Unable to Load Photo on iPhone? Try These Fixes

If your iPhone is displaying the error “Unable to Load Photo”, you probably can’t view photos or videos when you open the Photos app.

Fortunately, this can be a relatively easy problem to fix. We’ll go through all the possible reasons why your iPhone is unable to load photos and how to fix the problem. 

Restarting iPhone fixes many issues, and almost all temporary errors will be resolved after rebooting. Restarting your iPhone gives your device a fresh start and empties the RAM.

To restart your device, follow the steps below: 

For iPhone X and later:

1. Press and hold the Volume Up or Volume Down button and Side/Power button.
2. Drag the slider to power off your device and wait at least 10 seconds.
3. Press and hold the Side/Power button until the Apple logo appears.

For iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, 6, and 6 Plus.

1. Press and hold the Side/Power button.
2. Drag the slider to power off the device and wait at least 10 seconds.
3. Press and hold the Side/Power button until the Apple logo appears.

Alternatively, you can force restart your iPhone if you have trouble restarting it.

When your iPhone storage is full, it can block you from opening and loading high-resolution photos.

It is recommended to store all your photos on iCloud and upgrade your plan to iCloud+ because iCloud has 5GB of free storage by default, and you need to expand the capacity. 

If you’re not a fan of iCloud, there’re more options out there for you. We’ve curated a list of the best cloud storage services out there to help you figure out which one you should use.

Anyway, follow the steps below to check your iPhone storage:

1. First, head to the Settings app.

2. Open General.

3. Tap on iPhone Storage.

4. Check how much free space you have on your iPhone. 

To check your iCloud storage, follow the steps below:

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap on your name.

3. Open iCloud.

4. Check how much free space you have on iCloud.

5. If you don’t have enough space, go to Manage Storage and change your storage plan to iCloud+.

For iPhone X and later:

1. Swipe up the gesture area at the bottom of the screen.
2. Then, move your finger to the center of the page until you see the multitasking interface.

3. Swipe right or left to find the Photos app and swipe upwards to close the app.

When you encounter this error, turning off Low Data Mode to use data at its full strength and capacity is best. 

To turn off Low Data Mode on your iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings. 

2. Open Cellular.

3. Go to Mobile Data Options.

4. Turn Low Data Mode off.

If you use a Wi-Fi network, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Settings.

2. Open Wi-Fi.

3. Go to Wi-Fi settings.

4. Turn off Low Data Mode.

Unable to Load Photo may appear on your iPhone if you restrict your iPhone to using Wi-Fi exclusively.

Therefore, you need to allow cellular data to download and synchronize files and photos. Follow the steps below:

1. Open Settings.

2. Go to Photos.

3. Select Cellular Data.

4. Turn on Cellular Data.

In addition to the Cellular Data option for downloading and synchronizing photos and videos, Unlimited Updates is another feature that allows your device to upload and download photos and videos without any limitations. You can turn it on after you activate Cellular Data.

When enabling this feature, Apple warns you that the Low Power Mode may affect some features and slow them down or turn them off. This will also pause downloading and synchronizing iCloud photos. 

If you encounter an Unable to Load Photos error, you can try turning off the Low Power Mode and check if the problem has been resolved or not.

To do this follow the steps below:

1. Open Settings.

2. Then, choose Battery.

3. Turn off Low Power Mode.

1. Open the Photos app in Settings.

2. Long-press the photo (or video) and tap Delete from Library. 

3. After that, select Delete Photo.

4. Choose Album from the bottom of the page in the Photos app.

5. Scroll down the page and open Recently Deleted.

6. Long-press on the deleted photo and tap on Recover.

7. Now, go back to your photos and check to see if the issue has been fixed.

Logging out and logging back into your iCloud account can fix this problem. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Settings. 

2. Tap on your name.

3. Scroll down the page and tap Sign Out.

4. Then, tap on Sign Out of iCloud.

5. Now, log back in by tapping the Apple ID.

6. Enter your username and password.

If Optimize iPhone Storage is turned on, downloading high-quality photos may fail due to the limit it applies. Turning this feature off may help you fix the problem. 

This is unusual, but it may cause the issue. Follow the steps below:

1. First, head to Settings.

2. Tap on Photos.

3. Next, choose Optimize iPhone Storage.

Note that, if you disabled iCloud Photos in your iPhone, you would not have Optimize iPhone Storage option. 

Here’s how to update iOS on your iPhone:

1. Launch the Settings app. 

2. The, open General. 

3. Tap on Software Update.

1. Open www.icloud.com

2. Enter your Apple ID and Password.

3. Click on Photos. 

All your photos, including videos, will be there.

They will get in touch with you via iMessage and ask you for all the information needed to solve your problem. 

Final thoughts on “Unable to Load Photo” on iPhone

The “Unable to Load Photo” error on your iPhone may cause for different reasons. Whatever the cause, the solutions listed above should help you in resolving the issue.

Low Power Mode is a common culprit, so make sure you’ve deactivated it before trying more sophisticated solutions.

If you know of any other troubleshooting methods for getting your iPhone to load photos again, feel free to let us know via the comment section below.