Windows → iPhone · Step by step

How to transfer 4K and HDR video from a Windows PC to iPhone without losing quality

4K and HDR clips from a Windows PC to iPhone are the files that “sharing” quietly downgrades: a converted or recompressed copy is not the clip you shot. Here is a path that never touches the pixels.

Why this usually goes wrong

Getting files onto an iPhone from Windows means iTunes or the Apple Devices app, iCloud for Windows, or emailing things to yourself. The Apple Devices app syncs rather than copies — what you remove on the PC disappears from the iPhone at the next sync — and anything large has no simple path without the cloud.

Modern phones record HDR (Dolby Vision or HDR10+), 10-bit and 4K at 60 fps; iPhones add ProRes and Log. Share pipelines built for compatibility may convert these on the fly — Apple documents HEVC becoming H.264 when the receiving device does not support it, and messaging apps recompress video sent as media — and the file that arrives is smaller than the one that left. A minute of ProRes 4K is around 6 GB; most paths refuse it outright.

If the copy is smaller than the original, something re-encoded it. A transfer that keeps the size and passes a hash check kept the pixels.

How to do it with ZiggSend

Rather see the screens? Illustrated step by step, with the app screens →
  1. Install ZiggSend on the PC from ziggsend.com/windows.
  2. Install ZiggSend for iPhone from the App Store (free).
  3. Connect once: on the iPhone, tap Connect to a computer, pick the PC under Devices nearby (or tap Scan the QR code) and click Allow on the PC after checking the safety code on both screens.
  4. On the PC, click Send files with ZiggSend open on the iPhone screen (the iPhone only receives with the app open). Photos and videos go to the Photos app, other files to the Files app, all verified byte for byte.

It works in both directions: the same pairing sends from the computer back to the phone.

Measured, not promised. 22 GB in 184 files with 0 failures from an Android to a Mac over a USB 2 cable (about 28 MB/s); an 806 MB video over home Wi-Fi in 46 s; up to 49.7 MB/s over Wi-Fi from a Mac to an iPhone. Every file is checked against the original on arrival. How we measure.

Other ways, and what each one costs you

MethodOriginal qualitySize limitThe catch
iTunes / Apple Devices appYesNoneSyncs, does not copy: what you remove on the PC disappears from the iPhone at the next sync
iCloud for WindowsYesYour iCloud space (5 GB free)Upload, then download on the phone
Email to yourselfYes25 MBUseless for video
WhatsApp WebNo — recompressed as media2 GB as a documentGoes through their servers

What people ask before they trust a transfer app

“I don’t trust my private photos to a site I don’t know.”

Neither do we. ZiggSend has no site in the middle: the file goes from one device to the other over your home Wi-Fi (or, from Android to a Mac, a cable), and no file is stored anywhere else. The computer app only contacts ZiggSend to check for updates, to register a random install ID when it opens and, if you go Pro, to activate the license and check its status once a day; the privacy policy lists exactly what goes out.

“Mine fails at 64% every time.”

A transfer that breaks resumes where it stopped. Every file is written as a temporary part and only gets its final name after the SHA-256 check passes — you never end up with a half file that looks whole.

“I’m out of space and need to empty the phone.”

Move everything to the computer first: only files that pass the SHA-256 check get their final name, and History shows each fingerprint (today’s on Free, all of them on Pro). Then delete on the phone. Originals, no size limit.

Free forever with 1 phone. Pro when you need it.

The phone apps are free. So is the computer app, with one paired phone. Pro — several phones, full history, automatic folders, up to 3 computers — is $39 a year, or $19 once for the first 1,000 founders.

Get ZiggSend for Windows

Questions people actually ask

Can I send a video the Photos app refuses?

Yes. ZiggSend copies the file as is. Formats the Photos app accepts (H.264, HEVC, ProRes in MOV/MP4) go there; anything else goes to the Files app so nothing is lost.

Do I need iTunes on the PC?

No. Nothing from Apple has to be installed on Windows.

Does HDR stay HDR?

Yes. ZiggSend moves the container and streams exactly as recorded — Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 10-bit, ProRes, Log. Nothing is tone-mapped because nothing is decoded.

How long does a 6 GB ProRes clip take?

Over home Wi-Fi, at the 17.5 to 49.7 MB/s we measured, about 2 to 6 minutes. From Android to a Mac over a USB 2 charging cable, at the ~28 MB/s we measured, about 4 minutes. Either way in one piece and verified.

Related guides

Photos from a Windows PC to iPhone in original qualityVideos from a Windows PC to iPhone without compressionLarge files from a Windows PC to iPhone, no size limitTransfer documents and PDFs from a Windows PC to iPhone

Compared with

ZiggSend vs iCloudZiggSend vs WhatsApp