Before you begin
Transfer photos, contacts, videos, and more from your old device using Mobile Transfer. Set up accounts including email and Visual Voicemail. To get started The app will launch following the Android tutorial. Just follow the instructions as it helps get your device set up. Get details about your device.
- Transfer files between your computer & Android device - Android Help Transfer files between your computer & Android device You can use your Google Account or a USB.
- Photo Transfer App allows you to easily transfer, share and backup photos and videos from your Android device to your computer as well as exchange photos.
- If you have an Apple Watch and you got a new iPhone, unpair your Apple Watch from your previous iPhone before you set up your new device. Unpairing automatically backs up your Apple Watch so you can restore it after you pair with a new iPhone.
- Make sure that you have a backup of your device.
- Have your Apple ID and password ready.
- Transfer your SIM card. If your new device needs a different SIM card than what you have, or an eSIM, contact your carrier.
Select a method
Quick Start: Use your iPhone or iPad that's already running iOS 11 or later to automatically set up a new device.
iCloud: Transfer your data and purchased content to your new device from your previous device's iCloud backup.
iTunes or Finder: Transfer your data and purchased content to your new device from a backup you made with iTunes or Finder.
One of the more common things people need to do is transfer files from their mobile device or tablet to their desktop. Sometimes it's a photo, sometimes it's a song, and many other times it's some sort of document, presentation, or other file that needs transferred. There are actually quite a few ways to transfer files from Android to PC (and back again) and we'll take a look at them here.
- AirDroid or Pushbullet
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Medical Transfer Devices
10 best cloud storage services and apps for Android!
AirDroid and Pushbullet
Adobe photoshop cc versions. Price: Free / $1.99 per month / $19.99 per year / $38.99 per two years Xbox web app.
AirDroid is one of the more popular apps to transfer files from Android to PC. It can do other stuff too. The features include sending and receiving SMS/MMS from your PC, see your device notifications, and much more. It can even find a lost phone, control the camera, and use apps. You'll also be able to transfer files to your computer from your phone. You get the basic stuff for free. You'll have to subscribe to the service to get everything. Pushbullet works very much the same way in terms of transferring files to PC from your Android device, even if it costs a little more. You can go with either of these options. They are the two most popular options.
Cloud Storage
Price: Free / Varies by app
Cloud Storage is an excellent method to transfer files from Android to PC and back again. There are a variety of services to choose from, including Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box.com, and others. Transferring files is easy enough. You upload the file to cloud storage on one device. You then download it on another device. Most cloud storage apps have their own dedicated apps and it makes the process easier. We have our best cloud storage apps list linked up toward the top of this article.
Feem v4
Price: Free
Feem is a simple app that does one thing very right. It transfers things from devices connected to the same WiFi network. That includes mobile phones, tablets, computers, laptops, or whatever else. Each device simply downloads Feem and runs it. From there, you can transfer whatever you want to and from those devices. The WiFi doesn't need to be connected to the actual internet. A local network is all you really need. It's simple, effective, cheap, and the Material Design looks nice. ShareIt is another app in this same style that does well.
Resilio Sync
Price: Free Chrome web app download.
Resilio Sync (formerly BitTorrent Sync) is kind of a wildcard. It works a lot like cloud storage. However, the cloud storage server is your own desktop or laptop. You can sync as much data as you'd like, transfer files back and forth at will, and a lot more. It should support Mac, Linux, and Windows as well. It's definitely among the more secure options. Your stuff is never on a cloud server. It's just your phone and your device talking to each other. The app is entirely free with no ads and no in-app purchases. This is the one we'd recommend first. It takes a bit to set it up, though.
Xender
Price: Free
Find My Device App
Xender is one of the most popular apps in this space. It lets you connect your phone to another device and transfer over WiFi. It works with other Android or iOS phones, Macs, PCs, and even Tizen. The app does its job as intended most of the time and it worked okay in our testing. However, this is one of those apps that either works perfectly or it doesn't work at all. It also has a few other features, like the ability to convert video to audio and you can apparently use it to download Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram videos. Another strong (albeit less popular) competitor here is Feem (Play Store link).
Adobe photoshop cc versions. Price: Free / $1.99 per month / $19.99 per year / $38.99 per two years Xbox web app.
AirDroid is one of the more popular apps to transfer files from Android to PC. It can do other stuff too. The features include sending and receiving SMS/MMS from your PC, see your device notifications, and much more. It can even find a lost phone, control the camera, and use apps. You'll also be able to transfer files to your computer from your phone. You get the basic stuff for free. You'll have to subscribe to the service to get everything. Pushbullet works very much the same way in terms of transferring files to PC from your Android device, even if it costs a little more. You can go with either of these options. They are the two most popular options.
Cloud Storage
Price: Free / Varies by app
Cloud Storage is an excellent method to transfer files from Android to PC and back again. There are a variety of services to choose from, including Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box.com, and others. Transferring files is easy enough. You upload the file to cloud storage on one device. You then download it on another device. Most cloud storage apps have their own dedicated apps and it makes the process easier. We have our best cloud storage apps list linked up toward the top of this article.
Feem v4
Price: Free
Feem is a simple app that does one thing very right. It transfers things from devices connected to the same WiFi network. That includes mobile phones, tablets, computers, laptops, or whatever else. Each device simply downloads Feem and runs it. From there, you can transfer whatever you want to and from those devices. The WiFi doesn't need to be connected to the actual internet. A local network is all you really need. It's simple, effective, cheap, and the Material Design looks nice. ShareIt is another app in this same style that does well.
Resilio Sync
Price: Free Chrome web app download.
Resilio Sync (formerly BitTorrent Sync) is kind of a wildcard. It works a lot like cloud storage. However, the cloud storage server is your own desktop or laptop. You can sync as much data as you'd like, transfer files back and forth at will, and a lot more. It should support Mac, Linux, and Windows as well. It's definitely among the more secure options. Your stuff is never on a cloud server. It's just your phone and your device talking to each other. The app is entirely free with no ads and no in-app purchases. This is the one we'd recommend first. It takes a bit to set it up, though.
Xender
Price: Free
Find My Device App
Xender is one of the most popular apps in this space. It lets you connect your phone to another device and transfer over WiFi. It works with other Android or iOS phones, Macs, PCs, and even Tizen. The app does its job as intended most of the time and it worked okay in our testing. However, this is one of those apps that either works perfectly or it doesn't work at all. It also has a few other features, like the ability to convert video to audio and you can apparently use it to download Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram videos. Another strong (albeit less popular) competitor here is Feem (Play Store link).
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Apple Transfer Device
Non-app ways to transfer files
If apps aren't your deal, there are still some other ways to transfer files from your PC to Android and vice versa.
- Use Bluetooth – If your laptop has a Bluetooth module or if you have a Bluetooth dongle for your desktop or laptop, you can pair your device with your computer using Bluetooth and send files that way. The transfer rates are very slow so only use this method for smaller files.
- USB On-The-Go – USB OTG cables allow you to connect your device to USB devices such as external hard drives or flash drives. You use the cable to transfer documents to your flash drive or external hard drive or off of those things on to your Android device. They are relatively inexpensive.
- Share to email – This only works with small files like photos or documents, but you can send most types of files over email. Most emails have a limit of around 25MB for attachments.
- Share to chat – This works for a number of file types, especially if you use something like Discord, Slack, or Skype. You send yourself the file in a chat on one device and retrieve it on another. This should work for smaller files like photos, documents, or similar things. Skype and Slack have support for things like PDF files, archived (zipped) files, and other document types as well.
- Use your data/charging cable – This one is fairly obvious. Just plug your phone into your computer using the USB cable that comes with your charger. This is the most common and reliable method of transferring files to PC from Android devices.
- Your micro SD card – Devices with micro SD card support can transfer files much like flash drives. You use a file manager app to move the files to the SD card, pop it out of your phone (after turning it off, of course), and then use an adapter to put it into your card reader on your laptop or a different adapter to connect it to your computer's USB drive.
Thank you for reading! Here are some final app lists to check out!10 best productivity apps for Android
5 best Android apps for screen recording and other ways too!
10 best productivity apps for Android
5 best Android apps for screen recording and other ways too!
If we missed any of the best methods or apps to transfer files from Android to PC, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!
