This tutorial will guide you through the easiest method to copy music files from Windows, macOS or Linux to your Android phone or tablet.
Note: the steps involved in transferring files from Windows/macOS/Linux to Android have changed considerably over the years. Back when this guide was initially published (2009!) you needed a USB cable and depending on your operating system, probably some software too. Now (2021) all you need is a web browser on each device and for them to be connected to the same network. Plus, you can transfer files the other way around – from the Android device to the computer. This guide now applies to files of all kinds – not just music/audio stuff.
- On the Windows, Mac or Linux computer, open a browser and visit the site https://www.sharedrop.io. Your computer be assigned a fun name and little emoji (as illustrated in the screenshot below).
- On the Android device, load the same site – https://www.sharedrop.io. You should see a name and emoji that’s been assigned to you as well as the name and emoji that the computer was assigned in the previous step. If it’s not there, have no fear – jump down to step #9 below. If you do see both emojis, proceed to step #3.
- Back on the computer, you’ll see the Android device pop up on the sharedrop.io page. Drag and drop the files you want to transfer to the Android device onto its emoji.
- If you’re sending more than one file, Sharedrop will quickly zip those files into a zip file.
- Once it’s ready to send, click the Send button.
- Back on the Android device, tap the Save button.
- The zip file will now transfer from the computer to Android. There isn’t a countdown-timer or clock, but there is a blue line that circles around the emoji to indicate the transfer status. It’s quite quick, even when transferring large files.
- Once the file has finished transferring it should open up in a file manager – from here you can extract the files to your Music folder (or wherever you wish, of course). That’s it! You’re all done. If you want to transfer files from the Android device back to the computer, just tap the computers “emoji” and follow the steps to select files to send.
- On the computer, click the “plus sign” button found in the upper-right corner of the sharedrop.io page.
- A window with a QR code will pop up. Open the camera app on the Android device and point it at the QR code – that will open the Sharedrop.io site and this time you will see the other computer. Jump back up to step #3 to proceed. Note: if the Android tablet or phone doesn’t have a QR reader built into the camera app, we’ve got you covered.
