Best Ways to Transfer Media Files from Android to PC in 2024

With limited storage space that your Android devices may have, media transfer becomes imperative to offload large files from the smartphones to make room for the new ones. You may also want to transfer media from an Android smart device to a computer to keep the backup of your files, so you do not lose them when something goes wrong with your phone.

The following sections explain some of the best methods to transfer media from Android to PC. Here you will also learn how to get this done in a most efficient way that not only makes the process extremely easy, but it also saves you a decent amount of time that you can utilize in some other more productive tasks.

• Part 1. Recommended 4 Ways to Transfer Media Files from Android to Computer
• Part 2. How to Import and Convert Media Files from Android to PC
• Part 3. How to Transfer Media Files from PC to Android

Part 1. Recommended 4 Ways to Transfer Media Files from Android to Computer

There are some commonly used and recommended ways to transfer media files from your Android device to PC. These methods include:

USB Transfer

This method requires you to connect your Android smart device to a computer with the USB cable that was shipped along with it. Once connected, the following process can be used to transfer large media files from Android to PC:

Note: A Windows 10 computer is used here as an example.

Step 1: Get to the Target Folder

Open File Explorer on your Windows computer, go to This PC from the navigation bar on the left, go to the Android device that appears as a drive on your PC, and locate and go to the folder that contains media files you want to transfer.

Step 2: Copy the Files

Select the files you want to copy (Ctrl + Left-Click to select multiple files or Ctrl + A to select all the files in the folder) and press Ctrl + C to copy them to the clipboard. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + X if you want to move media files instead of copying.

Step 3: Transfer the Media

Go to the folder on your computer where you want to transfer media files, and press Ctrl + V. Wait for a while, and the transfer is completed before disconnecting your Android from PC.

With SD Card

For this method, you need an SD card and a card reader with USB that can be connected to your computer if it is a desktop PC. Most of the laptops have built-in card readers, and therefore merely an SD card should suffice. Once everything is in place, you can follow the process given below to transfer the files quickly:

Note: It is assumed that your Android device already has an SD card.

Step 1: Transfer Files to SD Card

On your Android smart device, select all the media files you want to transfer, tap Copy or Move (or any other similar option that phone model shows). And then, go to the SD card, and tap Copy Here (or Move Here) to copy or move the media files to the SD card.

Step 2: Transfer to Computer

Remove the SD card from your smartphone, put it in the card reader, and connect the reader to the PC. Then, use the process that explained earlier to go to the card reader drive, copy media files, and paste them in the target folder on your computer.

Using Cloud Storage

This method doesn’t require any additional hardware as long as you have an account on any of the available cloud storage such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive. Since using these Cloud services is free, you can sign up, and then follow the step-by-step instructions given below for media transfer from Android to your PC:

Step 1: Upload the Media to Cloud

On your Android, locate and select the files you want to transfer, tap Copy or Move, get to the Cloud folder, and tap Copy Here or Move Here to upload the media files to the Cloud.

Step 2: Download Media to PC

On your PC, launch your favorite web browser, sign in to the Cloud account you uploaded the media to, go to the folder that has the files, and download the media to your PC.

With OTG Cable

If you are on vacation and have captured the videos on your phone, and On-the-Go (OTG) cable could be a savior. Since you are not expected to carry your laptop during sightseeing, you can use an OTG cable to connect a USB drive to the smartphone and transfer media files to it. The media can then be transferred to your PC once you are back home. You can follow the process explained below to get this done:

Step 1: Transfer Files to USB

Connect one end of the OTG cable to your Android smartphone and the other end to the USB drive. On your Android, use the method explained earlier to copy or move the media file files to the USB.

Step 2: Transfer Media to Computer

Disconnect the USB drive from the OTG cable, connect it to the USB port on your PC, and move the media files to the computer normally.

Part 2. How to Import and Convert Media Files from Android to PC

In addition to the above, there is another, rather more efficient way to transfer media from Android to PC using a robust tool called Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate). Even though this method requires a USB connection too, the software makes the entire process is straightforward. Not only this, with the built-in universal converter that supports more than 1000 formats, but you can also easily convert the media files while transferring.

UniConverter is also capable of editing video files, adding effects to them, compressing them, and much more, thus giving you the best approach to manipulate the media so they may occupy less storage even on your PC.

Wondershare UniConverter - The Best Media Files Converter 

• Convert videos to 1,000+ formats, including AVI, MKV, MOV, MP4, etc.
• It has a 90X faster conversion speed than other common converters.
• Edit videos with trimming, cropping, merging, adding subtitles, and more.
• Burn video to playable DVD with an attractive free DVD template.
• Versatile toolbox includes fixing video metadata, GIF maker, and screen recorder.
• Supported OS: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista, macOS 11 Big Sur, 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6.

Free Download Free Download

Security Verified. 7,851,625 people have downloaded it.

To learn how to transfer media from Android to PC with Wondershare UniConverter, you can follow the steps given below:

Step 1 Connect and Sync Android with UniConverter

Use the USB cable to connect your Android device to your computer (a Windows 10 PC is used here for an example). Launch Wondershare UniConverter, ensure that you are on the Converter tile, click the small arrow next to the button at the top-left corner, and click Add from Device from the list.

Step 2 Add Media for Conversion

On the Add files from Device box, check the media file(s) you want to transfer to the PC and click Add to Convert a list from the bottom-right corner.

Step 3 Select Output Format and Convert

Click and expand the Output Format the menu from the top-right, and choose your preferred format and resolution (MP4 and Same as a source here). Then, please select a destination folder from the File Location field present at the bottom of the interface, and click Start All to convert the media and save it on your PC.

Part 3. How to Transfer Media Files from PC to Android

In addition to transferring media from Android to a computer, UniConverter can also move them back to your Android device. You can follow the instructions given below to do so:

Step 1 Sync Android and Add Files to UniConverter

Use the USB cable to connect your Android to the PC, launch UniConverter, go to the Transfer tile, click Add Files from the top-left, and use the Open box to select and add the media files to UniConverter.

Step 2 Transfer Media to Android

Ensure that the Android device you connected is shown in the drop-down list at the top-right corner and click Transfer to transfer the media to your Android.

Conclusion

Media transfer is an essential part of today’s technological era where smart devices are capable of capturing high-resolution videos but fall short when it comes to storage capacity. Although SD cards can be used to add more space to the Android, the solution still remains temporary as the cards may get stuffed with files too. Therefore, an efficient program like Wondershare UniConverter is a must-have tool. It can not only transfer media from Android to PC, but it can also perform a quick conversion and is even capable of moving the files back from the computer to Android with ease.