How To Upload Apps New Phone

Android file transfer: How to move information between your phone and computer

Moving files between your Android device and a Windows PC, Mac, or Chromebook doesn't have to exist difficult — or dependent on any deject 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?

Your smartphone is a powerful estimator in your pocket — and with Android, office of that PC-similar muscle means being able to plug your telephone into whatever Windows, Mac, or Chrome OS organisation and then drag and drop files either way.

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

All y'all need is your phone, your computer, and a cablevision 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. (Almost electric current Android phones employ USB-C, whereas virtually pre-2016 devices have the older micro-USB standard. USB-A, meanwhile, is the traditional connector port you're used to seeing on computers, though more than and more models now also offer USB-C.) There's a decent hazard that the same cablevision that connects your phone to its wall charger volition work.

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

Android file transfers for Windows computers

With Windows, things are as simple equally can be. Just plug your phone into any open USB port on the computer, then turn on your phone's screen and unlock the device.

Swipe your finger down from the top of the screen, and you lot should meet a notification nearly the current USB connectedness. At this point, it'll probably tell yous your phone is connected only for charging.

android file transfer usb notification — After you connect your phone to your computer, 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, y'all could as well use the "Transfer photos" (sometimes listed equally "PTP") option, which'll treat your phone like a digital camera. Once you've fabricated 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 carte du jour and click This PC or Figurer
Click the This PC, Computer, or My Computer icon on your desktop

Then look for an icon representing your phone aslope other portable devices and drives. Click or double-click that icon, and ta-da! You're staring at your Android telephone's internal storage. You tin can now click around and browse folders, drag and drop files between your phone and PC, or manipulate the data in any way you desire.

android file transfer windows — Your Android telephone's storage looks like any regular hard drive when viewed from a computer.

Android file transfers for Mac computers

Got a Mac? The Android file transfer process is a flake more than complicated for you — but fear not, for information technology's still pretty darn easy.

The main difference is that before things will piece of work, you lot'll need to download and install an official Google program chosen Android File Transfer. To employ the program, your Mac must be running macOS 10.7 or later, and your Android device must take Android 3.0 or subsequently — something that should pretty much be a given with any reasonably recent Android product.

Once the program'due south in place on your Mac, simply plug your phone into your estimator, plough on your phone'southward screen and unlock the device, and then look for the same USB status notification described in a higher place.

Tap the notification and select "Transfer files" or "File transfer." The Android File Transfer plan should and then automatically open on your Mac, and you should exist able to scan your telephone's storage and transfer files to your eye's content.

If the official Android File Transfer program doesn't work well for you lot — a vexingly common complaint amid Mac users these days — consider the favorably reviewed third-party Commander One Pro every bit an alternative. It costs $xxx for a single license, $100 for a five-user team license, or $150 for a 50-user company license.

Or — well, skip down to the final section of this story for ane other pick.

Android file transfers for Chrome OS computers

You'd expect file transfers between Android phones and Chromebooks to be as elementary equally can be, considering that Google's the driving force behind both of those operating systems — and past golly, you'd be admittedly right.

Just like on a Windows organisation, all yous've gotta do to connect your Android phone to a Chromebook is plug information technology into any open up USB port, then 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 yous want your phone to be treated similar a camera, with a focus exclusively on multimedia files.

Once you do that, the Chrome Os Files app should automatically appear on your Chromebook with your phone present as one of the storage options. The system will probably even prompt you to back upward all of your phone's media files to Google Bulldoze; you lot can allow that, if you'd like, or dismiss it and only elevate and drop files in either direction as needed.

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

There'southward really not much to it — nor should in that location be.

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

Don't similar cables?

Hey, wait a minute — aren't there apps and cloud services for this sort of thing? Sure at that place are, and we've got yous covered there, also. Check out "Transferring files wirelessly between devices" in our in-depth Android file management guide for everything there is to know.

This commodity was initially published in August 2017 and updated in Oct 2019.

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