Activate Android USB MTP Mode - Instructions

Under Android you can define which USB mode should be activated if you want to connect your smartphone to a computer via USB cable.

As a possibility are mostly available:

  • Only Charging
  • Media Transfer Protocol (MTP)
  • Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP)
  • RNDIS (Ethernet over USB)
  • Audio source MIDI

If you want to transfer photos and videos from your Android smartphone to your PC, we often recommend the MTP mode, i.e. the Media Transfer Protocol.

Here we show you how you can set Android to always activate this mode when you connect your smartphone via USB: First, the developer options must be enabled.

Proceed as follows (menu items vary depending on device and Android version):

1. Opens to unlock the developer options in Android settings.

2. Navigate here to "Device Information" and then to Software Info

3. You now see an entry with "Build Number"

4. Now quickly tap this entry several times - After about seven taps the developer mode is activated under Android.

The developer options are now active. Now you can activate MTP for USB permanently as follows:

1. Open the Android settings and then the "Developer Options" (Activate them if not done)

2. Scroll down and select "USB Configuration"

3. Set the marking at "MTP Mode (Media Transfer Protocol)"

You have now switched the USB configuration to MTP mode under Android. This means that your Android smartphone always connects in this mode, which means that you can easily transfer files and photos.

About the Author

Manuel Solvemix Team small

Manuel has been involved with technology for more than 15 years, especially with mobile phones, smartphones and PC systems and shares his passion here in this blog. If he can help someone with a technical problem, he is especially happy about it.