Support

Most problems are solved in a minute. Start here, and if you’re still stuck, email us.

Common questions

My iPhone isn’t showing up on my PC

Unlock your iPhone and keep it on the home screen while you plug it in. If it asks Trust This Computer? tap Trust, and if it asks to allow access to photos and videos, tap Allow. Still nothing? Unplug, wait a few seconds and plug it back in. A different cable or USB port can help too.

I tapped Allow and everything froze

Occasionally an iPhone stops responding to Windows just after you tap Allow, and File Explorer can freeze too. It isn’t harmful. Unplug your iPhone, wait a few seconds and plug it back in. If it keeps asking for Allow and freezing again, restart your iPhone, then plug it in and tap Allow once more.

I tapped Don’t Allow by mistake

Unplug your iPhone, plug it back in and unlock it. It will ask again; tap Allow.

Not all my photos are showing up

Sometimes an iPhone only shares part of its library the first time it’s plugged in. Plug & Keep warns you when a scan finds fewer files than last time. Unplug, plug back in and scan again.

If you use iCloud Photos with Optimise iPhone Storage, some originals live only in iCloud and aren’t on the phone itself. On your iPhone, choose Settings → Apps → Photos → Download and Keep Originals first, then offload.

My photos are .HEIC files and won’t open

HEIC is the iPhone’s high-quality photo format. Windows opens it once you install Microsoft’s free HEIF Image Extensions. Prefer JPEG? On your iPhone, open Settings → Apps → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC. Keep Originals gives you the original files exactly as taken; Automatic converts them.

Does it delete anything from my iPhone?

Never. Plug & Keep only reads from your iPhone. When you’re happy your photos are safe on your PC, you can delete them from the phone yourself to free up space.

Can I stop part way through?

Yes. Press Stop, close the app or unplug the phone. Files already copied are complete and safe. Next time, Plug & Keep skips them and carries on from where it stopped.

Can I save to an external drive?

Yes, choose any folder on any drive. Some USB sticks are formatted as FAT32, which can’t hold files over 4 GB, such as long videos. Plug & Keep checks this before it starts and tells you.

Where are my photos?

In the folder you chose, sorted by year and month, for example 2025 › 2025-06 June. The app shows the folder while it copies and has an Open folder button when it’s done.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected] and tell us what happened. If the app showed an error, a screenshot of it helps us fix things fast.