How To Upload To Google Drive Via Cable

Android file transfer: How to movement data between your phone and reckoner

Moving files between your Android device and a Windows PC, Mac, or Chromebook doesn't have to be difficult — or dependent on any cloud services.

JR Raphael By

Contributing Editor, Computerworld |

Tabular array of Contents

Android file transfers for Windows computers
Android file transfers for Mac computers
Android file transfers for Chrome Bone computers
Don't like cables?

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Your smartphone is a powerful computer in your pocket — and with Android, part of that PC-like muscle means being able to plug your telephone into any Windows, Mac, or Chrome Os system and then drag and drop files either way.

Unlike iPhones, Android devices allow you to access their file systems straight from a desktop, without the need for whatever cumbersome interfaces or complicated procedures. In fact, transferring files to or from an Android device is basically no dissimilar than plugging an external hard drive into your computer and moving data to or from it.

All you need is your telephone, your computer, and a cable to connect 'em — with micro-USB or USB-C on the phone side and USB-A or USB-C on the computer side, depending on the specifics of your devices. (About current Android phones use USB-C, whereas most pre-2016 devices have the older micro-USB standard. USB-A, meanwhile, is the traditional connector port yous're used to seeing on computers, though more and more models now also offer USB-C.) At that place's a decent chance that the same cablevision that connects your phone to its wall charger will work.

Got it? Practiced. Here's what y'all need to do adjacent, depending on whether you have a Windows, macOS, or Chrome OS system:

Android file transfers for Windows computers

With Windows, things are every bit simple equally tin exist. Simply plug your phone into any open up USB port on the estimator, and then turn on your phone'south screen and unlock the device.

Swipe your finger downward from the top of the screen, and you lot should encounter a notification about the current USB connection. At this betoken, it'll probably tell you your telephone is connected only for charging.

android file transfer usb notification — After you connect your telephone to your calculator, a notification will let you prepare it for transferring files.

Tap the notification and select "Transfer files" or "File transfer" in the menu that appears. If media files are all you're planning to move, you could besides use the "Transfer photos" (sometimes listed as "PTP") option, which'll care for your phone similar a digital camera. One time you've made your selection, go to your desktop and open up a File Explorer window using the method that makes the most sense for your Windows configuration:

Click the File Explorer icon in your taskbar
Open the Start bill of fare and click This PC or Calculator
Click the This PC, Computer, or My Calculator icon on your desktop

Then look for an icon representing your phone alongside other portable devices and drives. Click or double-click that icon, and ta-da! You're staring at your Android phone's internal storage. You tin now click around and browse folders, elevate and driblet files betwixt your phone and PC, or manipulate the data in whatever way you want.

android file transfer windows — Your Android phone'due south storage looks like any regular hard drive when viewed from a reckoner.

Android file transfers for Mac computers

Got a Mac? The Android file transfer process is a bit more complicated for you — just fear non, for information technology'south still pretty darn piece of cake.

The main deviation is that before things volition piece of work, you'll need to download and install an official Google program called Android File Transfer. To use the program, your Mac must be running macOS x.7 or afterwards, and your Android device must have Android iii.0 or later — something that should pretty much be a given with whatever reasonably contempo Android production.

In one case the program's in place on your Mac, merely plug your phone into your figurer, turn on your phone's screen and unlock the device, and so look for the same USB condition notification described above.

Tap the notification and select "Transfer files" or "File transfer." The Android File Transfer program should and then automatically open on your Mac, and you should be able to scan your phone'south storage and transfer files to your heart's content.

If the official Android File Transfer program doesn't work well for you — a vexingly mutual complaint among Mac users these days — consider the favorably reviewed tertiary-party Commander 1 Pro as an alternative. It costs $30 for a single license, $100 for a five-user team license, or $150 for a 50-user company license.

Or — well, skip downwards to the concluding department of this story for one other choice.

Android file transfers for Chrome Bone computers

You'd wait file transfers between Android phones and Chromebooks to be as unproblematic as can be, considering that Google's the driving force behind both of those operating systems — and by golly, you'd exist absolutely correct.

Just like on a Windows system, all you've gotta do to connect your Android telephone to a Chromebook is plug information technology into whatsoever open USB port, so tap the USB charging notification on the phone and select either "Transfer files" or "File transfer" from the prompt that appears — or select "Transfer photos" or "PTP" if you desire your phone to be treated like a photographic camera, with a focus exclusively on multimedia files.

In one case you lot do that, the Chrome OS Files app should automatically appear on your Chromebook with your telephone present as one of the storage options. The system volition probably even prompt you to support all of your telephone's media files to Google Drive; yous tin can allow that, if you'd like, or dismiss it and simply drag and drop files in either management as needed.

android file transfer chrome os — Pulling up your Android phone'southward storage on a Chromebook is easy every bit can be — and typically includes a one-click option to copy all your device's media files as well.

There's really not much to it — nor should there be.

And if you want an even simpler way to take care of business...

Don't like cables?

Hey, expect a minute — aren't at that place apps and cloud services for this sort of affair? Certain in that location are, and nosotros've got you lot covered there, besides. Check out "Transferring files wirelessly between devices" in our in-depth Android file direction guide for everything there is to know.

This article was initially published in Baronial 2017 and updated in October 2019.

Contributing Editor JR Raphael serves upward tasty morsels most the human side of technology. Hungry for more? Join him on Twitter or sign up for his weekly newsletter to get fresh tips and insight in your inbox every Friday.