How to Transfer Photos from a Samsung Galaxy to a PC

Quick Share can quickly beam over a few snaps or an entire selection at once with no cable required. For an occasional photo or two, that's all you need.

Windows 11 can also browse photos stored on a Galaxy device over Wi-Fi, although this isn't as useful for grabbing large numbers of images at once.

And if you want to back up everything, including RAW images and lengthy videos, a USB connection is still the way to go.

Which transfer method to use

Keep in mind that each of these methods works as the manufacturers intended (as described in their help pages), and that each has its strengths and weaknesses which may make one option more or less suited for your situation.

Expectations are often unrealistically high for Phone Link, which is unfortunate as it only provides access to recent pictures.

Copy photos with a USB cable

Use this method if you're transferring a large number of photos, or if you want to edit photos on your computer (for example, if you shoot in Expert RAW DNG format).

Samsung's instructions are the same for Windows. Unlock your phone's screen so your computer can access your phone's storage.

1. 1

   Connect the phone

   Connect the phone to the computer. For best results, connect it directly to a USB port on the computer instead of a USB hub. Samsung warns that some USB cables support charging only. If the computer doesn’t detect your phone, try using a different USB cable.

2. 2

   Allow file transfer

   Unlock your phone and tap Allow if prompted. If not prompted, open the USB notification and select Transferring files / Android Auto (this may be under Tap for other USB options according to Samsung’s support page for the UK).

3. 3

   Open the phone in File Explorer

   Open File Explorer (Windows key + E) and click your phone’s name in the sidebar, then Internal storage. It should show up just like any other drive under This PC (according to Samsung’s UK site).

4. 4

   Find the camera folder

   Other apps that save images may store them in different locations. To find out where an image is stored, open it in Gallery, swipe up to see its details and look for Path. To browse images stored by Camera, open DCIM > Camera.

5. 5

   Copy, then disconnect

   Instead of moving files, copy them to a folder on your PC. Open a few of the copied files to make sure everything copied correctly before deleting any files from your phone. Once the copying is complete, Samsung recommends that you wait until you no longer see any copying windows on your PC before disconnecting your phone.

Alternatively, head over to Microsoft’s support page for transferring photos from phone to PC for Windows. Once your phone is unlocked, open the Photos app on your PC, choose Import and select your phone from the list of devices. Follow the on-screen instructions to import photos from phone to PC. Note that Windows 10 hit end of support on 14 October 2025, but you can still use either method on this version of Windows.

On a Mac

Meanwhile, Mac users wanting to check out the contents of their Galaxy will be pointed towards Smart Switch for Mac by Samsung, which will notably refuse to run with Android File Transfer on your system. What is Android File Transfer then? Well, as of this writing, if you go to Google’s Android File Transfer page all you’ll find is information about Quick Share for Windows, so there’s no current Google tool for browsing a Galaxy on a Mac. On the Galaxy S26 series, Quick Share can also be used to send photos directly to a MacBook (2020 or newer). On Samsung’s Australian website, this is referred to as Share with Apple devices and can be found in Settings > Connected devices > Quick Share. See our Mac transfer guide for step-by-step instructions for each Mac route, including the free OpenMTP app.

Browse the phone wirelessly in File Explorer

If you’re after a wireless alternative, Microsoft’s Link to Windows app can integrate your Android phone with File Explorer on Windows 11. Here’s how:

• On your Android phone, you need the Link to Windows app (Android 11 or later, Link to Windows 1.24072.258.0 or later required, according to Microsoft).
• On your PC, open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices > Manage devices > toggle on Show mobile device in File Explorer (Windows 11 required).

Your Android phone should appear in File Explorer, giving you access to all the files in your phone’s DCIM folder. Microsoft says files you delete this way are recoverable for 30 days from a “Recycle bin – Connected device” folder on your phone.

Keep in mind that only one Android phone can show up in File Explorer at a time, and transferring a large number of files may be better done over a cable connection.

Phone Link for a few recent photos

Photos and screenshots (but not videos) can be transferred to a PC via Phone Link, the companion app to Link to Windows on phones. Microsoft says that this will show images from the screenshots and camera roll folders, up to the 2,000 most recent shots, and warns that if you delete them from Phone Link they’ll also be removed from the phone.

Images can be dragged out of Phone Link onto a desktop or saved via a right-click Save as option. Microsoft says that on Samsung phones you can drag files to and from the phone display and PC, up to 100 at a time and none larger than 512MB.

Phone Link requires Android 10 or later on the phone and Windows 11 (or Windows 10 with the October 2022 update) on the PC.

Quick Share to a Windows PC

Quick Share suits a batch of images from a single shoot and uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to transfer images.

There are two Quick Share apps for Windows. Google’s Quick Share is compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows 10 and later, though Google notes it’s no longer supported on PCs made by Samsung. Samsung’s Quick Share app is preinstalled on Galaxy Book2 models and later, and should work on other PCs provided you have the Intel Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers installed.

1. 1

   Install the app on the PC

   Install Quick Share on your PC (Samsung Quick Share if using a Galaxy Book, Google Quick Share for Windows on most other PCs).

2. 2

   Select the photos

   In Gallery, select the photo(s) you would like to share by touching and holding one photo and then tapping any additional photos, then tap Share.

3. 3

   Send them

   Select Quick Share, select your PC from nearby devices and approve sending the photo(s) on your PC.

According to Samsung’s website, there are no file size or number limitations when sharing files to nearby devices.

When sharing files via QR code or link, up to 1,000 files can be shared at a time with a maximum of 10GB per day. Shared links will expire after two days.

Back up everything with Smart Switch

You can also use Smart Switch on Windows or Mac to make a backup of your Samsung phone’s contents before upgrading to a new phone or performing a factory reset. Smart Switch requires Windows 10 or later, or macOS 10.13 or later. On Windows, Smart Switch backups are stored in Documents > Samsung > SmartSwitch > backup, according to Samsung’s support page for Australia. Photos and videos will be included in the backup, and you can access photos and videos in the backup as regular files. However, if you’re just after photos and videos, it’s easier to connect your phone to your computer using a USB cable and copy the files. A Smart Switch backup is also one of the few ways to get deleted photos back later, as our photo recovery guide explains.

Cloud routes with Google Photos and OneDrive

The Google Photos app backs up the camera and any device folders you choose, according to Google. To download selected photos from Google Photos on a computer, select the photos and videos you want at photos.google.com and then select More > Download. You can also download all of your data from Google Photos (and other Google services) using Google Takeout. Google Takeout downloads come in either zip or tgz archive files, and according to Google, the download expires after about seven days.

Samsung Gallery no longer syncs photos directly to OneDrive as of 30 September 2026, but photos already backed up to OneDrive will remain there, according to Microsoft. If you want to continue using OneDrive photo backup from your Samsung phone, you’ll need to enable Camera backup in the OneDrive app instead. Google provides 15GB of free storage for all Google services (including backed-up photos from Google Photos whether set to Original quality or Storage saver quality) and OneDrive offers 5GB free, 100GB with Microsoft 365 Basic and 1TB with Microsoft 365 Personal. The Gallery app guide covers Gallery's new Google sync on One UI 9, and our Samsung Cloud photos guide compares the backup options side by side.

When the phone doesn't show up on the PC

• If your phone is recognised but you can’t see any files, unlock your phone and select Transferring files / Android Auto again from the USB notification.
• Try connecting using a different USB cable and connecting to a USB port on your PC if your phone only seems to charge when you connect it – many cheap USB cables will charge your phone but won’t let you transfer data.
• Samsung’s support page for the UK advises selecting Connected as media device if you get a charging-only notification and checking whether antivirus software is stopping file transfers.
• Microsoft says you can only view photos, not videos, using Phone Link, so connect your phone to your PC using a USB cable and view your videos in File Explorer instead.
• Google says that when you download images from Google Photos, it’s possible that your PC will create a new date for them, so check your photo’s details to see its original date.

After the files have been saved to your computer, our RAW vs JPEG guide discusses which ones are worth editing, and Snapseed for PC covers editing them on a big screen. If you shoot DNGs, the Lightroom vs Snapseed comparison helps you select the best desktop editor for you.