Where apps hide your files
Image Capture has no library of its own. Photos land in an ordinary folder, the one named in the Import To menu at the bottom left of its window, so the answer is always a quick look away.
Open Image Capture (it is in /System/Applications, or press ⌘Space and type its name), select your camera or iPhone in the sidebar, and look at the bottom of the window. The Import To pop-up menu names the destination folder. Commonly that is:
~/PicturesApple's guide does not name a default; it says you choose a suggested folder or app from the menu, or Other to pick any folder. The menu shows whatever was chosen last, so it can be your Desktop, a folder on an external drive or anywhere else. Treat the menu as the truth, not the default.
The files are plain image and video files. There is no package and no database, so Finder and Quick Look work on them directly.
The same menu can also send the items to an app, or to MakePDF or Build Web Page. Apple's guide says a web page made that way is placed in a new folder with a unique name inside your Pictures folder.
Guides also show a Make subfolders per camera option, and the setting is present in macOS Sequoia. When it is on, each device gets its own subfolder inside the destination, which is why imports sometimes seem to vanish into a folder named after your iPhone. If you cannot see a photo where you expect it, look for a folder named after the device.
When you plug in an iPhone, macOS can open Photos or Image Capture automatically. Apple's guide puts the choice under the Action button in the Image Capture toolbar: select the device, click Action, and use the Connecting this iPhone opens menu (the wording names your device). If you want files in a folder and not in the Photos library, choose Image Capture there. Photos imports go into the Photos library package under ~/Pictures, a different place entirely, covered in the related posts.
iPhone photos usually arrive as .HEIC or .JPG files, with videos as .MOV. Names follow the phone's counter, such as IMG_1234. Apple's guide notes that a Live Photo downloads as two files, a still image and a video, so keep the pair together if you move them.
The Action button also holds Keep originals, where the device supports it. Users report that it controls whether HEIC photos keep their original format or are converted to JPEG during import; Apple's guide does not spell this out, so try one photo first if the format matters.
If iCloud Photos is on with Optimise iPhone Storage, the phone may hold only reduced copies of older photos. Image Capture can import only what the phone itself has stored, so it will not list items that live only in iCloud.
Delete after import is also under the Action button. It removes the photos from the camera or phone once they are copied. By default, Apple says, items you download remain on your device. Leave it off until you have checked the files in the destination and have a backup, because there is no undo on the device side.
Imports accumulate. A burst of 4K video fills a folder quickly, so sort the destination by Size in Finder's list view to find the heavy items, and move what you do not need to the Trash in Finder. Nothing here needs special care, because Image Capture keeps no library of what it imported.
Because the files are ordinary, copy the destination folder to another drive, or let Time Machine handle it. If you chose a folder on an external drive, connect the drive before the next import. If it is missing, Image Capture reports that the import folder is not available and asks you to pick a new one.
The thumbnail or list view lets you select individual items with ⌘-click, or a range with ⇧-click, before you download. This helps when a phone holds years of photos and you only want last weekend. The list view shows names and dates, which makes picking by date easy.
After an import, open the destination in Finder and sort by Date Added. Everything you just brought in is grouped at the top, whatever the original capture date was. Skipping this check is how people delete from the phone and then discover the folder was not the one they expected.
Spotlight does find files in ~/Pictures, but it does not help when you imported to a hidden or external location, or when you cannot remember the folder. Names such as IMG_4821.HEIC are also easy to forget.
Imports commonly land in ~/Pictures, on the Desktop or on an external drive, and macOS walls all three off from other apps until you grant Full Disk Access. Give Everywhere that access when it asks, and typing the start of an IMG_ number gets you the file wherever Image Capture put it, with ⌘↵ revealing the folder it landed in. It matches names, not what is pictured.
In the folder shown in the Import To menu at the bottom of its window, often Pictures. It shows your last choice, so check the menu rather than assuming a default.
Select your device, open the Import To menu and choose Pictures, another suggested folder, or Other to browse. The choice is remembered for next time.
In Image Capture, select the iPhone, set Import To to a folder and click Download All (Import All in some versions). Photos stored only in iCloud will not appear.
The Make subfolders per camera option puts each device in its own subfolder inside the destination. Turn it off if you want the files directly in the folder.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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