Transfer files between phone and PC via FTP with ES File Explorer

Unlike iPhone which has the built-in AirDrop feature to share files with Mac or other Apple devices, Android users have to use third-party transfer apps to share files with a PC, Mac or other Android devices. ES File Explorer is a third-party file manager which adds many extra capabilities to the stock file managers on Android devices. Wireless file sharing is one of them. You can use USB, a cloud service or even instant chat apps to transfer files between mobile phones and computers. But none of them is easier as the wireless transfer with ES file manager. Today, we will show you how this free file manager can help Android users share files between phone and PC over Wi-Fi.

Transfer files between Android mobile and PC

Get ES File Explorer app from previous linked page. Then launch this app on your mobile phone, tap View on PC from its home screen, then tap on Turn On button on the next screen, you will see a local IP address starts with ftp:// and end with the port number 3721.

es android view on pc - ftp server address
es android view on pc – ftp server address

File sharing via browser or Windows Explorer

Connect your PC to the same Wi-Fi network as your smartphone. Open the File Explorer or a desktop web browser to open the FTP file transfer address you get from the ES file explorer. You will then see all the files and folders on your mobile phone from your computer.

pc access es ftp server on android using desktop web browser
PC access ES ftp server on Android using desktop web browser

To copy files from phone or PC is easy. If you use the Windows Explorer on PC to access your phone, you can simply copy and paste the files from your computer hard drive to the mobile phone or vice versa. If you use a web browser to access your phone’s storage, you can only download files from phone to PC one by one. Bulk file downloading and PC to phone file uploading through web browser are not supported.

Mass file transfer via FTP client

The best way for batch file transfer or phone backup however would be using a FTP client, notably FileZilla free FTP, which is intuitive, cross-platform and open source.

Use your phone’s local IP address as the host or server IP, 3721 as the port, leave username and password blank, then connect your Android phone from PC using your favorite FTP program.

Android PC wireless transfer alternatives

We also found several other free Android wireless transfer apps, like SHAREit, Zapya, etc. Check out this guide to share files between mobile phone and PC using Zapya.

Leave a Reply