Android File Transfer not working on your Mac? Here is what to check

Android File Transfer was the official way to see an Android phone from a Mac for over a decade. Google stopped shipping it in 2024, and the copies people still have fail more often with every macOS release. If yours has stopped working, go through the list below in order. Most connections come back at step one or two. If nothing brings it back, the last section covers what to use now.

The usual message

The app opens and shows one of these:

• "Could not connect to device. Try reconnecting or restarting your device."
• "Can't access device storage."
• An empty window with no folders in it.
• A copy that hangs partway through, usually on a large video.

All of them have the same handful of causes.

1. Unlock the phone and pick File transfer

Plug the phone in and unlock it. Pull down the notification shade. There is a notification along the lines of "Charging this device via USB". Tap it and choose File transfer or File transfer / Android Auto.

Android defaults to charging only on every connection and goes back to it whenever the cable is unplugged. This is the single most common reason the Mac sees nothing. If you want File transfer every time, Developer options has a Default USB configuration setting.

The phone also has to stay unlocked while the Mac connects. A locked phone does not show its storage.

2. Try another cable and another port

Many cables that come with accessories carry power only. They charge perfectly and transfer nothing. Use the cable that came with the phone, or any cable you know has moved data before. Then try a different USB port on the Mac. On a hub, skip the hub and go direct.

3. Quit Samsung Smart Switch, Kies and friends

Only one program can hold the MTP connection at a time. Samsung Smart Switch, the older Kies, and some phone-maker sync tools sit in the background and grab the phone the moment it is plugged in, and Android File Transfer then finds nothing. Quit them from the menu bar, or uninstall if you never use them.

4. Answer the macOS accessory prompt

On Apple silicon Macs running Ventura or later, the first time a device is plugged in macOS asks whether to allow the accessory to connect. The prompt is easy to dismiss by accident, and a dismissed accessory is blocked. Unplug, plug back in, and watch for the dialog. The setting lives in System Settings under Privacy & Security.

5. Restart both

Unplug the phone. Quit Android File Transfer. Restart the phone, then reconnect and pick File transfer again. If it still fails, restart the Mac as well. The MTP stack on both ends gets stuck in ways that only a restart clears.

6. Check the file size

If the connection works but a copy stops partway, look at the file. Android File Transfer refuses anything over 4 GB. Long 4K videos cross that line easily. There is no fix inside the app for this one, only a different tool.

If none of that works

At some point the sensible move is to stop maintaining a program its maker has abandoned. The options on a Mac, briefly:

	Connection	Large files	Setup	Cost
Conduit (ours)	USB or Wi-Fi via adb	Any size	Turn on USB debugging once, install adb	Free, pay what you want
OpenMTP	USB via MTP	Yes	Download and open	Free, open source
MacDroid	USB or Wi-Fi via MTP	Yes	Download and open	Paid
Cloud sync	Internet	Slow for video	Account on both sides	Storage plan
SD card reader	Card	Any size	Pull the card	A reader

We make Conduit, so read that row with that in mind. It avoids MTP entirely and talks to the phone through adb, the Android developer bridge. That is why it is fast, why it has no file size limit, and why it works over Wi-Fi on Android 11 and later. It is also why it has one setup step the others do not: turning on USB debugging in Developer options and accepting the prompt on the phone the first time. Conduit walks through that on screen, and if adb is missing it shows where to get it.

The honest counterpoint: if you want zero setup and only move a few photos now and then, OpenMTP is free and does the job. If you have an SD card slot, the reader is the fastest of all.

For the longer comparison, see Android File Transfer is gone. Here is what to use on a Mac instead. For photos specifically, How to move photos from an Android phone to a Mac.