How to transfer files between Android and Windows PC

The file sharing process between Android phones and Windows PCs has never been easier. Whether you want to back up your phone or move some files to your laptop or desktop PC, you have a lot of options to pick from. You can share files over-the-air, with a cable, or by using some apps and services that are built-in with Windows. So, if one method doesn't work for you for some reason, we'll be going over a lot of them to help you find some ways that work without issues. Here are the assorted options for just about any and all needs.

Move files with a USB cable

It's pretty straightforward to transfer files from an Android phone to a Windows PC and vice versa using a USB cable. Typically, you’ll get a USB cable in the box when you buy a new phone, so you'll already have everything you need.

1. Unlock your Android phone and connect it to your PC using a USB cable.

2. Your phone will detect the connection and show a notification.

3. If you’ve connected the phone for the first time to a computer, you’ll see something like Charging this device via USB.

4. Tap the notification and you'll see a list of options under Use USB connection for. Select the option called File Transfer or MTP (Media Transfer Protocol). You can select to choose this option for just one time or always.

5. Your phone will now start showing up in the computer’s File Explorer, and you can transfer files between the phone and the PC as you would with a USB drive.

6. Once you’re done, remove the cable. Just make sure all transfer tasks have been completed.

Transfer files with Quick Share (Nearby Share)

Android phones have had a feature called Quick Share (formerly known as Nearby Share) for some time now, but recently, Google made it available for Windows. This is arguably one of the easiest and fastest ways to move files between your phone and Windows PC. However, it's important not to confuse this with the Nearby sharing functionality built into Windows. These are separate features that aren't inter-compatible, and the Windows Nearby share feature doesn't work on Android.

To use Quick Share, you first have to install the Quick Share app on your Windows PC. On a modern Android phone, you shouldn't need to do anything since this is supported out of the box. Then, follow these steps:

1. Turn on Bluetooth on both devices.

2. Launch the Quick Share app on your Windows PC.

3. Sign in using the same Google account that you use on your phone.

4. To send files from your phone, use your file manager or another app to find the file and choose the Share option.

5. Click the Quick Share button to share the file using Quick Share. Some apps and phones may have slightly different menus.

6. Choose your PC from the list of devices to send the file over.

7. To send files from your PC, simply click the Select button and then choose either Files or Folders depending on what you want to share.

8. Choose the files or folders you want to transfer to your phone.

9. Choose your phone from the list of nearby devices. You may need to enable Quick Share/Nearby Share visibility in your phone's settings for your device to appear.

While Quick Share uses Bluetooth for discovery, files are transferred with a local wireless connection that's significantly faster, so transferring files this way is a lot faster and more convenient than most other methods.

Using ADB to move files

The Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is also an option for transferring files between an Android device and a Windows computer. It's not the easiest method for most people, but if you're used to command-line interfaces, it may be a bit more familiar and efficient. To use ADB to transfer files, you’ll need to have ADB set up on your computer.

To use ADB commands, you can either connect your phone to your PC using a USB cable or run the commands wirelessly. While wireless ADB is pretty easy with Android 11 or newer versions, it takes slightly more work with Android 10 or older versions. Google has explained all the steps required to make ADB work wirelessly on the Android developer website.

To send or receive files using ADB on your phone, you'll be using the following commands.

1. To get a file from your phone to your PC, use the command below, replacing %path-on-phone% with the path of what you want to transfer, and %path-on-PC% with the destination where you want the files to be saved. You can transfer entire folders or a single file.

adb pull /sdcard/%path-on-phone% %path-on-PC%

2. To send a file from your PC to your phone, you use the push command and enter the PC and phone paths in reverse order.

adb push /sdcard/%path-on-phone% %path-on-PC%

Make sure to use /sdcard/ in the path, even if your phone doesn't have an SD card slot. Also, keep in mind that the phone path will be formatted with forward slashes (/) as shown above, but the path on your PC must be formatted with backslashes (\).

Using USB OTG to transfer files

Android has supported USB OTG (on-the-go) since its early days. This USB specification allows devices like smartphones to act as a host to USB devices like flash drives, mice, and keyboards. USB OTG support depends on the hardware present in your smartphone but most phones these days support it. All you need is a USB drive that can be plugged into a phone, and there are a few USB-C flash drives out there you can use for this. If you don't have a USB-C port on your phone though and have microUSB instead, you might need to find an OTG adapter to plug in your USB drive.

Once you have successfully connected your USB flash drive to your phone, you can use any file manager to open it and transfer files between the drive and your phone. Then, you can plug the same drive into your computer and transfer the files copied from your phone. This can be done the other way around as well.

This is actually quite a handy way to transfer a large amount of content to and from your phone. Plus, it's easy to use with any PC without requiring much setup. It makes it easy to share files with other people in a pinch, for example, and there's a good chance you already know how flash drives work.

Using cloud storage services to transfer files

If you have internet access on both your Android phone and Windows computer, using a cloud storage service like Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox, can be an easy way to transfer files between both devices. Using cloud storage will be useful for small to medium size files, but if you have large files or a limited data connection, it's better to use one of the other methods.

1. To transfer files using a cloud storage service, open the cloud storage service provider’s app. For this guide, let’s say, for example, that app is Google Drive.

2. Upload the file or files you want to transfer to Google Drive.

3. Open Google Drive on the computer. You can use the Google Drive client (which can be installed from this page) or open the web version.

4. Download the files you just uploaded, and you’re done. You can delete them from Google Drive to clear some space if you need to, or keep them as a backup.

You can also upload files from your computer and download them on your phone, so this method works both ways.

Using Bluetooth to transfer files

Bluetooth is another wireless connectivity option you can use to transfer files. But Bluetooth is quite slow and is only useful for small transfers. Otherwise, you’ll end up waiting a really long time for the transfer to complete. We're documenting the process here in case you want to still go ahead, although we strongly recommend trying out other methods first.

1. To transfer files using Bluetooth, you’ll first need to pair your phone with your PC.

2. Enable Bluetooth on both devices and make them discoverable. You can do this in the Settings app on both devices, though each Android phone may organize these options differently.

3. Select the other device (you may need to click Add device first) and confirm the pairing request.

4. Once both devices are paired, you can start the file transfer.

5. On a Windows 11 PC, open the Settings app and go to Bluetooth & devices and then choose Devices.

6. Click Send or receive files via Bluetooth near the bottom of the page.

On Windows 10, this option can be found in the Devices section of the Settings app.

7. Choose Send files if you want to send files from your PC to your phone. To receive files on the computer, skip to step 11.

8. Select your phone from the paired devices list.

9. Pick the file or files that you want to send from the browser window, and hit Send.

10. Your phone will get a notification about the file being received. Approve it, and it will get transferred to your phone.

11. If you want to send a file from your phone to your PC, select Receive files from the Bluetooth File Transfer wizard.

12. Use a file manager to locate the file or files you want to transfer to your phone.

13. Tap on the share button, and use Bluetooth as the transfer mode from the share menu.

14. The other device will get a notification and you may need to approve the transfer.

15. Once approved, the transfer will be completed. You can now choose to pick the default or a different location to save the received file.

Move files using the Phone Link app

Windows 10 and 11 come with a preinstalled app called Phone Link, which lets you connect your phone to your PC to sync notifications, messages, calls, and photos. On select Samsung phones, as well as the Surface Duo family, you can also project your phone's screen on your PC, and use it to drag-and-drop any file from your phone to your PC and vice versa. Here's what you need to do:

1. Download the Link to Windows app on your Android phone and open it. Alternatively, type in www.aka-ms/yourpc in your phone's browser. This will either take you to the Play Store or open the built-in Link to Windows feature on supported Samsung and Surface Duo phones.

2. Open the Phone Link app on your Windows PC and follow the on-screen instructions to link your phone to your PC.

3. On your phone, you'll need to grant permission for the app to access your files.

4. Once you've completed the setup, you can visit the Photos tab on your PC to see your phone's photos, up to the latest 2,000 ones. You can right-click any of the photos here and click Save As to save the photo to your PC. Alternatively, you can open a specific photo and click Save As in the top bar menu.

If you want to move any kind of file between the two devices, you'll need a Samsung phone or a Surface Duo or Duo 2. To do this, open the Phone screen tab in the Phone Link app, and navigate to the file manager app on your phone. Then, simply drag and drop the file you want from your phone to your computer or vice versa, and the transfer will begin.

Move files by sharing them in a chat app

You can use a chat app that's also accessible on your computer to transfer an occasional file. Apps like Slack, Telegram, and Signal can be accessed on both desktop and mobile, so users can send messages/files to themselves in this way. Simply upload your files to one of these apps, and you can then download it on a different device where you have the same app.

This process will vary a bit depending on the messaging service you're using, but many will have a saved messages or notes option, or you may just have to try and start a conversation with yourself.

Move files by sharing them via email

As with chat apps, you can also transfer files using your email, though attachments usually have a fairly small size limit. However, in some cases like Gmail or Outlook, attaching large files to an email can prompt you to upload them to a cloud service instead and share a link to it, which still works fairly well.

Using apps to transfer files over-the-air

There are a number of Android applications that allow you to transfer content from one device to another. So you can use these apps to transfer files from Android to a Windows PC. Here are some of the most popular apps and how you can use them.

AirDroid

AirDroid is one of the popular Android file transfer apps that comes with a lot of other features as well. It supports the transfer of all kinds of files across platforms on the same wireless network as well as remotely.

1. Install the app on your phone. Once installed, open it and give the necessary permissions. You don’t need to create an account if you’re sending files on the same network.

2. When you are in the app, tap AirDroid Web.

3. AirDroid will show a new page with an IP address.

4. Type the IP address into any browser on your Windows computer.

5. When you open the IP address, AirDroid will ask for permission on your phone.

6. AirDroid will open a detailed interface with a number of options. Just click on Files to transfer files to or from your PC.

7. The app will open a file manager showing the files on your phone. You’ll also see two buttons: Upload file and Upload Folder.

8. You can use Upload file and Upload folder to transfer any files from your PC to the phone.

9. To get files from your phone, navigate to the file in the file manager on AirDroid.

10. Right-click on a file or folder, and select Download. Folders will show a Download as Zip option.

11. Once you are done transferring, just click on the power button at the top to sign out.

Pushbullet

The Pushbullet app can also be used to transfer files from your phone to your computer and vice versa. Unlike Airdroid, Pushbullet uploads the files on its own servers and then transfers them to other devices. So it won’t be ideal for big transfers. Using Pushbullet is pretty straightforward though.

1. Install the app on your phone and computer. Instead of the app, you can also use the Pushbullet extension on your PC.

2. Once the apps have been installed, open and complete the setup formalities. You’ll need to sign in using your Google account.

3. When the app is set up, its interface is quite similar to a chat app. Click the Attach button to send files from your PC or phone to the other device.

4. Just select the file and tap on Send.

Intel Unison

With certain Windows PCs, you can use the Intel Unison app to move files between your Android phone and your computer more easily. Intel Unison is a relatively new app and, officially, it's only supported on laptops with Intel 12th-generation processors or newer. However, in our experience, it's possible to use it on just about any Windows PC. Here's how you can use Intel Unison to transfer files from your Android phone to your PC and vice versa.

1. Install the Intel Unison app for Windows on your computer, and the Unison app on your Android phone (linked below).

2. Use the app on your phone to scan the QR code shown in the app on your PC.

3. Confirm the connection code and accept the permission requests on your phone.

To send files from your phone to your PC

1. Tap the paper airplane icon in the bottom left corner.

2. Choose either Files or Camera depending on the files you want to send.

3. Select the files to send and they'll be automatically downloaded to your PC's Downloads library. Note: You can change the default download location in the app.

To send files from your PC to your phone

1. Choose the File transfer section from the menu on the left side.

2. Click Add files.

3. Choose the files you want to send to your phone and click Open.

4. Received files will show up in the Received tab in the Unison app on your phone.

That's all there is to it. Intel Unison can do a lot more than simple file transfers, too. It can sync your notifications, send and receive SMS messages, and make calls. It also automatically syncs all your photos from your phone to your PC, so if that's what you want to transfer, you just have to open the Gallery tab on your PC to see pictures from your phone. You can learn more about how to set up Intel Unison here.

WiFi FTP Server

The WiFi FTP Server app converts your Android phone into an FTP server. You can use this server to transfer files between your phone and your PC.

1. Install the WiFi FTP Server app on your phone.

2. Open the app and give the necessary permissions.

3. The app will then show the Wi-Fi status and other details.

4. Tap on Start to make the FTP server live.

5. After the server is live, the app will show a server IP address.

6. Open File Explorer on your PC and type the complete server URL in the address bar, including the ftp:// prefix. Make sure you remove everything from the File Explorer address bar before putting in the URL.

7. Press Enter and the FTP server will open in File Explorer. It will look like browsing any other drive on your PC.

8. Transfer the files you want from or to your phone, and simply tap Stop in the app to stop the server.

Spoiled for choice

We've looked at 10 unique methods for transferring files between Android and Windows in this guide, so you're bound to find at least one that works for you. If you ever find yourself without an internet connection, you could just simply use Bluetooth or a cable to quickly transfer a couple of files. Quick Share is the easiest way to go about it, but a cable is probably the best if you want to create a thorough backup and move to a new phone.