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If there's a smartphone, there's a camera; as simple as that. If there's a camera, there are photos, nay lots and lots of photos. Reason being, it is easy to flick out a phone and click a photo.
But, there's only so much that you can click (and store) on your phone till you run out of memory (internal + external). More extensive the camera (megapixels and stuff) better the quality of your photos and better the quality, larger their size. It's no rocket science that at some point of time you will run out of storage. What do you do then? Well, you transfer them.
And transferring photos to PC is an effective way to store precious pictures making it possible to free up space on the Samsung Galaxy Phone by deleting the transferred photos after you get off the photos.
Here are some pro tips to get you started on transferring photos (including screenshots) from your Android-based phone to a PC.
Use USB cable
One of the good things about Android is the amount of granular control the platform gives you vis--vis your file folders. All you need to access your Android phone's files (and folders) on your PC is a USB cable (microUSB/USB Type-C). To transfer photos:
Step 1: Connect the phone to PC via USB cable.
Step 2: Connect as a media device: choose MTP option. Choose Camera (PTP) option if you have your camera specific software installed on your PC and MTP is unavailable.
Step 3: Open device to view files.
Step 4: Double click on phone (additionally on the microSD card if you have photos on the microSD card inside your phone).
Step 5: Double click on DCIM folder. This is the folder where cameras store photos. This should give you two options on most occasions: camera and screenshots. Open by double clicking them to access your photos and screenshots.
Step 6: Sometimes the 'Screenshot' folder is found inside the Pictures folder. This depends from phone to phone. Some phone makers put it inside the DCIM, some inside Pictures.
Step 7: If you are looking for photos downloaded from the web on your phone you will find them in Downloads folders. Similarly, photos received through Bluetooth will be in Bluetooth folder. Same is true for app specific photos. For example if you have a third-party photo editor in your phone, it may save edited photos in its own folder. So look for that too.
Step 8: Once you have your photos in your sight, select them, copy them and paste them into a folder on your computer.
App method
Google Drive and Google Photos are your one-stop shop for backing up all your photos, accessing them via PC and downloading them all at the same time, any time. To do so:
Step 1: Make a Google account.
Step 2: Sign in to your Google account and manually download the Google Drive (and Google Photos) app from the Play Store if your phone doesn't have them. Mostly, you will have these apps pre-installed on your Android-based smartphone.
Step 3: Open Google Drive.
Step 4: You can manually upload your photos on Drive. You can choose whether or not you want a Wi-Fi-only process, which means files will be uploaded and updated only when you have a Wi-Fi connection. The option can be checked/altered from the settings menu of Google Drive.
Step 5: As for Google Photos, it automatically syncs your photos to the cloud. You can choose Wi-Fi-only option here as well.
Step 6: Google Drive and Google Photos are more or less the same thing and can be accessed through one app, which is Google Drive. Google Photos, however, gives you the option of light editing your photos as well.
Step 7: To transfer photos, open Google Drive (and Google Photos) on your PC, log in using the same ID you have on your phone and then manually download photos to your PC.
Third party apps
Alternatively you can also use Dropbox app for Android or Microsoft's One Drive app to sync and transfer your picture files. Both these apps are readily available to download and install from the Play Store.
Steps are similar to what you have on Google Drive only in this case you need separate Dropbox and One Drive accounts for access.
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The Samsung Galaxy S3 picture phone is generally outdated but the device remains functional as a quality camera and phone. In many cases, it is prudent to remove photos from older model phones to store them on a current computer or device where they remain accessible.
The older phone models are typically recycled or stashed in a drawer along with the photos they contain. Luckily, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is compatible with the common micro USB cable that can easily connect the phone to your computer.
If the micro USB port is non-functional, two other options exist for transferring photos to your computer. You can either share via a cloud account as an intermediary or use the phone’s share shot feature over a WIFI connection.
Galaxy S3 Photos to Computer
Connect the USB cable to your computer’s USB port. Most modern computers have one or more ports on the computer. Without one, an adapter can add a USB port to your computer although this is rarely needed.
Connect the micro USB end to your phone’s charging port while the phone is turned on. This immediately bridges the gap between your phone and computer. The connection on the phone will trigger a prompt. Choose to accept and share the phone’s content with the computer.
Open your control panel on the computer and you should see the phone. Click to access the phone’s files. Choose the media file to open all media. This includes songs and other downloads. You can copy and paste these to your computer’s hard-drive if desired as well.
Select the Camera file and choose DCIM. All photo and video files from your camera are stored under the DCIM file. Copy the entire folder or individual photos. Paste to the desired folder on your computer.
Saving to a Cloud
An easy option is saving your photos to a cloud account. Google Drive and Dropbox are both common cloud options and each has a free plan for minimal storage needs. You can setup an automatic backup to store all files on the cloud so they are never lost. This saves your files even when the phone is physically damaged or lost.
Without an auto backup, you must enter the photo album and share each photo to your cloud account. You can easily categorize photos into folders within your cloud while sharing to the account. This helps organize and date the photos into manageable groups.
After the photos are stored on the cloud account, you can either maintain the account or move them to your computer’s hard drive.
Share Shot Transfer
The share shot feature came standard on the Galaxy S3 model and it links to a computer for automatic sharing over WIFI. The feature is essentially a sync that backs up your photos automatically at home.
Connect to the same WIFI network as your computer. A password protected, home network is the best use of Share Shot. After connecting to the WIFI, you must enable WIFI Direct on the phone.
Access your menu, tap “Settings” then “More Settings” and lastly, “WIFI Direct.” The newly activated setting will search for other devices on the network. Select the computer you want to store the photos. This will create the connection but it does not share the photos just yet.
To setup S3 picture sharing between the connected devices, access your apps then open the camera. Tap the settings on the camera followed by “Shooting Mode.” Choose “Share Shot” to retrieve the connected devices. Confirm sharing between the phone and computer to finalize the process. Every photo taken will automatically share to your computer when the two devices are connected over the same WIFI network.
References (3)
About the Author
Zach Lazzari is a freelance writer with extensive experience in startups and digital advertising. He has a diverse background with a strong presence in the digital marketing world. Zach has developed and sold multiple successful web properties and manages marketing for multiple clients in the outdoor industry. He has published business content in Angling Trade Magazine and writes white papers and case studies for multiple corporate partners.
Photo Credits
- Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images News/Getty Images
How To Download Pictures From Samsung Tablet To Laptop
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Lazzari, Zach. 'How to Transfer Photos From a Galaxy S3 to a Computer.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/transfer-photos-galaxy-s3-computer-68222.html. 16 January 2019.
How To Download Pictures From Samsung Phone To Laptop S5
Lazzari, Zach. (2019, January 16). How to Transfer Photos From a Galaxy S3 to a Computer. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/transfer-photos-galaxy-s3-computer-68222.html
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