Smartphones are now responsible for the majority of photos that are taken. The downside is that these photos, collectively over time, take up a lot of room. Throw in videos, time-lapses, burst shots, snaps, and uncompressed RAW files, and you can easily fill up your device. Users don’t always edit, back up, or delete their photos, turning their phones into digital graveyards. If you want to archive your photos to use later, then you want to make sure you know how to back them up on a computer. Learn how to transfer photos from an Android phone to a PC eight different ways, so you can offload those photos even when there’s no cord handy. (Are you an iOS user? See our guide on transferring photos from an iPhone.)

USB

To download pictures from your cell phone to your computer, plug a USB cord into the phone and the computer, find the mobile device drive, and drag and drop photos from the 'Pictures' folder. Jan 9, 2019 - Learn how to transfer photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad. When you do that, the photos from your computer upload to iCloud so that. Jun 12, 2018 - Learn how to transfer photos from iPhone to computer. This method involves connecting your phone to the computer with a USB cable.

One of the best features of Android is its mostly unfettered access to the USB file system. The fact that you can simply plug your phone into your computer using the included USB cable makes it easy to download any and all images and drag them into any desktop app or your file system for safekeeping. We find this to be the easiest, most foolproof method, and the only downside is that you need a computer and your charging cable handy.

If you’re using Windows, the USB connection auto-prompts will present you with options for managing the device as soon as it’s connected. With Windows 10, you can also open Photos, then choose Import > From a USB Device to choose what images to add to the photo-management program.

If you’re on a Mac, there are a few options, one being the Android File Transfer program. We have a handy guide for transferring any type of file from your Android phone to your Mac.

Google Drive

Google Drive’s backup service is by far the simplest method for both backing up your photos and subsequently getting them off your Android phone. The service comes standard on almost all Android phones and works quietly in the background, uploading your files to your Google Drive for easy access on other devices. Synced photos are stored privately, too, meaning you don’t have to worry about any embarrassing photos winding up in the wrong hands, but they’re easily and quickly accessible from within your Google Drive.

In the Google Drive app, press the menu button or icon, then open the Settings menu. Find the Google Photos option and turn on the auto add. Here, you can set the auto backup to be on or off, as well as change the settings that correspond to it. In order to access and download your synced photos, open your Google Drive. Your photos are stored in a private folder labeled Google Photos. Open that folder, and you can browse and download your photos directly to your desktop. Your photos will also be added to Google Photos using this method.

If you don’t want to enable syncing, you can also upload individual files from your phone to your drive. Open your phone’s photo gallery, open a picture, then tap the Share button. From there, you will be able to select from multiple sharing options. Tap the Google Drive icon, and the files will be uploaded. Once uploaded, the picture can be accessed via Google Drive. Keep in mind, however, that any files uploaded to your Google Drive will take up your allotted storage space. Therefore, you may want to periodically clean out your drive or opt for a more robust storage plan.

On the desktop, Google transitioned from Google Drive to Backup and Sync in 2017. It’s all a bit confusing, but basically, the Mac and Windows app to access Google Drive is now called Backup and Sync and works the same way as the old Google Drive. If you’re like most people and access Google Drive via your web browser, then this change doesn’t affect you.

Google Photos

Google Photos works in a similar fashion to Google Drive; in fact, the user interface and experience is nearly identical because both share Google’s Material Design language. Of course, Google Photos is strictly for stowing photos and videos, while Google Drive handles all types of files. But Google Photos offers an array of useful tools that allow you to edit and share your creations, or automatically group photos and videos into collections. The service can also cast content to a Chromecast, keep your photos private unless specified, and perform smart searches using machine learning. The “assistant” can even create fun projects with your images, such as slideshows, collages, panoramas, and animations. Best of all, you can access your photos from almost any device — not just those running Android.

If your utmost concern is backing up images, then Google Photos might be the better solution. It’s free, storage is unlimited (so long as you don’t use the “original” file size option), and, unlike Google Drive, it doesn’t impact your allotted amount of free storage. Google has also recently improved performance, meaning Photos is now twice as fast. However, there is a catch.

The service supports JPEG, TIFF, RAW, WEBP, and GIFs that are at least 256 pixels, as well as a dozen different video file types including MP4 and MOV. The free storage option does downsample those files slightly, however. Images are still pretty high resolution, so it’s fine for most people, but if you really want to keep the entirety of the file intact, you’ll want to upload individually to Google Drive and have those photos count against your storage limits.

Google Photos is also simple to set up and use. Once you connect it to your Google ID, the app will upload any new content automatically. If you don’t have an unlimited data plan, just make sure you set Google Photos to only sync when your phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network, which can be done by accessing the Settings menu in the top-right corner of the app.

MicroSD cards

Unlike the iPhone, many Android devices let you expand storage via a MicroSD card. With a large-capacity card inserted, you could set supported photo apps to save content directly to the card instead of your phone’s internal storage. This is particularly useful if you purchased a 16GB or 32GB device, which, if you’re an avid shooter, will fill up in no time. Save the internal memory for applications and use the MicroSD card for storage. But remember, don’t leave the photos sitting on the card – transfer them to your computer. Check out our guide on using MicroSD cards on Android devices for more information.

What if your Android device lacks support for MicroSD? In this case, the Leef Access MicroSD reader is awesome for transferring photos between devices while expanding the storage space on your phone. The tiny dongle plugs into your phone’s Micro USB port, while the other end functions as a MicroSD card reader and a slot for secondary storage. Once a card is inserted, you can use most file-management apps to copy photos (or any files, for that matter) to the card. If you use a high-speed MicroSD card, the transfer process from phone to the card is relatively quick. You could also use USB On-the-Go; read more about it in the section of this article on External Storage.

Dropbox

Like Google Drive, another option is the popular Dropbox app for Android, a free utility that automatically syncs files and photos with the cloud-based server, so you can easily access them anywhere. The Dropbox App is available via the Google Play store.

Once you’ve downloaded the Dropbox app, you have to either log in to your existing account or make a new one. Either in settings or at the top of the photos and media tab, select Turn on Camera Upload to access the settings that govern what photos get backed up automatically, and whether you want them backed up on cellular data or only over Wi-Fi.

Microsoft’s One Drive is another similar option to consider.

Mylio

A group of former Microsoft engineers, who just so happen to be photo enthusiasts, got together and created Mylio. Billed as a “memory organizer,” the service lets mobile users back up their photos — up to 500,000 — for free. Mylio lets you sync up to 12 Android or iOS devices, and offers in-device photo editing, along with the ability to work with JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and RAW files. The concept behind Mylio is similar to Google Photos, but while the latter targets casual photographers, Mylio seems to skew toward enthusiasts. We think Google Photos offers more features for everyday shooting, but if you work with high-quality files, Mylio is a great companion to Google Photos.

Email and sharing

It isn’t the most elegant solution, but if you only need to transfer over an image or two, and you only do it sporadically, then you can easily use your email. This is also a good way to send images to a PC that isn’t connected to your Google Drive or other cloud accounts, such as a work computer. Depending on your email provider, the exact process may vary, but it’s a simple process no matter which app you use. Compose a new email, and enter your email address as the recipient.

Tap on the Menu button to bring up a context menu, and then select Attach File to add a picture to your email. If you’re in Gmail, you can capture a photo right from that menu.

Send the email, and a few short minutes later, you will see the email pop up in your inbox for you to open from another phone or your computer. Note that you are sending a large file and some email services have a limit on the file size you can send.

You can also share a photo to other services, like Facebook, Google Drive, Instagram, and Twitter by sharing. Pull up the photo you wish to share, then tap the Share button. From there, you will be prompted to select which app you wish to use to share the picture. Depending on which app you choose, the picture will be emailed, posted, or uploaded.

External storage

Sometimes, nothing else will do besides a reliable external storage device. As connectivity in smartphones increases, so do your options for connecting to different storage methods.

One nice thing about Android is its support for external storage, which owes much to a USB protocol called USB On-the-Go (OTG). You can plug in a standard external USB hard drive — the kind you’d use with a laptop or desktop machine — and add a ton of storage for offloading photos and videos, particularly 4K and RAW files. You will need a USB OTG-to-Micro USB adapter, however. Also, keep in mind that not all Android devices support USB OTG; to find out if yours does, use the Easy OTG Checker app.

If your phone doesn’t support USB OTG, another useful option is a portable flash drive (aka a thumbdrive) that is designed to connect directly to a phone via the Micro USB or USB Type-C port. These products include Leef’s Bridge 3.0 Mobile USB drive, as well as SanDisk’s Ultra Dual Drive m3.0 or Ultra USB Type-C Flash Drive.

How To Download Pictures From Computer To Phone To Android

Taking a ton of photos? Western Digital’s My Passport Wireless SSD packs tons of storage, wireless connectivity, and portability into a single package. With Wi-Fi, you can connect your Android device to the drive (via the WD My Cloud app) and easily copy photos over. There’s a built-in SD card slot, too, which allows you to back up the photos from your digital camera without a computer.

How To Download Pictures From Computer To Phone Computer

The iPhone camera gets better with every new iteration, which isn’t surprising given it’s one of the most popular smartphone cameras in existence. As image quality improves and resolution continues to climb, however, you’re going to need more storage space. And with support for RAW images and 4K videos, those files are now even larger. So for shutterbugs who use a 32GB (or smaller) iPhone, how do you maintain creativity without maxing out the storage capacity? You’ll want to learn how to transfer photos from your iPhone to a computer.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to quickly and easily back up your photos to your computer or the cloud, which not only saves you space, but ensures your photos will be readily accessible elsewhere in the event your phone is stolen or breaks. Below are a few of our favorite methods for doing so, whether you want to rely on a direct connection or one of many cloud-based apps. (The processes described here also applies to the iPad and iPod Touch.)

There’s more to Apple’s mobile operating system than you might think. Fortunately, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite iOS tips and tricks in one handy guide.

How to upload your photos using a USB cable

The process for importing and transferring photos from an iOS device with a USB cable essentially hasn’t changed for a decade, whether you’re using MacOS or Windows. The process varies slightly between operating systems, but it’s basically just a matter of plugging your iPhone in and clicking the Import button.

MacOS

Step 1: Plug your phone into your computer — either using a 30-pin-to-USB (iPhone 4S or older) or Lightning-to-USB cable — the same way you would if you transferring music from an iPod to a computer.

Step 2: The Photos app should automatically launch, but if not, open the program via Launchpad, Dock, or the Applications folder. (Alternatively, launch Aperture or iPhoto if you use those applications.) If your device isn’t automatically selected, you can find it on the left side of the Photos app screen. You could also use the Image Capture app in MacOS to quickly download content from phone to a folder.

Step 3: If using Photos, click the blue Import New button in the upper-right corner, or select the individual photos you wish to transfer before clicking the Import Selected button at the top. You can also check the box beside Delete items after import if you wish to automatically delete the photos on your iPhone after importing.

Once done, select Last Import (located on the left)to view your recently uploaded images. Keep in mind that Ctrl-clicking an image will also bring up additional options for sharing, favoriting, and editing said images.

MacOS, by default, launches the Photos app whenever a camera, memory card, or device containing photos — like an iPhone, for example — is connected. To disable this, after the first time Photos launches, uncheck the box in the upper-left that says “Open photos for this device” or “Open photos.”

Windows

The iPhone pairs well with MacOS — there’s no doubt there. However, that doesn’t mean Apple has made it difficult for Windows users to access their photos using a program native to their respective OS. The process is nearly identical for Windows 8 and 10 users, so you shouldn’t experience much trouble using any moderately recent Windows OS.

Step 1: Plug your phone into your computer — either using a 30-pin or Lightning cable — the same way you would do so if you were uploading music. (You may also need to install iTunes beforehand.)

Step 2: The Photos app should automatically launch, but if not, open the program using the Start menu or search bar. You may have to unlock your iPhone before moving on.

Step 3: Click the Import button in the upper-right corner, represented by a box with a downward arrow inside. Afterward, check the individual photos you wish to transfer from your iPhone and click Continue in the lower-left corner.

Step 4: Check the box in the resulting pop-up window if you’d like to automatically delete the photos on your iPhone after importing them, or simply click the Import button to transfer the images to your main Pictures folder. Alternatively, click the blue Change where they’re imported link to select a new save destination.

When finished, click the Albums button accessible via the left-hand navigational pane. Then, select Last Import at the top to view, share, or edit any of your recently-uploaded photos.

How to upload your photos wirelessly (on a Mac)

On MacOS, it’s possible to bypass the cable altogether thanks to Apple’s AirDrop. This proprietary wireless transfer protocol makes it easy to send photos from your iPhone to your MacOS computer, be it a single image or a hundred. The process also works with the iPad. So long as you have a comparable operating system and computer (a full list of which you can find below), the process is fairly straightforward. If you’re running Mac OSX Lion (10.7) or later, the following computers should be AirDrop compatible:

• iMac (Early 2009 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Mid-2010 or newer)
• Mac mini (Mid-2010 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Late 2008 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2008 or newer)

Step 1: Make sure Wi-Fi is enabled for both devices.

Step 2: Make sure Air Drop is enabled on both devices. On your MacOS computer, open a Finder window and in the left-hand navigation bar, click on the AirDrop label (it should be at the very top, as shown below). At the bottom of the screen, after “allow me to be discovered by,” make sure it says contacts only or everyone. On iOS, go to Settings > General > AirDrop. Make sure either Contacts Only or Everyone is selected.

Step 3: On your iPhone, go to the Photos app and select the photo(s) you want to transfer. There’s no limit on how few or how many you can transfer at once, but themore images you select, the longer the transfer will take.

Step 4: Tap on the share icon inside the Photos app (the box with the arrow pointing up) and wait for the MacOS computer you want to transfer them to pop up under the AirDrop section of the share dialog. Make sure the device that you want to transfer to is on and awake. Once the correct MacOS computer appears, tap on it. Depending on your AirDrop settings, you may have to approve the transfer, otherwise it will automatically begin.

How To Download Pictures From Droid Phone To Computer

Step 4: By default, the photos are stored in your Mac’s Downloads folder. The images won’t be grouped into a folder by default, so it’s up to you to organize the images and store them to keep them safe.