took after the software update. I spent the best part of an entire weekend trying to do this, and tried every solution I could find on the internet. Every time it appeared to find the photos but froze and wouldn't show me the photos. This evening I finally cracked it!I think the freeze has to do with the folder you've selected to save the photos in (or that your PC has defaulted to). 

1. Plug your phone into your computer and give it a few minutes (you may have to unplug and plug it back in again if your computer can't read it).
2. Click on your 'This PC' icon to show your devices and drives
3. Right click on the iphone icon
4. Select 'import pictures and videos'
5. Select 'import all new pics'
6. Click on 'more options'
7. Choose the folders you want to save your photos and videos into (I did NOT save them in the windows photos or videos albums - I saved them on my D:Drive)
8. Click on 'OK'
9. Enter a name tag and then 'Import'

I hope this works for everyone! Downloading your photos to your PC shouldn't be this hard!!!

all i get when i plug my phone in is this, everytime!!! it finds them, then freezes. i have fully updated the phone and just did the 1903 update on the pc also to make sure everything is a up to date as it can be.

Is your computer on Windows 10? I just got a new computer and can't upload my pics either.  The screen freezes after it finds the photos.