Connect local storage
Use a cable on Mac or a USB-C drive on iPhone. Portage moves originals directly to storage you control — no cloud account, no upload.
Native import app for Mac and iPhone
PortageMove iPhone photos and videos to a drive you own.
Portage copies your originals to an external hard drive or SSD, checks each copy, and enables delete only after the recorded checks pass — with your confirmation. Free up iPhone storage with no cloud upload and no automatic deletes.
- native app
- macOS
- native app
- iOS
- external storage
- SSD
- auto-deletes
- 0
See it work
Watch Portage import, check copies, and delete — deliberately.
One path
Import only what is missing. Delete only what passed the checks.
Import the missing originals
Choose the destination once. Portage reads its manifest, skips what already passed its checks, and imports only the photos and videos that are missing.
Review checks, then delete
Delete is enabled only after the copy exists, Portage's copy checks are recorded, and the manifest lists the imported original. Nothing is removed automatically.
macOS
Portage for Mac
Connect iPhone with cable, choose an external drive, import originals, review the recorded copy checks, and remove imported originals only after confirmation.
iOS
Portage for iPhone
Connect a USB-C SSD, export originals from Photos to the drive, write the same manifest, and delete only imports whose recorded checks passed.
Checks first
Delete stays locked until Portage's checks pass.
Manifest sync checks the selected destination first. Already-imported originals become delete-ready without copying again. Missing originals stay queued for import. Copy checks and their results are recorded in the manifest; they are not a substitute for an independent backup.
Destination file exists
Required
Copy checks recorded
Required
Manifest row is written
Required
User confirms deletion
Required
Questions
How Portage moves iPhone photos, answered.
- What does Portage do?
- Portage is a native Mac and iPhone app that copies your photo and video originals from your iPhone to an external drive or folder you own. It checks each copy, records the results in a manifest, and enables delete only after the checks pass — so you can free up iPhone storage deliberately, not automatically.
- How does Portage move photos off my iPhone?
- On Mac, connect your iPhone with a cable and choose a destination drive; Portage imports the originals over USB. On iPhone, connect a USB-C SSD and export originals from Photos straight to the drive. Either way it records what was copied in a manifest.
- Will Portage delete my photos automatically?
- No. Portage never auto-deletes. Delete stays locked until the destination file exists, the recorded copy checks pass, and the manifest records the import. Even then, you have to confirm the deletion yourself.
- Does Portage upload my photos to the cloud?
- No. Portage copies originals directly to local storage you control — an external SSD, USB-C drive, or folder. There is no cloud account, no upload, and your files never leave your devices.
- Does Portage transfer full-quality originals?
- Yes. Portage moves the original files — full-resolution photos and videos — not compressed or re-encoded copies. Every import is existence-checked, and the results are recorded in the manifest. On Mac, copied files are also compared against the source size reported by the device and re-checked before delete. On iPhone, export does not expose the original's byte size, so Portage records the measured size of the written file and re-verifies the destination against that recorded size before delete. These checks confirm a copy exists at the expected size; they do not compare file contents.
- Why are fewer items shown than my iPhone reports?
- Items in iCloud, Hidden, Shared Library, or Recently Deleted may not be exposed over cable. Portage imports and records what your device makes available, and lists exactly what was copied in the manifest.
For step-by-step walkthroughs, read the transfer and deletion guides.
Native apps
Mac and iPhone apps for the same careful import workflow.
Portage is for people who want originals on their own drive, with a manifest that records what was copied before anything can be removed.