Transfer to devices on Windows 10 not working. Causes and Solutions

Windows 10 is not immune to problems, and file transfer to other devices can be affected by a bad update. If the function Transfer to Devices on Windows 10 not working, you have come to the right place.

Ever since Windows 10 came on the scene, Microsoft kept urging users to upgrade from its previous versions. People got hooked on the promise of a faster, better, more intuitive, and modern user interface.

However, those who thought that using Windows 10 would be the end of bugs on their PCs were wrong. Over the years, Windows 10 has had some flaws, such as the bug that prevented devices from being installed on their PCs. MTP would work when connected to the computer.

Many users started experiencing this issue after the Anniversary Update and subsequent patches did not fully resolve it.

On the contrary, some people complained that they cannot move files to and from their phones after connecting to their computer via USBIf you have been dealing with this problem, this guide is for you.

What is MTP Mode?

MTP stands for “Media Transfer Protocol.” It is the file transfer mode used by phones Android modern for transferring files to and from a computer.

MTP replaced the protocol of storage USB mass storage used on older Android phones. USB mass storage exposes all parts of the phone to the computer, while MTP is much more selective.

Nowadays, when you connect your phone to a computer via USB, you can choose between MTP and PTP. PTP stands for “Picture Transfer Protocol”When you choose this mode, your phone appears on your PC as a digital camera and you can transfer photos back and forth.

MTP is actually an extension of PTP with additional tweaks to accommodate other forms of files and media. Back when phones still used USB mass storage, you couldn't access files on the storage while they were connected to the computer.

You had to unplug your phone to regain access. With MTP, you can access a file on your computer and phone at the same time. Also, USB mass storage required phone file systems to use the FAT format.

With MTP, phones can use better file systems like exFat and F2fs.

MTP Mode not working on Windows 10

Most people don't think about the process that occurs when a phone is connected to a computer. They simply plug a USB into the appropriate ends and start transferring files.

To be fair, most of the time, there is no need to think about it. The phone automatically installs the drivers it needs to establish a connection with the PC.

However, sometimes, the phone does not appear on the computer even after being connected. When you open File Explorer and “My Computer,” the phone’s internal storage is not shown as a drive or does not appear at all.

Sometimes, your smartphone's internal storage is displayed, but when you click on it, you get an error message.

Plug-and-access It is a basic Windows functionality that should not be broken. Unfortunately, the connection between an MTP-enabled device and a PC is often buggy. The user is unable to transfer files or have the MTP device appear on the computer.

This problem occurs in several ways. You may receive error messages such as:

• The USB MTP device driver failed.
• MTP USB device does not install.
• MTP not recognized.
• Your computer does not recognize the USB device.
• Code 28.

Why is MTP not working?

At this point, everyone is used to just plugging their phone into their computer and moving whatever they want to and from both devices. So, When MTP is not working, it is inevitable to wonder what happened.

If you want to know the reasons why your Android phone stopped working on your PC, here are some possible reasons:

• Lost or non-existent driver. An Android phone driver needs to be installed on your PC for the connection to work. If this driver is not installed or is missing, MTP errors are likely to occur.
• Corrupted controllerIf the Android MTP driver gets damaged or corrupted, your phone may not be able to establish a proper connection.
• Damaged or incorrect USB cable. Using the wrong cable may result in connection failure. It is best to use the cable that came with your phone charger or another similar brand cable.
• Outdated driver. A system update might have made the current driver obsolete. Updating the driver should help fix the MTP device not working issue in Windows 10.
• The phone is in charging mode. You need to manually select “MTP” or “File Transfer” from your phone’s notifications.

Now that you know the reasons, let's look at the possible solutions.

Solutions to File Transfer Not Working Error in Windows 10

When many users first reported this issue, Microsoft responded with an update that apparently fixed the problem for most people.

If you still have the problem after applying the update, there are other tips and Tricks availables.

1. Check your MTP device

Before trying to apply solutions on your PC, it is worth checking if the problem lies with the hardware.

First, make sure you have selected the MTP protocol on your phone. On most modern phones, you can choose the connection type as long as the device is connected to a PC port.

Swipe down on your phone to reveal the connection notification and select “MTP" or "File Transfer” from the options. Most phones select “Charge Only” mode by default and you have to manually choose “File Transfer” mode.

If you receive notifications from «Unrecognized USB device«, the problem could be with the PC ports. If you have another device lying around, try connecting it, using the same ports. If that works, the problem could be with your phone's drivers or the USB itself.

Make sure the USB you are using can handle file transfers. After a long period of use, some USBs lose their file transfer capability and can only charge the device.

Also, if you are not using the phone's original cable, make sure the one you have is not a charging-only cable.

Don't forget to test all available ports on your PC. You should perform thorough checks to make sure the problem isn't with your device, the cable, or the computer's ports. Only then should you proceed with the other solutions in this guide.

2. Install MTP drivers

When you connect a smartphone or MTP camera to your computer for the first time, the device drivers are automatically installed. These drivers allow a connection between the two devices to be established via USB.

If the drivers are not installed or have been removed from your PC, the file transfer connection is not possible. The only way that could happen is if there is another driver on your computer that your smartphone can use.

If you notice your device appears in the Device administrator with a yellow triangle or exclamation mark, you can try to reinstall it.

Here's how you can do it:

1. Press Windows + X keys.
2. From the drop-down menu, select “Device administrator".
3. Now, find and select “Devices Portables”. If it does not appear, you can select “Other devices".
4. Now, right click on your device and select “Update Driver".
5. Now select "Search my computer for driver software".
6. In the next window, click on “Allow me to choose from a list of device drivers on my computer".
7. Now, select “USB MTP device".
8. Click on the “Next".
9. The wizard will be activated, follow the steps shown on the screen to perform the driver installation.

The exclamation mark should have disappeared and you can now transfer files to and from your MTP device.

Sometimes, you need to manually install drivers for your MTP device because they cannot be installed automatically. For some device brands, Windows prevents the installation of their drivers.

You must disable driver signature enforcement in Windows 10 before you can install unsigned third-party drivers.

To do this, open a window symbol of the system elevated and run the following command:

bcdedit.exe / set nointegritychecks on

Restart your PC after running this command. When the device driver is finished installing, run the following command to re-enable driver signature enforcement and restart your computer:

bcdedit.exe / set nointegritychecks off

That should resolve the MTP device not working error.

3. Update MTP drivers

If the device driver is already installed, but you are unable to transfer files to the device, you may need to update the driver. The driver may be broken or you may encounter another issue that is causing the MTP device not to work on Windows 10.

Or it could just be outdated.

In all these cases, updating the driver is your best bet to get rid of this problem once and for all. You can use the device manager to update your MTP device or rely on a dedicated driver update tool.

Update the MTP device driver using Device Manager

Use the Device administrator To update your MTP device driver is a simple task:

• Press Windows + X keys.
• From the drop-down menu, select “Device administrator".
• Now, find and select “Portable devices”. If it does not appear, you can select “Other devices".
• Now, right click on your device and select “Update Driver".
• On the next screen, select the option “Search automatically for updated driver software".

Windows will search for and install the updated driver version.

Install MTP device driver with automatic driver updater

If you are worried about There or you don't have enough power to update your drivers manually, you can do it automatically with third-party driver update software.

The software will scan your system for outdated, missing or corrupted drivers and find the latest official version for you. All you have to do is click a button to begin the installation.

The tool will even save your current driver in case you want to use it later.

Once the operation is complete, restart your computer. Check if you can now perform error-free file transfer between your PC and your MTP device.

4. Use the command prompt to activate MTP

You can use the Command Prompt to quickly enable the MTP feature in Windows. This is a quicker method than opening many configuration screens to get what you want to do.

1. Press Windows key.
2. In the search bar, type cmd.
3. You must run the command prompt as administrator. You can press Ctrl + Shift + Enter. Another way is to simply click on “Run as administrator".
4. In the elevated cmd window, type the following string and press the “Enter"

net localgroup Administrators local service /add

That's it. Now try connecting your mobile MTP device to your PC and check if you can transfer files.

5. Install wpdmtp.inf

Some users have reported that the MTP device not working issue was accompanied by a notification of “A service installation section in this INF is not valid«.

If you also receive this message, this indicates that something is wrong with a particular INF file.

Fortunately, this file in question is already present on your PC, you do not need to download any application to extract it or go online to search for it.

This file is called wpdmtp.inf and it is related to MTP. You can install it manually to fix the error. There are two ways to install the file wpdmtp.inf, from the Windows directory and through the Device Manager. Let's examine each method separately.

Install wpdmtp.inf from the Windows directory

Simply find the file in your Windows folder and install it. It's that easy.

1. Click on the file explorer icon on your taskbar to open the app.
2. Click on "This team".
3. Select the primary C drive, where Windows is installed.
4. Now, open the folder “Windows".
5. Then open the folder “INF".
6. Find and right click on inf and select "Install".
7. The following message will appear «Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?«. Click on “Yes".

That's all. You can connect your MTP device now to check if the steps fixed the error.

Install wpdmtp.inf via Device Manager

Did you receive an error message «This USB device is not recognized» after connecting your MTP device? If so, your device will likely be displayed with a yellow exclamation mark on the Device administrator.

If this is the case, you can use the process of updating a device driver to install wpdmtp.inf through the “Device administrator".

• Press Windows + X keys.
• From the drop-down menu, select “Device administrator".
• Now, find and select “Portable devices”. If it does not appear, you can select “Other devices".
• Right click on the problematic device and select “Update Driver".
• On the next screen, select the option «Find driver software on my system«.
• Click Browse and select the file . Inf. Remember, it is located in C:\Windows\INF.
• Follow the instructions to install the file.

Once this is done, you should be able to connect your MTP device without any further problems.

6. Enable USB debugging

You may need to enable USB debugging on some smartphones to successfully connect them via USB to your Windows 10 computer.

Turning on USB debugging can also help if you have already selected “File Transfer” but it doesn’t work. The method to enable this useful feature on mobile devices It may vary from one brand to another. However, the procedure is generally quite similar.

Normally, this is what you should do.

1. Go to the “ appConfiguration” from your phone.
2. Scroll down and select “About of the phone”. This option may be located within another Settings option, such as “System".
3. Seeks "Build Number» and quickly click on it seven times. The seventh click unlocks the “Opciones de desarrollador "
4. Seeks "Developer Options" and "Configuration” and select it.
5. Now search for “USB debugging” and activate this option.

If USB debugging doesn't help you resolve connection issues, try the solution below.

7. Activate airplane mode

As strange as it may seem airplane mode can help you establish a connection between your PC with Windows 10 and an MTP device like your phone or camera. You can try it. Remember that you need to activate that special mode on both your computer and your phone.

If the connection is successful and you can transfer files, you can continue using this workaround until you find a permanent solution. Don't forget to turn off airplane mode again when you're done, so you can use the network, WiFi, and Bluetooth on your devices.

8. Repair the registry

Do you know that when you install drivers for a portable device, some keys are created in the Windows Registry? Suppose these keys get damaged or corrupted, this can cause connection problems with the MTP device.

A sure way to eliminate this problem is Delete corrupted registry key from the system. After doing that, connecting the device allows a new, uninterrupted key to be written to the registry.

If this happens, the device will start working immediately.

But be careful, editing the registry should be a careful process. It contains many important things that should not be touched. Modifying the wrong thing can have unintended consequences.

To protect yourself, it is recommended that you create a restore point right before editing the registry so that you can roll back your system in case something happens. You can also create a backup of the current registry before making any significant manual modifications.

Here's how to create a registry backup:

1. Press Windows key.
2. In the search bar, type regedit.
3. Press Enter or click Open to start the “Registry Editor".
4. In Registry Editor, click on the “ tabArchive".
5. Choose "Export".
6. Give the file a name and save it in a convenient location so you don't forget it.

Once this is done, you are ready to edit the registry so that your phone can establish a connection with your PC via USB.

1. Press Windows key.
2. In the search bar, type regedit.
3. Press Enter or click Open to start the “Registry Editor".
4. When the window of the Registry Editor is open, navigate to the path below in the left panel. You can also quickly jump to the location of the terminal pasting the path into the path field.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

5. Choose "Edit” in the upper left corner of the Registry Editor.
6. Choose "Search".
7. In the Search box, type “portable devices» (without quotes) and click “find next".
8. You will land on the key you need to remove. In the right pane, right-click on “UpperFilters"And select"Delete".

You can now exit the Registry Editor. Reconnect your phone via USB and check if the MTP issue still appears.

9. Try the “Multimedia Feature Pack”

If you are unable to connect your MTP device to a computer running Windows 10 version N or KN, it may be related to the absence of the Media Feature Pack, or “Multimedia Feature Pack”.

MFP is not present in these special versions of Windows 10 by default. Which means you have to install it manually if you need it.

Unfortunately, if the Media Feature Pack is not present on a PC, it can lead to problems with connecting MTP devices. MFP It is indirectly related to the Media Transfer Protocol and also with Windows Media Player.

Download Media Feature Pack, go to microsoft website and download the file to your PC. Install it as you would a normal executable and restart your computer.

Now, test if you can connect your MTP device.

10. Install the Microsoft MTP Portability Kit

If you can get it the MTP transfer key developed by Microsoft, can help you solve your MTP device problems. Just grab the kit from Microsoft or another trusted site and install it.

Once you're done with the installation, reboot your machine and plug in your MTP device. This should resolve everything and you can transfer your photos, videos, and documents again.

To close

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This guide has explained How to enable MTP in Windows 10 For users who have difficulty connecting their smartphones and cameras, another tip is to use an OTG flash drive to move things between your device and computer without the need to physically connect them with a USB cable.

However, we are sure that with the 10 solutions we have given you, you will be able to solve the problem. Just keep in mind that it is advisable to maintain the order while executing each solution. If the first one did not solve the problem, move on to the next one, and so on until you can solve it.