How to Connect a Camera to a PC

Co-authored by Jack Lloyd Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: July 28, 2025 Fact Checked

Connecting your camera to a PC is a surefire way to get your photos transferred into your computer, and it’s quite a quick process! In order to connect your camera to your PC, you'll need to attach the camera's USB cable to both your camera and the PC at the same time while both machines are on.

Steps

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Though the difference in models means this step will vary, most cameras allow you to do this from a dial near the top of the camera.

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Plug the small end of the camera's cable into your camera. Most camera models have a port shaped like the small end of the cable on their body; this port may be hidden under a plastic flap.^{[1]
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- The plastic flap will usually say something to the effect of "Video Out".
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Plug your USB cable into your computer. The USB end is rectangular; it should fit into a port on your computer's side (or CPU for desktop units).^{[2]
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- Keep in mind that the hollow side of the USB end should be on top.
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Wait for your camera's drivers to install. If this is your first time connecting your camera, this may take a few minutes.
- You should see a pop-up window asking what you want to do with the device once the drivers are installed.
This should be under the "Devices and Drives" section.
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Double-click your camera's storage folder. While this may be named any number of things, most modern cameras have a folder entitled "DCIM".^{[3]
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- There might be another folder inside of this one named after the camera brand--for example, "100CANON".^{[4]
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Review your photos. From here, you can do a few things:
- Delete your photos from your camera's memory card.
- Copy your photos to a file on your computer.
- View your photos from within the camera.
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Retrieve your photos as you please. You have successfully connected your camera to a PC!
- Depending on the type of camera you have, you may need to follow a different set of instructions. Some cameras that are more complex, such as a GoPro, may be more challenging to connect other devices.
- Reader Poll: We asked 298 wikiHow readers if it’s easy to connect their GoPro to other devices, and 74% of them agreed that it can be difficult to get the GoPro to connect. [Take Poll]

The Takeaway: Hooking Up a Camera to a Computer

Turn on your camera and plug the small end of the camera’s USB cable into its output port. Then, plug the other end of the cable into your computer’s USB port. Click “My Computer” on your PC’s desktop, click your camera’s name, and then click the camera’s storage folder.

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Question

When you transfer your photos from camera to computer, are the photos gone from the camera?

Community Answer

Most PCs copy photos rather than removing them. If you want to transfer the photos, you'll need to delete them from your camera once they're done copying to your PC.

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Can I film with a digital camera?

Community Answer

Of course you can! Any camera can film videos. Some cameras save videos in a file format that may not be compatible, however, and in that case, you may need a third party app.

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Tips

If you have a camera user manual, it will more than likely tell you where the "video out" port is.

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Camera USB cables are cheap and can be bought at most electronics stores (e.g., Walmart or Best Buy).

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Warnings

If your battery is low, consider charging it before committing to a long photo retrieval/editing process, or you risk losing data if the battery dies.

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