How to Send Videos from Laptop to iPhone iPad

Question: “I want to transfer videos from my laptop to my newly bought iPhone, but after trying to use iTunes, can’t sync, what can I do to solve this issue and copy files to my device? “

When we go out for a long trip, we’d like to import some movies/videos to the iPhone or iPad for killing time. iTunes might be the first option that comes to your mind, but you should know that there are some restrictions on it:

• The previous videos on iPhone will be wiped instead by the new items.
• Some iDevice incompatible videos cannot be synced or played on your iPhone or iPad like AVI, WMA, or WKV.
• The single-way syncing mode will not allow you to transfer videos back to the laptop.

In this guide, we will first show you the typical way how to copy videos from your laptop to your iPhone with iTunes, and in the end, we also show you how to do that without iTunes (with an iTunes alternative).

Before we start, we need to claim that this post works for all kinds of iPhones and computers.

• Supported iPhone: iPhone 5/5s, iPhone SE, iPhone 6/6s (Plus), iPhone 7 (Plus), iPhone 8 (Plus), iPhone X/XS (Max)/XR
• Supported Computer/Laptop: Windows XP/7/8/10, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac

Part 1. How to Transfer Videos from PC to iPhone via AnyTrans

AnyTrans is said to be the most powerful iTunes alternative program that makes syncing data easy and quick. It manages to transfer videos from laptop to iPhone/iPad/iPod touch without erasing data. You won’t need to worry that the videos cannot be added or played on your iDevice for it automatically convert the videos (AVI, WMA, MKV, FLV, etc.) to iPhone supported format.

Step 1. Download AnyTrans and run it on the laptop. Connect your iPhone to your computer. Choose Device Manager to manage your iPhone content by category.

Step 2. Click Videos > Select Movies/Home Videos/TV Shows or other folders.

Step 3. Click “+” at the upper-right menu bar. Select videos and click Open to transfer all selected videos from laptop to iPhone.

Part 2. How to Transfer Videos from Laptop to iPhone via iTunes

iTunes is the officially recommended tool for Apple users to manage media data. You can also purchase movies and TV series through iTunes. To transfer iTunes purchased videos to iPhone, you just need to sync iTunes videos with your iPhone or directly download the video from iTunes Store on iPhone. Here we will focus more on how to transfer the videos stored on your computer to iPhone with iTunes. Let’s check the detailed steps:

Download the latest version of iTunes and open it > Plug in your iPhone.

1. Click the Device tab > Summary > Select Manually manage music and videos in Options > Click on Apply.
2. Click on File > Click Add to Library… > Select the videos you want to sync.
3. Choose Movies > Select Sync Movies > Click on Apply to put movies on iPhone.

Part 3. Transfer Videos from Laptop to iPhone with Cloud Drive

Thanks to the development of cloud technology, now we have more options to store as well as transfer content. To transfer videos from laptop to iPhone, we could also seek help from the cloud drive. Here we will take Dropbox as an example to show you how to do it wirelessly.

1. Open any web browser and navigate to the Dropbox site.
2. Sign to the Dropbox account by entering the login credential. If you don’t have one, create it firstly by clicking on the Signup button.
3. Click on the Upload Files in the top right corner of the screen.
4. A popup will appear for you to choose what you want to add to Dropbox. Select the videos you need and hit the Open option to upload to Dropbox. You can also drag and drop the file on the Dropbox web interface to upload videos to Dropbox.
5. Download the Dropbox app on your iPhone and log in with the same account. Now you could check the videos you have uploaded on your iPhone.

The Bottom Line

If you have downloaded AnyTrans and followed all steps above, after transferring, you could find videos on your iPhone Videos app. As you can see, it is very simple to use AnyTrans to transfer videos or movies from laptop to iPhone.

AnyTrans also guarantees you 100% Safe & Security. During this process, all the contents on your iPhone will be kept safe, and you won’t lose any data or files. Welcome any comments about how to transfer iPhone videos without iTunes. If this guide helped you, please share it with the people around you.