Android to Mac File Transfer: Finally, an Easy Way 💯, by AmaanCG on YouTube. 1 min 1 s.
- Video length
- 1 min 1 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 7
What you need
Steps
Your Android phone and plug it into your Mac with a USB-C cable. Use the cable that came with the phone if you can, because charge-only cables will not pass files.
Swipe down from the top of the phone screen and tap the USB notification. Pick File transfer, sometimes called MTP, instead of Charging only.
On your Mac, open Finder and look under Locations for the phone. If it does not appear, download Android File Transfer free from android.com/filetransfer and open it.
Wait for the app to detect the phone and show its folders. If you see a cannot access device error, unplug the cable, plug it back in and the screen again.
Open DCIM for photos and videos, Download for saved files, or Music and Movies for media. Drag the folders you want onto your desktop or into a Finder folder.
Leave the cable in until the copy bar finishes. Then eject the phone by clicking the small eject arrow in Finder, and unplug it.
For a wireless transfer, upload the files to Google Drive on your phone and open drive.google.com on your Mac to download them. Stay on Wi-Fi so you do not use mobile data.
Tips and common mistakes
If Android File Transfer keeps crashing, try the free OpenMTP app instead.
Phone photos usually sit in DCIM/Camera and screenshots in Pictures/Screenshots.
Copy a whole folder rather than single files so nothing gets missed.
Large video files can take several minutes, so keep the phone unlocked until the copy ends.
Questions
Why does my Mac not show my Android phone in Finder?
MacOS does not read Android's MTP connection on its own. Install Android File Transfer or OpenMTP, and make sure the phone's USB mode is set to File transfer, not Charging only.
Can I move photos over Wi-Fi instead of a cable?
Yes. Upload them to Google Drive, Dropbox or a local app like LocalSend, then download them on the Mac. LocalSend needs both devices on the same Wi-Fi network.
Where are my Android photos stored?
They are normally in the DCIM/Camera folder in the phone's internal storage. Photos saved from apps like WhatsApp sit in their own folders under Pictures.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
