How to ‘Airdrop’ to External Hard Drive from iPhone/iPad/iPod

To copy photos  from an iPad to an external hard drive with iOS 13

Hi, everyone. Does anyone know if with the iOS 13, can one copy photos and videos from iPad Pro to an external hard drive with USB-C?

- Question from MacRumors forums

Why do you want to airdrop to an external hard drive?

It seems that the iPhone storage space is never enough even if it’s getting larger and larger. Therefore, you may choose to transfer the files from iPhone to an external hard drive for its larger storage capacity, faster read and write speed, and longer life, so that you can free up storage space on your iPhone and backup iPhone to external hard drive at the same time.

Can I use Airdrop to transfer photos between iPhone and external hard drive?

Airdrop is designed by Apple to transfer files between Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, and Macbook wirelessly. It can only function on the Apple device. So actually you can't directly airdrop photos between iDevice and external disk. But don't worry, there are actually many ways to transfer iPhone pictures to an external disk easily.  

In this guide, you will get three ways to transfer/airdrop to external hard drive from iPhone, iPad, or iPod either with a computer or directly.

• Part 1. Transfer files from iPhone to external hard drive using a computer
  • Easiest way to directly files from iPhone to external hard drive on Windows
  • How to import files from iPhone to external hard drive on Mac
• Part 2. How to transfer directly from iPhone to external hard drive without computer
• Conclusion

Part 1. Transfer files from iPhone to external hard drive using a computer

The way to transfer/airdrop files to USB differs from the type of computer you’re using. Here are the details.

Easiest directly transfer files from iPhone to external hard drive on Windows

You may wonder if there is airdrop for Window available so that you can ‘airdrop’ data from iPhone to an external disk on Windows. FoneTool is a powerful tool for you to directly transfer files between iOS devices to an external HDD, SSD, USB drive, etc. on a Windows PC.

The features and advantages of FoneTool
✓ Fast speed. It just takes 2 seconds to transfer 100 photos from iPhone to computer.
✓ Selective process. You can preview and select the files you want to transfer to a hard drive.
✓ No data loss. It won’t compress the size of the files during transfer. You won’t lose anything on your iPhone, either.
✓ Wide compatibility. FoneTool supports kinds of models of iPhone, iPad, and iPod. It’s also perfectly compatible with all HDD, SSD, and other external storage devices.

Detailed steps to transfer/airdrop files to external hard drive via FoneTool

Step 1. Click the icon below to download and install FoneTool on your computer > Connect both iPhone and the external hard drive to computer with USB cables.

Step 2. Launch FoneTool > Click Phone Transfer > Locate iPhone to PC and click Start Transfer.

Step 3. Click the “+” icon to preview and select the files you want to transfer.

Step 4. Here you can choose photos, music, videos, contacts to transfer, and select the specific items. Then click "OK".

Step 5. Make sure you select all wanted items> Choose the connected external disk as the storage destination from Transfer Settings and click Start Transfer.

In addition, FoneTool also provides comprehensive backup solutions. You can turn to the Selective Backup to backup messages, music, contacts, videos, etc to computer/external hard drive. And the Full Backup feature enabling you create a full iPhone backup.

How to import files from iPhone to external hard drive on Mac

If you are using a Mac, you can airdrop your files to your Macbook. Then save the files to your external disk.

1. On your iPhone, tap and hold the file you need. Choose the Share icon. 

2. Choose Airdrop. Then choose your Macbook to airdrop. 

3. After a while, the file will be transferred on your Mac. Save it on the connected external hard drive.

Additional content: Transfer iPhone to external hard drive

If you are sending photos to external hard drive, airdrop also works, but it probably is not the ideal choice. Because it takes a lots of to send a large number of pictures. So, if you are transferring photos from iPhone to Mac. The built-in Photos app can help you. Follow the steps to make it.

Step 1. Plugin your iPhone and external hard drive > Open Photos on your Mac.

Step 2. Click Import > From A USB device > Click Import Settings.

Step 3. Set your external hard drive as the destination to save these files, and you also need to check whether you need to delete the files after the process >Click Done to continue.

Step 4. Select files you want to transfer > Click Import Selected to start the task.

Part 2. How to airdrop directly from iPhone to external hard drive

Don’t be frustrated if you don’t have a computer available. Chances are that you can transfer airdrop directly from iPhone to external hard drive.

Firstly, make sure the iOS on your iPhone is 13 or later. If necessary, you can go to Settings > General > Software Update to update to the latest iOS. You also need to prepare a lightning to USB 3 Camera Adaptor to connect your iPhone and the external hard drive. Now, follow the steps below to ‘airdrop’ iPhone photos directly to external hard drive.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to the external hard drive. Go to File app on your iPhone and tap Browse to check if the external hard drive has been detected.

Step 2. Go to Photos app > Select the wanted photos > Tap Share button in the bottom left corner.

Step 3. Choose Save to Files > On My iPhone > Select the external hard drive as the destination > Tap Save.

Repeat the steps above, and you can save more types of files to the USB.

Conclusion

Hopefully, no matter if you have a computer or not, you can transfer/airdrop to external hard drive with one of the three methods successfully. If this guide helps you out, share it with more people.