Photos app freezes upon import / photo importing problems

I think I found a solution! I was having the same problem and actually scrolled though this thread to find help. I just bought a new laptop and I was trying to download all my pictures using the photos app but it would freeze after it found all the pictures. I thought it was just because I had so many (35,000) because I backed up my iPad with no issue (300 photos). So then I went through file explorer and started to transfer the photos manually that way. After a couple of folders transferred I got a message that my one drive memory was full, I ignored that and kept transferring photos until I noticed that the photos all had red x's on them and when I tried to open them it would just be a blank screen. So I went to my OneDrive settings and changed it so my files aren't automatically saved to OneDrive. Then I opened my photos app and tried the import again, after all my photos were found a window came up asking me where I would like to import my photos. I picked my photos folder and then they all started transferring. Hope this helps

Hi all,

I was seeing similar problems today - Photos app crash or freeze when importing pictures from my iPhone XR. I tried the suggestions on this thread but nothing worked. I was finally able to import after doing the following:

1. Open Photos app in Windows 10
2. Click the 3 horizontal dots in the upper right corner then click Settings
3. Scroll to the video section and disable the "Use hardware-accelerated video encoding when available" switch, it should now say "Off"

For reference I had previously tried the following:

• Repairing + Resetting Photos ("Microsoft Photos") app
• In iPhone Photos settings using the "Keep Originals" setting

Hope this helps,

Mark

Worked for me, thank you so much !!!

By the way, before disabling the "Use hardware-accelerated video encoding when available" switch Microsoft Photos app would freeze when reaching 8550 files, whereas after disabling the option it stopped at 8551 files and opened the selection window. Microsoft Photos may therefore have had trouble with one specific file...

Zacks comment that right clicking the iPhone in Windows Explorer and importing from there works for me. It imports all photos rather than just new but at least it works.

Separately, I did a Repair on Microsoft Photos as suggested elsewhere in this thread, and that worked too. It no longer hangs up and I can import only those photos that I select. 

Win10 (all latest updates installed) and iPhone 7+ running IOS 13.3 here.

Hi all,

I was seeing similar problems today - Photos app crash or freeze when importing pictures from my iPhone XR. I tried the suggestions on this thread but nothing worked. I was finally able to import after doing the following:

1. Open Photos app in Windows 10
2. Click the 3 horizontal dots in the upper right corner then click Settings
3. Scroll to the video section and disable the "Use hardware-accelerated video encoding when available" switch, it should now say "Off"

For reference I had previously tried the following:

• Repairing + Resetting Photos ("Microsoft Photos") app
• In iPhone Photos settings using the "Keep Originals" setting

Hope this helps,

Mark

Solution is to buy an apple mac 😀