How to Transfer Pictures from Android to Computer
13Have you been using your new Android smartphone as a replacement for your Digital Camera? If so, I’m sure you’ve taken lots of great pictures! Taking pics on your Droid is a lot more convenient than carrying around another camera. But what if you lost your smartphone? Wouldn’t you like to store the pictures on your computer as a backup? If so, just follow the simple steps in this lesson and I’ll show you how to backup your photos and transfer them to your PC.
Copying pics and videos from the micro-SD Card in your Android device to a computer, allows you to back up and use them on your PC for editing, sharing or viewing. The process of copying photos and videos from your phone to a computer is fairly simple, just follow our step-by-step instructions below to get started!
Instructions:
1. Connect your smartphone using the USB sync cable. An USB icon will appear in the notification area of your phone.
2. On the smartphone, drag the notifications bar down and then tap it. Next tap USB connected, and then Mount.
3. On the computer, click the START button and then select Computer or My Computer. The micro-SD card in your phone will be recognized and listed as a Removable Disk.
4. Double-click this removable disk to open it. Double-click the folder DCIM, and then the folder Camera.
5. From this folder, you can copy all pictures and videos taken with the Digital Camera of your Android smartphone.
6. To disconnect your Android, just go to the notifications area on your phone and tap on the USB sign to disconnect.
7. That’s it! Enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that you have a backup of all your pics & videos stored on your PC. In addition, you now have an alternative way to view, share, and edit all of the pics that you’ve taken on your Droid!
Looking for other ways to transfer the files? How about without cables and via WiFi? Check out one of our other tutorials for more Advanced users: How to transfer files via WiFi from PC to Android (Wirelessly)
Do you have any questions or comments? Please feel free to leave us a note in the comments section below!
John A
I'm a huge Android fan and also the founder of the DroidLessons website. I started obsessing about the Android platform as soon as I got my HTC EVO phone in mid-2010. Ever since then, I have been obsessed with learning all that I can about the Android OS and sharing that knowledge with my friends and family.
Follow Me:
Is there a way to copy pictures from the messages to a computer?
Yes, check out this other lesson and combine it with the lesson above: http://droidlessons.com/how-to-save-pictures-and-attachments-from-text-messages-on-android/
I am looking for the instructions on how to How to Transfer Pictures from Android to iMac. Thank you so much!
Hi there,
If I were to take a picture, and I wanted to move that particular picture to a specific existing photo album, how would I go about doing that?
Is there any way to be certain that ALL of my pictures and videos have been transferred? I have tried transferring them a few times and each time the number changes … ex: I just transferred all the files from my phone to my computer (1,624 files transferred), when I opened my Picture Gallery on my phone there were 1,415 files there. HELP! I don’t want to lose any of my pictures or videos.
I need to free up internal storage space. I’ve cleaned out messages and unneeded stuff.
I just loaded my pictures in to my pc and now I want to delete all the photos. I think that will free up a lot of space. How do I do that”
There are a lot of pics that I have deleted that remained in the memory!
Thank you John for this info! I was having so much trouble – tried various web sites. Finally, your info worked! THANK YOU!!!
No problem!
I’m glad to hear that it worked well for you! I hope you enjoy the other articles on the website as well! 
Thank you!!!! Your post helped me figure out how to transfer my photos when I’ve been trying to figure it out for months!! I should have found this sooner
very simple and easy to follow.
When I connect my phone via usb cable to my pc, the notifications bar does not show that first screen that I’m connected to usb.. What do i do? I’m using my charger cable. Do i need to buy a different usb cable and if so what one?
How do I select all on the computer to save pictures to a file? I’m doing it 1 by 1 and there are close to a thousand
this could take hours..Thanks Jim
hello,
When i plug my phone in to my computer with the usb cord no notification comes in that says its selected. wondering if you could help. i have a droid 4
I’ve searched diligently for information on how to transfer Samsung Note II photos along with their (if any) associated drawn on notes to my PC. The photos transfer, but any notes (stuff drawn on the photo) disappears.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.