How to Transfer Pictures from iPod to Computer

Using an Original iPod

Set up iPod in Disk Mode. To connect your iPod to your computer and manipulate files, your iPod needs to be in Drive Mode. You can perform this step using iTunes, or manually set up your iPod in Disk Mode.

To set up your iPod in Drive Mode using iTunes, plug your iPod into your computer, open iTunes, and select from the Devices bar. In the Summary window, select "Enable disk usage" in the Options section.

To set your iPod in Manual Drive Mode, you need to press and hold the Menu and Select keys for at least six seconds. Continue holding the buttons until the Apple logo appears. Immediately after the logo appears, release the Menu and Select buttons, press and hold the Select and Play buttons. Hold the buttons until the Drive Mode screen appears.

See this guide for more details on how to set your iPod to Disk Mode.

Open iPod on computer. If you enable Manual Drive Mode, you need to connect your iPod to your computer. If you're using a Mac, your iPod will appear on your computer as a USB drive. If using Windows, the iPod will be listed with other drives in the Computer/My Computer/This PC window.

If you use Windows, you can quickly access the path Computer/My Computer/This PC by pressing the Windows key + Pause.

Locate the image file you want to copy. Normally, they are in the images folder, but since the iPod is used as a USB drive, the images can be placed anywhere. Navigate through folders to find images to move.

Transfer photos from iPod to computer. You can select the images you want to copy to your computer and then copy them by selecting Edit → Copy , right-clicking and selecting Copy , or by pressing Ctrl + C (windows) or Command + C (Mac).

Select the location where you want to transfer the image and paste the copied image. You can do this by clicking Edit → Paste , right-clicking in the empty space and selecting Paste , or pressing Ctrl + V (Windows) or Command + V (Mac).

If you don't want to keep the images on your iPod, you can cut, instead of copying, to delete the original file after copying it to the new location. You can cut by pressing Ctrl + X (Windows) or Command + X. Then paste as described above.

You can also transfer files to your iPod if you want.

Wait for the migration to complete. If you transfer a lot of images, copying can take quite a while. The progress bar tells you the estimated amount of time remaining.

Remove the iPod. After the copying process is complete, you need to remove the iPod before unplugging it from the computer. This step helps prevent data corruption.

On a Mac, right-click the iPod on the Desktop and select Eject . You can now disconnect the iPod.

In Windows, click the "Safely remove hardware" button in the System Tray, and then select iPod. You can now disconnect the iPod.

Use iPod Touch

Windows

Connect iPod Touch to computer. If this is your first time connecting your device to your computer, you will need to wait a few minutes while Windows installs the necessary drivers.

Start import wizard. If the Autoplay window appears, select "Import pictures and videos". If the Autoplay window does not display, open the Computer/My Computer/This PC window, right-click on the iPod Touch, and select Import images and videos .

Select the image you want to move. Windows will scan the iPod Touch to recognize the image. Then a window displaying the number of images found along with a few options appears. To select the images you want to copy, you need to select "review, organize, and group items to import" and click the Next button.

The images will be sorted by date taken. By default, all images will be selected. You can uncheck the box next to images you don't want to keep, or uncheck "Select all" at the top of the list to deselect all images.

You can change the way images are grouped by sliding the bar in the lower right corner.

Organize the images you want to keep. You can tag passed images by clicking the "Add tags" button, allowing for easier searching. You can also set a custom folder name for each group of images by pressing the "Enter a name" button with the folder icon.

Set import options. Click the "More options" link in the lower left corner of the window. This step will allow you to set up a folder to store your new images, and name the file. Click the OK button once completed

Select "Delete files from device after importing" if you want to free up memory in your iPod after moving the images.

Move files. Click the Import button to start the image copying process. Once the process is complete, you will be navigated to the "Imported Pictures and Videos" library. Images can also be saved in the default "Pictures" folder.

Mac OS X

Connect iPod Touch to computer. When you connect your iPod, the iPhoto program opens automatically. If iPhoto isn't activated, you can open it in the "Applications" folder.

Select the image you want to import. You can import all the pictures on your iPod by clicking "Import # Photos". If you only want to import a few images, you can click on each photo you want to transfer to select it. Click the "Import Selected Photos" button to copy the selected images.

If iPhoto isn't displaying your iPod's contents, you'll need to make sure it's selected from the "Devices" section in the left pane.

Choose whether to delete or keep the imported images. After performing the import option, the program will ask if you want to keep the imported image file on your iPod, or delete it to save memory. If you intend to transfer photos to another computer, you should keep them on your iPod.

Micah Soto

Update 08 November 2023