I'm trying to copy several years of photos and videos from an old Samsung Galaxy A51 to a Windows 11 PC. Samsung Cloud does not appear to sync the Gallery, Quick Share is not working with the computer, and USB transfers repeatedly disconnect after a few minutes. The phone's charging port is slightly damaged, so the connection only stays active when the cable is held at a particular angle. I've already tried updating MTP drivers and importing through the Windows Photos app. Cloud storage, email, and messaging apps are also impractical because the phone is outdated and I have more than 1,000 files to move. What is the most reliable way to recover everything before I retire the phone?
5 Answers
Bluetooth works as a fallback, but it will be very slow for a large library. You’d need to send small batches and accept files on the PC, so I’d only use it if the SD-card, network, and USB options are unavailable.
If the A51 has a microSD card installed, that’s probably the easiest option. Put a card in the phone, copy the photos and videos to it in batches, then remove it and use a USB card reader on the PC. If there isn’t already a card, you can buy one and repeat the transfer until everything is copied.
If the phone can still run it, enabling USB debugging and using Android Debug Bridge to pull the photo folders may work more reliably than the normal file browser. It can copy folders directly, including DCIM, Pictures, and video directories. You could also try Phone Link, although its transfer features may be limited on an older Android version.
For a wired transfer, try a different, sturdy data cable and keep the phone completely still. Unlock the phone after connecting, choose “File transfer” from the USB notification, and copy the DCIM and other photo folders directly through File Explorer instead of using the Photos import tool. Carefully cleaning lint from the port with a nonmetallic pick may also improve the connection, but don’t force anything into it.
You can transfer over the local network instead of using USB. Install a file manager such as CX File Explorer on the phone, share a folder on the Windows PC with read/write access, and copy the files from the phone into that network folder. Another option is MyPhoneExplorer, which has a phone app and a Windows client and can transfer files over the same Wi-Fi network.
That’s likely the least frustrating approach since it avoids relying on the damaged charging port.