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

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

Contributing Editor, Computerworld |

Table of Contents
  • Android file transfers for Windows computers
  • Android file transfers for Mac computers
  • Android file transfers for Chrome OS computers
  • Don't like cables?

Evidence More than

Your smartphone is a powerful calculator in your pocket — and with Android, part of that PC-like muscle ways being able to plug your phone into any Windows, Mac, or Chrome OS system and then drag and drop files either fashion.

Different iPhones, Android devices allow you to access 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 bulldoze into your estimator and moving data to or from it.

All you need is your phone, 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. (Nigh current Android phones apply USB-C, whereas nigh pre-2016 devices have the older micro-USB standard. USB-A, meanwhile, is the traditional connector port you lot're used to seeing on computers, though more than and more models now also offering USB-C.) There's a decent risk that the same cablevision that connects your phone to its wall charger will work.

Got it? Good. Hither's what you need to do next, depending on whether you have a Windows, macOS, or Chrome OS system:

Android file transfers for Windows computers

With Windows, things are every bit unproblematic as tin can be. Simply plug your phone into any open up USB port on the computer, then turn on your phone's screen and unlock the device.

Swipe your finger down from the tiptop of the screen, and you lot should see a notification about the current USB connectedness. At this point, it'll probably tell y'all your phone is connected just for charging.

android file transfer usb notification JR Raphael/IDG

After you connect your phone to your figurer, 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 lot could besides use the "Transfer photos" (sometimes listed as "PTP") option, which'll treat your phone similar a digital camera. Once you've made your selection, get to your desktop and open up upward 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 menu and click This PC or Computer
  • Click the This PC, Computer, or My Computer icon on your desktop

Then expect for an icon representing your phone alongside other portable devices and drives. Click or double-click that icon, and ta-da! You lot're staring at your Android phone's internal storage. You can now click around and browse folders, drag and drop files between your phone and PC, or dispense the data in any mode you want.

android file transfer windows JR Raphael/IDG

Your Android phone'south storage looks similar any regular hard drive when viewed from a figurer.

Android file transfers for Mac computers

Got a Mac? The Android file transfer process is a bit more complicated for you — merely fright non, for it's nevertheless pretty darn like shooting fish in a barrel.

The principal difference is that earlier things volition work, y'all'll need to download and install an official Google plan called Android File Transfer. To use the program, your Mac must be running macOS 10.7 or afterward, and your Android device must have Android 3.0 or later — something that should pretty much be a given with any reasonably recent Android product.

Once the programme's in place on your Mac, just plug your phone into your reckoner, plough on your telephone's screen and unlock the device, and and then expect for the same USB condition notification described above.

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

If the official Android File Transfer programme doesn't work well for you — a vexingly common complaint among Mac users these days — consider the favorably reviewed third-political party Commander I 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 down to the final section of this story for one other pick.

Android file transfers for Chrome Bone computers

You'd expect file transfers between Android phones and Chromebooks to be as simple equally can be, considering that Google'southward the driving force behind both of those operating systems — and past golly, y'all'd be absolutely right.

Only like on a Windows organization, all you've gotta do to connect your Android telephone to a Chromebook is plug it into any open USB port, so tap the USB charging notification on the telephone 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 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 telephone present as 1 of the storage options. The organisation will probably even prompt you to support all of your phone's media files to Google Drive; you tin let that, if you'd like, or dismiss it and only drag and drop files in either direction every bit needed.

android file transfer chrome os JR Raphael/IDG

Pulling up your Android telephone's storage on a Chromebook is easy as tin can be — and typically includes a one-click option to copy all your device's media files as well.

At that place'south really not much to it — nor should at that place be.

And if you want an even simpler manner to accept intendance of business concern...

Don't like cables?

Hey, wait a minute — aren't in that location apps and cloud services for this sort of matter? Sure there are, and we've got you lot covered there, besides. Cheque 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 October 2019.

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

Copyright © 2019 IDG Communications, Inc.