How to Transfer Files from Android to PC or Mac

If we need to empty the internal memory of our Android smartphone or we simply need to move a photo from the phone to a Windows PC or Mac quickly and easily, then here is a guide that tells us how to transfer files from Android to PC and Mac is just what is right for us.

In the following lines we will talk about three ways to achieve the goal in question: via USB cable, via the Bluetooth connection and finally via some applications and cloud services. Let's get straight to the point and see how to do it!



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Index

How to transfer files from Android to PC with USB cable How to transfer files from Android to PC with Bluetooth Other methods to transfer files from Android to PC

How to transfer files from Android to PC with USB cable

The most "ancient" method of transferring files from a smartphone to your computer is undoubtedly that of using the good old USB cable. In fact, in this part we see together how to transfer files from Android to PC with USB cable.

--> However, we must make a small premise: most of the new phones are equipped with a USB type C port and even the supplied cables are often from USB type C to USB type C. This means that if our computer is not equipped with a USB type C port, but only USB type A ports, then we will either have to get a USB type C to USB type A cable or we will have to evaluate one of the other options proposed in this article. Anyway, let's start now by talking about the procedure to follow on Windows and then on the Mac to transfer files with USB cable.

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--> On Windows the procedure is quite simple. First, we will have to connect the USB cable from phone to PC . After that, a notification will appear on the smartphone screen. Among the options presented to us, we select File Transfer/Android Auto.

Now let's move to our PC, go to This PC and simply open the icon that represents our smartphone. At this point it is possible to browse the phone's internal memory from a PC. If we are looking for photos and videos, let's go directly to the Camera folder and then to the one called DCIM or Download .



Things are not very different on Mac, but a fundamental step is added , or the need to download the Mac application called Android File Transfer which can be downloaded directly from the official Android site.

Once the application has been downloaded and installed on the Mac, just open it to start browsing in the internal memory of your Android smartphone directly from Mac.

How to transfer files from Android to PC with Bluetooth

There is also the possibility of using the Bluetooth connection to transfer files from Android to PC and Mac. In this second part, in fact, we immediately discover together how to transfer files from Android to PC with Bluetooth. Just a small caveat: transfer speeds are generally quite slow, so the advice we can give is to use the Bluetooth connection only if the amount of data to be transferred is rather small.



Let's start by talking about Windows . First of all, we must make sure that both the Bluetooth of the smartphone and that of the PC are turned on and that both devices are discoverable. At this point, let's go to the PC's Bluetooth settings and start the search for nearby Bluetooth devices. We select our smartphone in the list that appears and now a notification should appear in which we are asked to confirm that the PIN that appeared on the PC is the same that also appeared on the smartphone. We proceed with the confirmation of the PIN both from a PC and from a smartphone. Now the smartphone and the PC are already paired, we're good to go!

Now on the PC we always go to the Bluetooth settings screen and this time scroll a little further down until we get to the Related settings section. Here we select the item Send or receive files via Bluetooth . Now we choose the Receive file item, so that the PC will wait for reception.

Now let's move on to the smartphone and choose the file that we have to share via Bluetooth. If it is a photo, simply go to the gallery, proceed with the normal sending of that photo and select Bluetooth as the sharing method. We will now be asked to choose the device to which to send the file via Bluetooth, obviously we choose the PC and now the PC will start downloading the file. At the end of the process, we will be asked in which folder to save the received file.

On Mac, the procedure is very similar, the only thing we will have to make sure is that via the path System Preferences and then Sharing , Bluetooth Sharing is turned on.

Other methods to transfer files from Android to PC

There are also other methods to transfer files from Android to PC and Mac , such as the ShareDrop platform and the famous Google Drive .

Let's start by talking about ShareDrop , a totally free site that allows you to transfer files from smartphone to PC and Mac in just a few steps. The only requirement is that the two devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.



Using ShareDrop is really simple. Once the main page of the site is open, go to the (+) symbol at the top right and a room will be generated in which file transfers can be made. We must also enter the link that has been generated from a smartphone by opening the browser or by scanning the QR code that has appeared on the screen. A small note here too: we recommend using Google Chrome from a smartphone to avoid any problems with ShareDrop.

Now that we have entered the room from a smartphone as well, we should see two nice avatars on the screen. From a smartphone, select the avatar that represents the PC user, select the File item and then choose the file we want to send to the PC. We select the Send item and now from the PC we have to accept the request by pressing Save. The download of the file in question should now start on the PC.

An alternative platform practically equal to ShareDrop (perhaps it's even easier to use) that we point out to you is the completely online Snapdrop service. To use it, smartphone and PC must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network and then both devices simply need to connect to the Snapdrop main page to start exchanging data.



Whatever the situation things, perhaps the simplest solution was right under our noses. We are talking about Google Drive, the well-known Google Cloud service. In fact, through Google Drive we have the possibility to upload photos or any other file from our Android device and retrieve everything quickly and comfortably from a Windows PC or Mac.

From Windows or Mac we also have the ability to access Google Drive directly from the web without necessarily having to download the application.