How do I change the Photos destination location in Windows 11 when importing photos from an iPhone 16?

Question

How do I change the Photos destination location in Windows 11 when importing photos from an iPhone 16?

Anonymous

How do I change the Photos destination location in Windows 11 when importing photos from an iPhone 16? The default is onedrive which I do not want to use. I want to import to my Pictures folder on the C:drive. I have not found a way to change it. Thanks. I've also tried Photos Legacy but after it seemingly accessed the photos on the iPhone, the app closes.

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Answer accepted by question author

Manoel Barros 22,045 Independent Advisor

I did some tests on my personal computer and found out how you can do this easily.

First add your Pictures folder. Open File Explorer (WINDOWS + E) > Click on Gallery > Click on "Collection" in the top menu > Manage Collection.
Click on Add > Add your Pictures folder or any other folder you want. Click OK.
Close and Open the Photos app > The folder you added will be there. When you import your pictures, the folder will appear.

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6 additional answers

Answer 1

Manoel Barros 22,045 Independent Advisor

Hello! I'm Manoel Barros!

To change the destination location of any user folder, do this:

Open Explorer Files (WINDOWS + E) > In the Left Tab, right-click on "Pictures" folder > Properties > Location.
Click on Move > Choose the destination localtion

You can also use iCloud to store your photos. You can choose iCloud as the destination location for the Pictures folder.

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Answer 2

Short version: This helped me fix my issue. Thanks.

Longer, a bit surprising, version:

When I clicked on Manage Collection using your instruction, it opened the Window below. What was surprising was that the folder I wanted to use in Photos was already there PLUS it was designated as the default. It made me wonder why it was not showing up in the import process. I had not done anything (that I know of) since your prior post to change anything. I just did Step 1 in your last post.

Then, the only thing I did upon seeing this Window was to delete the User\rseco*OneDrive*\Pictures path. When I then opened Photos and started the import from my phone, I saw I had the correct path, and I could switch it to any subfolders I have in rseco\Pictures folder. Yah!

I suppose I could go back and put the OneDrive version path back in Gallery (not as a default) and reopen Photos to see if it goes back to OneDrive, but I think I will leave it as is for now.

Thanks again. This has been a big help.

Answer 3

I saw the steps you sent in the link prior to my posting. I cannot do Step 8 Select the location of the destination folder for import. It does not let me change circled destination path when I click on it. Nor can I find anyway to change that.

If I click on Create Folder, it will create a folder on OneDrive, which I do not want to do.

Clicking on This PC in the left column doesn't help either.

Thanks for trying to help.

Answer 4

Thanks for your reply. I am not trying to change the destination folder of any user folder; I am trying to change the destination folder in the Photos app. It does not let me change it from the C:\user\myxxx\OneDrive\Pictures.

When I followed your directions, it wants to MOVE what's in the OneDrive\Pictures folder to the folder I picked, which is my Pictures folder on my C: drive. I do not want to do this. I simply want to import my iPhone photos directly to a folder of my choice on my C:drive., and NOT to the unchangeable (evidently default) OneDrive\Pictures folder in the Photos app. Nor do I want to import them to iCloud.

I would think this would be a simple matter, but I guess not or I'm missing something simple.