How To Access iOS Voice Memos On Windows 10
iOS is a closed operating system that makes it incredibly difficult to manage files on an iPhone or an iPad. You can’t freely save or access files on your device. You always have to go through an app. The only exception is photos and videos. These you can access directly from any app, and from your device’s storage on your desktop. Voice memos are locked out too which means you cannot access them on your desktop like you can the photos and videos. Here’s how you can access iOS voice memos on Windows 10.
Files & iCloud Drive
Apple added a new app in iOS 11 called Files. It’s where you can save files to your iCloud drive, and view and access them. If you want to access iOS voice memos on Windows 10, you can save them to the Files app.
Open the Voice Memo app and tap the more options button under a voice memo. Select the Share option from the menu that opens. On the share sheet, tap Save to Files. Select a folder to save the voice memo to.
Next, visit iCloud on your desktop via any internet browser. Log in with your Apple ID and go to the iCloud Drive you see on the dashboard. Open the folder you saved the voice memo to, and download it.
iTunes Sync
The problem with using iCloud to get iOS voice memos on Windows 10 is that you have to upload them one by one. Since you already have an iPhone (or an iPad), you must also have iTunes.
You can sync your voice memos via iTunes and access them all from the desktop.
Connect your iPhone to your PC. Open iTunes and wait for it to detect your iPhone. Go to your device, and select Music under the Settings section from the column on the left. Enable the ‘Include voice memos’ option, and then sync your iPhone data to your desktop.
Once it finishes syncing, go to Music library on iTunes. Here, you will see all your voice memos listed with your songs. Right-click a memo, and select ‘Open in Windows Explorer’ to access the file.
Both the above methods work on the Mac as well. Though Macs and iPhones are both Apple products, the restrictions that prevent Windows users from accessing the voice memos directly from the iPhone’s storage also prevent the same for Mac users.
In addition to the above methods, you can use other iTune alternative apps to access iOS voice memos on Windows 10 and on macOS.
