iPhone Unable to Load Photo Files? 7 Possible Solutions

Finding difficulty accessing the Photos app on iPhone? Don’t worry; you aren’t alone. Users normally face the same problem and receive the error message iPhone unable to load photo. Apparently, several images failed to load properly. 

This is a common issue, and you can fix it easily by trying different workarounds. Sometimes, restarting the iPhone works wonders in resolving Photos loading issues. 

Since you don’t know the actual reason behind the problem and what works for you, it’s good to learn viable ways to get rid of it. So, let’s have a look at these troubleshooting tips. 

Force Quit & Launch Photos

Similar to any other smartphone device, applications do crash on iPhones. The Photos app is no exception. Even though there is no single way that can tell if the app has failed, you need to take note of the symptoms. 

If you fail to load photo files on your iPhone, there might be a temporary issue, so force-quit and then relaunch Photos. Before you force-quit the app, check if any other apps are active and running in the background and close all of them. 

Copy Photo From Another Device 

When you are not able to open and check any image on your iPhone, check if the same picture is available on any other Apple device, such as your iPad or Mac. Since the availability of multiple digital devices has made us accustomed to storing duplicates, this is possible. 

If you can find the photo on any of your Apple devices, use the AirDrop feature to share the file wirelessly. You need to enable AirDrop on both devices, and it works the same way as BlueTooth on Android. Plus, you don’t need internet access to airdrop photo files.  

Check iPhone & iCloud Storage 

If you have choked your iPhone storage, you won’t be able to access Photos or any other resource-consuming app. This is normal with users who are not using iCloud+; the chances are that you have already exhausted the stipulated 5GB iCloud storage.

To check your iPhone storage, go to Settings, tap General, and then click iPhone Storage. Take note of the storage space left on the device from the top of the screen. If your phone’s storage is full, take out time to delete duplicate photos and unnecessary files. 

Disable Power-Saver Mode

In an attempt to reduce battery drain, you might have turned on the power-saving mode of late. Turning on the power mode on the iPhone may affect several features and functionalities. You may also notice that it lags when you are trying to watch a video or someone calls. 

Turning on the low power mode may help you in several ways, such as saving battery, but it also has some downsides. So turn off the power mode as it may help you resolve the photo file error, and the Photos app may display properly. 

Log Out & Log In to Apple ID

Sometimes, signing out and then signing back into the Apple ID helps resolve technical glitches on the iPhone. This may not be a viable solution to fix the error that says iPhone unable to load photo files, but you can try as it can help you get rid of the issue. 

Go to Settings, click Apple ID and tap Sign Out. Further, to sign in to your Apple ID, tap on the Apple ID banner displayed on the top and select Sign In. Now, try to load the picture to check if it loads properly. 

Update Your iOS Version 

Upgrading or updating the operating system is one of the most practical ways to fix any issues on digital devices. Sometimes, the iOS version you are using conflicts with various apps on the iPhone, and it begins to display errors all of a sudden. 

When any or all of the photos that you have stored in Photos won’t open, the app might become incompatible. Updating the latest iOS version can help. Before you update, make sure you have a full backup available so that you can restore data if anything wrong occurs.  

Deactivate Storage Optimization

When you enable storage optimization on photos, the phone slides the high-resolution photos to iCloud. Only low-resolution photos are kept stored on the local media. As a result, when you try to download a photo from iCloud, it may fail to load. 

So deactivate the storage optimization option for images on iPhone. To do this, navigate to Settings, click Photos, and then tap the Optimise iPhone Storage option. If you see a checkmark on Photos listed under Settings, remove it to get rid of the problem. 

The Conclusion 

Apart from the above-mentioned workaround methods, you can contact Apple Support and ask for assistance. Don’t try to do anything on your own if you are a beginner or a novice user. Having a backup helps restore data to the device after a sudden event of data loss. So, make sure you have a backup available with you.