How to fix Android device not connecting to the computer

1. Check the USB connection on the phone (Windows / Mac)

Your Android device has several modes of connecting your phone to your computer. Each mode serves a different purpose, so if used incorrectly, the devices will not recognize each other.

Here's how to change the connection mode on the phone:

1. Connect your phone to your computer via a USB cable.
2. Pull down the notification bar, you will see the current connection mode. Click on that mode to open the USB Preferences page .
3. Select File Transfer .

Then, your phone will appear in the hard drive of File Explorer or Finder. Now you can start copying files to or to your device.

2. Update MTP USB Driver on PC (Windows)

If you use your phone as media on your computer, you need to enable MTP mode on the computer. This requires the MTP driver installed and updated on your computer.

Most computers already have this driver installed. If they expire, you can easily update using Device Manager:

Step 1. Connect your phone to your computer via USB.

Step 2. Open Device Manager by right clicking on the button Start or press the Win + X .

Step 3. Find your Android device in Portable Devices , right-click and select Update driver .

Step 4. Select Browse my computer for driver software .

Step 5. Click on the option Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer below.

Step 6. Select MTP USB Device from the list and click Next .

When the driver is updated, your phone will look like a media device.

3. Using the Android File Transfer tool (Mac)

Unlike Windows, you cannot transfer files directly from Android to Mac. You need to install the tool on your Mac first, to make it a bridge between you and your Android device.

This tool is called Android File Transfer, you can download it from the official Android website:

Step 1. Download the Android File Transfer tool from the Android website.

Step 2. Open the downloaded file and drag the tool to your Applications folder .

Step 3. Double-click the tool in your Applications folder (or search Spotlight with Cmd + Space ) to open it.

Step 4. Plug the Android phone into the computer via USB.

Your phone should now appear in the newly installed tool.

4. Use a different USB cable and port (Windows / Mac)

If you tried the above and the problem still persists, your port or USB cable is probably damaged. Of course, if it is broken, how to connect anything.

Fortunately, most computers have multiple USB ports. Try a different port to see if your phone is connected. You should also use a different USB cable to see if the computer recognizes your device.

5. Update computer operating system (Mac)

On Windows, you can connect your Android phone regardless of which version of your computer's operating system is. However, with Macs, older versions of macOS can cause Android device connectivity problems.

Therefore, you should update the macOS version if the phone cannot connect to your computer. Please follow the steps below:

Step 1. Click on the Apple logo in the left corner and choose About This Mac .

Step 2. Click the Software Update button to update the software for Mac.

Step 3. If new macOS software is available, download and install it on your machine, then reconnect it again.

6. Uninstall other Android connections (Windows / Mac)

A few phone manufacturers offer proprietary connectivity, for example Samsung SideSync. These tools may affect normal Android connections, preventing your computer from recognizing your phone connection.

If you are installing these tools, try removing it from your computer to avoid conflicts. Then, reconnect your phone and computer to see if it works normally.

7. Run Windows Device Troubleshooter (Windows)

Windows 10 has a few troubleshooter that can help you find and fix the error. Luckily we have a fixer for peripheral devices like Android phones. You can use this tool to fix phone and computer connection problems, which are imperfect, but worth a try.

Microsoft removed the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter from the latest version of Windows 10, but it's still accessible via the command line:

1. Press Win + X and choose Windows PowerShell (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin) from the list.
2. Enter the following command:
3. You should see the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter . Click Next for the tool to detect errors on your device. It will then offer solutions to fix that error.

If you're on an older version of Windows 10, you can find the tool through:

1. Turn on Settings on your PC, click Update & Security and choose Troubleshoot from the left sidebar.
2. From the list, click Hardware and Devices to open the debugger.

Lesley Montoya

Update 01 September 2020