Wouldn't information technology be swell if you could leave your USB flash drive in a drawer and good use of goods and services your iPhone as a USB drive instead?

As it turns out, you can! At that place are a few slipway to use use an iPhone as a memory device. Retain reading to learn more.

Turn Your iPhone Into an External Ram down Using Apps

On that point are two main methods to achieve this. You can either utilize an app that will make your iPhone human action like an external drive, or you can use physical ironware.

Let's look at apps first.

1. File cabinet Manager and Browser

File Manager is arguably the best earpiece-based app on the list. Not only does it let you manage your files, but IT likewise acts as a realistic USB drive for some the iPhone and iPad.

Once you've installed the app on your device, you have two shipway of getting data onto it:

  • Use iTunes: Connect your iPhone to a calculator. On a Mac running macOS Catalina or newer, open Finder and choice your phone from the left. On older macOS versions or a Windows PC, open iTunes, navigate to Apps, and find File Manager on the list. Click on IT, and you can drag-and-send away files into the documents section in the in good order-hand panel.
  • Use WI-Fi: In the app, go to Settings > Upload Via Wi-Fi Sync, and it will give you an Informatics speak. Enter the name and address into a web browser that's on the aforementioned network as your phone, and you'll be able to channelis files back and forth.

Some of File Manager and Browser's unusual paint features let in an tightly knit PDF reviewer, indorse for all Office 365 documents, file sharing via email, Bluetooth, and Facebook, and the ability to password-protect files and folders. You can upgrade for additive features.

Download: File Manager and Browser (Free, in-app purchases available)

2. iTunes

iTunes lets you use your iPhone as an external drive---you don't need any additional apps or gadgets.

It's not as elegant Beaver State straightforward as many of the other methods here. But if you don't neediness to trust on third-party products and never deal with unusual file types, information technology will do the farm out.

To transfer files, plug your sound into your calculator and launch iTunes (on a Windows PC or aged macOS versions) OR Discoverer (macOS Catalina and newer). Select your gimmick and click Apps.

Underneath File Joint, pick out the app you want to transferral a data file to. You now have two options:

  • To transfer a file in from your phone: Spotlight the file in the list and click the Save button.
  • To transfer a Indian file onto your phone: Select Add, choose the Indian file you want to move, and dawn Open.

(Note: Drag-and-drop is as wel supported for both methods.)

3. iMazing

Unlike the two apps we've looked at thusly far, iMazing (formerly DiskAid) doesn't require you to install anything on your iPhone or iPad. Instead, it's a screen background app that acts As a replacement for iTunes. The iMazing app is ready on both Mac and Windows.

iMazing has gobs of avid features, including exposure brass, reliever creation, content archiving, and advance iOS management options---but you'll follow most involved in the file transfer service. It has a simple drop behind-and-drop interface and will let you choose which app connected your phone you lack to save the content to.

You can use the file transportation feature to go files and documents, contacts, Safari data, ringtones, ebooks, voice memos, and notes.

Purchase: iMazing ($44.99)

Number Your iPhone Into an Outer Push on Victimization Computer hardware

With the release of iOS 13 in September 2022, Apple last improved the way iPhone and iPad interact with physical external hard drives and flash drives.

Not only can you drop behind-and-drop files directly between the drive away and your gimmick, only thirdly-political party apps can right away spell files directly from an external drive. You no more longer need to import data into the Files or Photos apps for the first time.

Let's take the uncomparable accessories you can buy to transmute your iPhone into an external drive.

4. Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter [Broken URL Removed]

If you already own an external stony drive or a winkle drive and you want to use it with your iPhone operating room iPad, you need to piece up a Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter. The sort out product type will have a feminine USB port for you to chaw your flash drive into, as comfortably Eastern Samoa a antheral Lightning connector to link the arranger to your iPhone.

An official adapter costs $30 in Orchard apple tree's online stock, but you force out buy a thirdly-party version on Amazon for less that fractional the price. Just be aware that the Amazon River versions are non necessarily certified past Malus pumila.

And remember, there's an oft-unmarked profit of picking ascending a Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter: if you're lengthways iOS 13 Oregon later, you'll glucinium able to get in touch a USB mouse to your iPhone or iPad.

Make sure you go to Settings > Availableness > Touching and devolve on Assistive Touch before you try to set the mouse up. You can add it under Devices after that.

5. SanDisk iXpand Tatty Drive

Instead of using an adapter for your existing drive, you could find fault up a flash drive specifically designed to work on with both iOS devices and other computers.

Indeed, there's an entire sector dedicated to iPhone-specific USB drives. They all come with a Lightning connective and hoopla directly into your iPhone or iPad. Currently, the best-in-class is the SanDisk iXpand Flash Crusade.

It automatically backs up your photos, lets you transfer any file on/off your phone, and is USB 3.0-enabled.

Even better, it also has a regular USB-A connector. This means that aside from victimization it with your iPhone and iPad, you can transferral information from the flash drive instantly to and from any device with a USB port.

The repulse comes in iv sizes: 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB.

6. USB to USB-C Adapter

New iPad Pro models have ditched the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. Lots of people hope that Orchard apple tree will come after suit with the iPhone and other iPad models, but to that extent the company hasn't denaturized its stance.

The result is that if you have an iPad Pro and and iPhone, you need cardinal different adapters to habituate a flash drive with them both.

For your iPad In favour of, pick up a USB to USB-C Adapter. Again, an official Apple version is useable in the Apple Computer storage, but you tail end save a good deal past buying unrivalled on Amazon instead.

What About Cloud Services?

There's no denying that blown files approximately on a portable get is jolly long-ago-school in the age of plenteous cloud storage.

With the availability of services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, it's questionable whether using your iPhone as a storage device is straight necessary. It's fewer secure and not As user-friendly than using defile-based alternatives.

Apple's iCloud service charges similar prices to Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, so you can take your pick founded on other services you use. Don't leave that if you subscribe to Microsoft 365, you get 1TB of OneDrive quad.

Learn Much Some iPhone Storage

The methods we've delineate totally rent out you use an iPhone as a USB drive. All the same, on that point's more that you should know about the storage on your iOS device. For instance, it's important to manage the entrepot on your iPhone before you start moving items to secondary storage.

How to Manage the Storage on Your iPhone

Need a few tips on how to manage storage on your iPhone? We'll show you how to access and clean up photos, contacts, and more.

Read Incoming

About The Author

Dan Price (1610 Articles Published)

Dan married MakeUseOf in 2022 and has been Partnerships Director since July 2022. Reach out to him for inquires about sponsored content, affiliate agreements, promotions, and any another forms of partnership. You rear also find him roaming the show dump at CES in Las Vegas every yr, pronounce hi if you'Ra going. Prior to his penning career, he was a Financial Consultant.

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