Whether you want to create a backup of your phone or transfer files to your laptop, you must know how to connect the phone to the laptop.
Lucky for you, this article discusses how to pair your Android and iOS phones with your Windows and Mac laptops.
In addition to that, you’ll learn how to connect a phone to a laptop wirelessly or wired. After establishing a successful connection, you can conveniently transfer files from your smartphone to your computer and vice versa.
How Do I Connect My Android Phone to My Laptop to Transfer Files?
Let’s discuss in detail how to connect your Android phone to a Windows laptop for file sharing.
Via USB Cable
You can use your regular charging cable to connect the Android phone to a Windows laptop. Then, all you need to do is insert the phone’s charging cable into the laptop’s USB port. Later, you can see the “USB Debugging” notification on the bottom right side of the laptop.
You should know that the “USB Debugging is initially set for charging the laptop instead of transferring files. However, you can see the different options on your smartphone’s screen to change it to “Photos” or “Files,” depending upon your requirement.
After selecting any of the above options, you can successfully sync your phone with your Windows laptop. Furthermore, you don’t have to install the required drivers. It’s because Windows automatically installs them, allowing the laptop to communicate to the Android phone.
However, if Windows doesn’t install the driver updates on its own, you can Google to find the required Android phone model drivers to download them manually. It’s recommended not to download the drivers from unknown sources; instead, you should always install them from the manufacturer’s website.
Lastly, you’ll see a small notification window upon clicking you can access the smartphone files of the laptop. On the other hand, you can also find the link to your phone by selecting “Computer’ and “This PC.”
After transferring the files, you can safely remove the phone from the laptop. But, first, you should select the option “Safely Remove Hardware,” available in the System Tray, present on the bottom right corner of the main desktop.
Wireless Connection
You can use Bluetooth or any other third-party tool, such as AirDrop, to connect an Android phone to a laptop wirelessly. In case of a Bluetooth connection, you must enable the Bluetooth option on both devices and sync them. However, you should ensure that both the devices are discoverable and near one another.
While searching on your laptop, select the Android phone you want to connect to and establish a Bluetooth connection to transfer files and photos. However, you should know that the transfer rate via Bluetooth is relatively slow compared to a wired connection.
On the other hand, AirDroid is third-party software that ensures a secure pairing of laptop and smartphone on your home WI-FI network. All you need to do is create an account on the AirDroid app and install it on your laptop and phone; else, you can also use the web version.
Next, open the app on both devices and sync them wirelessly via the application platform. Once done, you can transfer the data from smartphone to laptop and vice versa faster than a Bluetooth connection.
Microsoft Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
Courtesy of the popular Windows 10 Fall Creator update, you no longer need to read articles on the smaller screen of your smartphones. Using this Windows 10 update, you can add a new Phone section to your Settings option to connect your phone to the laptop or computer.
After establishing a successful connection, you can send long and short articles from your Android phone to your laptop to read in your free time.
First, you must create a Microsoft account and select the option “Add a phone” within Windows’s settings. The next step is to enter the phone number and press the “Send” button.
You’ll receive a confirmation message on your phone to establish a connection. Within the news, you’ll find the link to install Microsoft Edge to sync the phone with a PC. Next, you must install Microsoft Edge on your phone and later sign in using your Microsoft account.
Lastly, restart the laptop to add the phone to the list on the Phone tab within the “Settings.”
How to Use Windows 10 Fall Creators Update?
Next, when you browse different websites on Microsoft Edge on your Android mobile phone, you’ll see a share option available in the bottom center of the menu bar. You can see the device name of your laptop listed in the sharing option.
Hover, if you use the above option, you’ll need to start reading again from the beginning on the laptop. Instead, we are interested in continuing the article from where we leave on the phone. That’s why you’ll see another option within the “Share” menu named “Continue later.” This option allows you to send a reminder notification to the Windows 10 laptop to read later.
On your laptop, you can open the Windows notification center, where you’ll see a section with the name “Continue from your phone,” containing all the links you intend to read later.
How Can I Display My Samsung Galaxy Screen on macOS Laptop?
You should know that connecting the Samsung galaxy to macOS isn’t a simple task; instead, it requires third-party tools to make the connection.
For a wireless connection, the process is simple. It’s because you can also use the web version of AirDroid on your macOS and connect the two devices without any hassle. Why the web version; it’s because you can’t install the AirDroid app on macOS. However, you can always add AirDroid as an extension of Google Chrome for effortless pairing.
To establish a wired connection between an Apple laptop and Samsung galaxy, you need to install an app known as Air File Transfer on macOS. This app works on an Apple computer with macOS 10.5 or later. Not only that, but you can conveniently connect the Samsung galaxy via the USB charging cable to macOS.
After installation, double-click on Android File Transfer and plug the Android smartphone into your macOS using a charging cable. Next, you’ll see the “File Transfer” option from the USB debugging, present in the phone’s notification panel. Later, you’ll see the Samsung galaxy phone appearing as a driver on your Apple laptop.
This way, you can transfer the files and photos to and from the macOS.
Can I Connect My iPhone to Windows Laptop?
You must be wondering how to share media files from iPhone to laptop since Apple devices have closed platforms. Don’t worry; you can use software and programs, like Air File Transfer, to connect your Android phone to macOS and iPhone to Windows laptop. Not only that, but you use cross-platform tools like AirDroid to ensure seamless sharing between your mobile phone and laptop.
To connect your phone to a Windows laptop, you must install the iTunes application. Apple devices use iTunes to manage files, photos, videos, and other music. Not only that, but it also assists in creating a backup of your iPhone data.
You can download iTunes for your Windows version from Apple’s official website. For installing iTunes on your Windows PC, you need to open the download folder and select iTunes6464Setup.exe installer.
All you need to do is to follow the installation instructions. It would help if you pressed “click Agree” on both the license window and Welcome window.
If you connect your iPhone for the first time, you should use the USB cable to connect the mobile phone and computer. You’ll see a prompt message on the iPhone saying, “Trust this Computer?” Then, you can select the “Trust” option and click Continue.
Now, you can quickly transfer and share files between your iPhone and Windows laptop via iTunes.
How to Connect iPhone to macOS?
Connecting iPhone to macOS is relatively easy since both of them are Apple devices. It means you don’t need any third-party tools or iTunes. All you need to do to connect the Android phone and PC with the help of a lightning cable, and you are done.
Later, you’ll see the phone’s driver within the “Finder” folder for you to transfer files and back up your data and software.
As far as a wireless connection between iPhone and macOS is concerned, you can use AirDrop, a default service by Apple. The best thing about this service is that it uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks to transfer the files between the two Apple devices.
Using AirDrop to Transfer Files from iPhone to macOS
If you want to share any file from iPhone to macOS, click on the select file and click the “Share” icon. First, you must turn on the AirDrop on your iPhone and macOS.
Within the sharing menu, you’ll see a round icon for the devices on which AirDrop is turned on. Again, it’s recommended to keep the iPhone and macOS closer to one another. Next, you need to select the device’s icon to which you want to send the file.
On the macOS side, which is essentially the receiver side, you’ll see a prompt message to accept or decline the incoming file.
Once accepted, AirDrop wirelessly transfers the files from iPhone to macOS. At the end of the successful completion of the transfer, you’ll see a sound alert on the receiver device. By the way, you can also customize the sound by going to the “Settings” and then click “Sounds.” Finally, select “AirDrop” to change the acknowledgment sound.
Moreover, you can use the above steps to transfer the files from iPhone to iPad and other Apple devices.
Use of AirDrop to Transfer Files from macOS to iPhone
Turn on AirDrop on both your devices. Right-click on the file you intend to share from macOS to iPhone. Now, press the “Share” option and then “AirDrop” from the menu.
Conclusion
To sum up, you can connect all kinds of Android and iOS phones to your Windows and iOS computers if you follow the instructions shared in the above article. Not only that, but you can also select the sharing media between phone and computer as wired or wireless.
