Customer Support

How to Connect your Android Device with a USB Cable

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Introduction

As well as connecting your Android device to Droid Transfer over your local WiFi network, you can also connect your Android device to your computer using a USB cable.

To enable this, you’ll need to adjust some settings on your Android device to allow communication between Droid Transfer and the Transfer Companion app. This support article will guide you through the process...

Enabling Developer Options on your Android Device

You need to change some settings on your Android device so that "Developer Mode" is enabled.

  1. Open your device settings and choose "About phone", "About device" or just "About".
  2. Look for the entry "Build Number", or "Build Version". This entry may be under a further sub-menu called "Software Information" or "Software Info" on some devices.
  3. Tap the "Build Number" entry five or six times. (No, really!)
    Your device will show you how many taps are required to enable Developer Mode. When done your device will have Developer Mode enabled.
  4. Go back to your main Settings menu - scroll down to the bottom, you should see a new entry called "Developer Options".
Enabling Developers Options on Android

Developer man icon Congratulations! You're now a developer! ;)

Enable USB Debugging

Just a couple more settings to change...

  1. Tap to open "Developer Options"
  2. Make sure "Developer Options" is set to ON.
  3. Scroll down to "USB Debugging" and make sure that is enabled also. If it isn't, slide the toggle switch to the right to enable it.
  4. Depending on your Android device - a window may pop up on your phone asking you to verify that you want to enable USB Debugging. Click OK or Apply to allow USB Debugging to become enabled.
Enabling USB Debugging on Android

 

Download Transfer Companion to your Android Device

Download Transfer Companion to your Android device from the Google Play Store. You need to be running at least version 5.02 of Transfer Companion - so check for updates if you have previously downloaded Transfer Companion to your Android device.

Google Store badge

Download Droid Transfer to your PC

On your Windows PC, go to this address to download Droid Transfer...

droidtransfer.net


Run Droid Transfer on your PC

  1. Run Droid Transfer on your PC and when you see the connect screen:

    Droid Transfer connect screen
  2. Click the toggle button to switch over to USB connection mode:

    Droid Transfer Select USB
  3. Connect your Android device to your PC with a USB cable. Depending on your device, your phone may request permission for it to communicate with your PC.

    Click OK or Allow on any prompts showing on your Android Device.

  4. Check that your device is set to allow file transfer using your USB connection. To do this, on your device, swipe down from the top of the screen and tap "Charging this device via USB". Under "Use USB for" select "File Transfer".

    Set USB file transfer option
  5. When Droid Transfer detects your device, it will launch Transfer Companion on your Android device and begin to load your phones data through the USB cable.

    Connect Android to Droid Transfer using USB
  6. Connection should now made between Droid Transfer and Transfer Companion and you can start managing and copying your Android Phone content using Droid Transfer on your PC.

    Droid Transfer home page

If you're having troubles, check out our USB connection troubleshooting tips which will help you resolve any issues.

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Publisher: Wide Angle Software