There are many file transfer apps or apps with file sharing features on the internets, SHAREit, Zapya, Xender, Send Anywhere, XShare, ShareMe, LANDrop file transfer, Mi File Manager, CX File Manager, just to name a few. It is hard to say which app is best for file transfer. Some apps offer more features than others, and some are better suited for specific tasks. You should choose the one that best suits your specific needs. In this article, I will introduce you one of the best file management apps with powerful file transfer function, Owlfiles file manager.
About Owlfiles file manager
It is not a dedicated file transfer, but rather a file manager app with file sharing function. It can turn your Android phone into a web server so other phones or computers can connect to the Android phone to download or upload files; it can turn your mobile phone into an FTP server so other devices or FTP clients can connect to it for file transfer. On the other end, it can also be used as a client to access SMB servers, FTP servers on your Android device. All these features make up a powerful, flexible file sharing tool and make this app really stand out as a file manager.
There are different reasons you might like Owlfiles. Click the download link below to review its features before you install it onto your phone. It is free to use and straightforward to use. Even the free version comes with no advertisement. Optionally you can upgrade to Pro version for more features.
Method 1. Owlfiles file sharing through web
Using its web share feature, you can download files from Android phone to other phones similar to file downloading on the Internet. You visit a link from other phone to access your Android phone storage, browse through files and folders, choose the file and download it from Android to another phone or computer. You use your web browser on computer or phone without installing any third-party apps for the file transfer. On Windows PC, you can use Edge browser, or other third-party web browsers, like Chrome, Firefox, to access the web file servers on Android to download files from it.
Here are the steps to create web server on Android:
Run Owlfiles file manager app on your Android phone. Switch from My Files to the More tab from the bottom. Choose Built-in Servers from the Toolbox section.
Once you are on the Built-in Servers screen, you can find the options to configure, start both Web server and FTP server.
The default web server or HTTP server port number is 8080, you can change it if need. Then hit the Start Servers to setup the Web server on your Android phone. And you will be presented with the web server URL at the bottom.
Connect to Android web server from PC and start sharing files
Now go to your PC, launch the Edge browser or any other browser you use on the computer, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, to visit the web server. Make sure to type in the full HTTP address in the address bar of your desktop browser, including the prefix ‘http://’ and the affix, the port number 8080.
To transfer files from PC to Android:
Click the Upload Files… button in Owlfiles web share interface in your desktop browser to pick the files and documents from your computer and send them to your Android phone.
To transfer files from Android to PC:
Browse to the folder to find the files from your phone through Owlfiles web server interface on PC, there will be a download icon before each file, simply click the download icon to download a file from mobile phone to your Windows computer.
Method 2. Turn Android into an FTP server
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used to communicate and transfer files between computers. Owlfiles app can turn your Android phone into an FTP server After that you can use different methods to connect to this server including command line, web browser or an FTP client or app. On Windows computer, you can simply use Windows File Explorer or an FTP client to access the Android FTP server and then upload/download files between the phone and PC.
Run Owlfiles file manager app on your Android phone. Switch from My Files to the More tab from the bottom. Choose Built-in Servers from the Toolbox section.
Once you are on the Built-in Servers screen, you can find the options to configure, start both Web server and FTP server.
Note that the default FTP server port in the Built-in FTP server is 2121. So when you access the FTP server using an FTP client, make sure to use the correct FTP port.
Access Android FTP server from PC
Launch File Explorer on Windows 11 PC, type in the full FTP server address, with ftp:// as the prefix and the port number as the affix, in the address bar, then press Enter on the keyboard to access. You’ll be prompted to input the FTP username and its password if you created an FTP account in Owlfiles built-in servers. If anonymous access is enabled in Owlfiles app, no authentication required.
You can also use a dedicated FTP client, such as FileZilla, Transmit, WinSCP, Cyberduck.
In FileZilla FTP client for Windows, you can simply input your FTP server IP in the Host field, then input the port 2121 in the Port field, click Quickconnect button to connect to the FTP server created by Owlfiles app on your Android phone.
Method 3. Access Windows file sharing from Android
Windows OS comes with network discovery and file sharing feature which allows users to share files or folders over a Local Area Network (or LAN), such as connected mobile phones, tablets, computers within your home or workplace.
Share files from Windows PC
If you open File Explorer, go to Network, and see an error message (“Network discovery is turned off….“), you’ll need to turn on network discovery to see devices on the network that are sharing files. To turn it on, select the Network discovery is turned off banner, then select Turn on network discovery and file sharing.
Then in Windows File Explorer, right click on a folder, choose “Properties“. In the Properties window select the “Sharing” tab, then click the “Share” button to share the folder.
Access Windows shared folders from Android
Owlfiles app can help Android users to access Windows file sharing from their mobile phones. Run Owlfiles app on your mobile phone. Switch to the Connections tab from the bottom. Tap the lightening button at the top right corner, choose New Connection > Windows.
Once you choose Windows from the New Connection types screen above, you will be taken to a screen like this. Instead of manually type in the required information in this connection setup screen, choose your PC from the Network Neighborhood section at the bottom, input your PC username and password to quickly connect your Android phone to the Windows SMB file server. Finally save the connection to Owlfiles app. You can go to Connections to find and access Windows shared folders and files from there. You can then copy files from Android to PC or the other way around in Owlfiles app.
Method 4. Create FTP server with Owlfiles on PC
You can even download and install the PC version of Owlfiles to create an FTP server on your Windows computer. Then use Owlfiles app as the FTP client on mobile phone to upload/download files between the phone and computer.
Here’s how you can create FTP server with Owlfiles on PC
Search ‘owlfiles’ in Microsoft Store on your PC to find and download the Owlfiles file manager on your computer.
In Owlfiles file manager for Windows, click Settings, switch to the Server tab, you can configure and start the FTP server.
You can leave User Name and Password blank to enable anonymous access to the FTP server. Port number is set to 21 by default. Click Browse… button to change the default FTP server root directory if like. Hit Start Servers button to turn your PC into an FTP server. You will then get the FTP server IP address.
Here’s how you can connect to FTP server with Owlfiles app from Android.
Run Owlfiles app on your mobile phone. Switch to the Connections tab from the bottom. Tap the lightening button at the top right corner, choose New Connection > FTP.
If you have enabled anonymous access to FTP server above, here you only need to input the FTP server IP address before you hit the Save button in the upper right corner to create and save the FTP server connection.
Once your Android phone is connected to the FTP server through Owlfiles, it is very straightforward to copy files between the phone and the server. It is just like how you copy files from one folder to another in the same local storage of the phone.