How to Manage Files and Use the File System on Android

Head to Settings > Storage > Other and you'll have a full list of all the files and folders on your internal storage. (If you'd prefer this file ... 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    CompleteGuidesbyHow-ToGeekHoliday2021GiftGuidesBrowseAllBuyingGuides OurLatestProductRoundups BestiPhoneChargerBestiPhone13ProCaseBestBluetoothHeadphonesforSwitchBestRokuTVBestAppleWatchBestiPadCasesBestPortableMonitorsBestGamingKeyboardsBestDronesBest4KTVsBestiPhone13CasesBestTechGiftsforKidsAged3-6 ReaderFavoritesBestWi-FiRoutersAwesomePCAccessoriesBestLinuxLaptopsBestBluetoothTrackersBesteReadersBestGamingMonitorsBestAndroidPhones MorefromHow-ToGeekHoliday2021GiftGuidesBrowseAllBuyingGuidesBrowseAllNewsArticles LatestGeekNews WindowsZeroDayXboxVirtualMuseumWindows11EmojiGoDaddyBreachTikTokSamsungTVSpotifyShufflePlayButtonHuluLiveTVPriceIncreaseWindows11PerformanceiMessageReactionsAndroidEdgeShoppingFeaturesSpotifyLyricsWindows11MuteKeyboardShortcut ReaderFavoritesDetectHiddenSurveillanceCamerasFindDownloadedFilesonaniPhoneUseYouriPhoneasaWebcamHidePrivatePhotosoniPhoneTakeScreenshotbyTappingBackofiPhone5WebsitesEveryPCGamerShouldBookmarkShouldYouUpgradetoWindows11? MorefromHow-ToGeekHoliday2021GiftGuidesBrowseAllBuyingGuidesBrowseAllWindowsArticles LatestWindowsArticles Windows10AnnualUpdatesOneDriveWindows7and8CopyandPasteBetweenAndroidandWindowsSteamDeckWillLetYouDualBootWindowsProtectWindows10FromInternetExplorerMozillaFightsDoubleStandardMakeWindowsTerminalAlwaysOpenWithCommandPromptBurnanISOImagetoDiscConnecttoaHiddenWi-FiNetworkChangetheSizeoftheTouchKeyboardCheckBluetoothDeviceBatteryLifeDeleteFilesandFoldersUsingCommandPrompt ReaderFavoritesTakeScreenshotonWindowsMountanISOimageinWindowsWhatIssvchost.exe?BootIntoSafeModeWheretoDownloadWindowsLegallyFindYourLostProductKeysCleanInstallWindows10theEasyWay X X TheBestTechNewsletterAnywhere Join425,000subscribersandgetadailydigestofnews,geektrivia,andourfeaturearticles. Bysubmittingyouremail,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy. Android’suser-visiblefilesystemisone ofitsadvantagesoveriOS.It allowsyoutomoreeasilyworkwithfiles,openingtheminany appofyourchoice…aslongasyouknowhow. StockAndroidincludesaprettywatered-downfilemanagerbydefault.Some manufacturersdopre-installtheirownmorepowerfulfilemanagersonAndroiddevices.Inothercases,youmayneedathird-partyapptoreallydigintothefilesonyourphone.Here’swhatyouneedtoknow. HowtoAccessAndroid’sBuilt-InFileManager Ifyou’reusingadevicewithstockAndroid6.x(Marshmallow)ornewer,there’sabuilt-infilemanager…it’sjusthiddenawayintheSettings.HeadtoSettings>Storage>Other andyou’llhaveafulllistofallthefilesandfoldersonyourinternalstorage.(Ifyou’dpreferthisfilemanagerbemoreeasilyaccessible,theMarshmallowFileManagerappwilladditasanicontoyourhomescreen.)   InNougat,thingsarealittledifferent.Thefilemanagerispartofthe “Downloads”app,butisessentiallythesamething.Youcanseecertaintypesoffiles–likeimages,videos,music,anddownloads–fromthe “Downloads”shortcutinyourappdrawer.Ifyouwanttoseeyourphone’sfullfilesystem,though,you’llstillhavetogothroughSettings>Storage>Other.ItwillopentheDownloadsappwithapreviouslyhiddenviewthatletsyouvieweveryfolderandfileonyorudevice. ButlikeIsaid,it’sprettyweakcomparedtosomeoftheoptionsavailableinGooglePlay.Ifyoujustwanttobrowsefilesandperhapsmoveoneortwothingshereandthere,itgetsthejobdonewithouttheneedforanythingthird-party,whichisnice.Ifyou’relookingforsomethingmorerobust,however,offtothePlayStoreyougo. ForMorePowerfulFileManagement,Install aFileManagerApp RELATED:FiveWaystoFreeUpSpaceonYourAndroidDevice ManufacturerslikeSamsungandLGinclude morerobustfilemanagers,oftennamedsomethingsimplelike“MyFiles”or“Files.”However,there’sagoodchanceyoumay needtoinstallyourownfilemanagerapp–eitheryourdevicewon’thaveone,ortheincludedonemaynotbeuptosnuff.Fortunately,there’sahugeselectionoffilemanagersavailableinGooglePlay. Advertisement SolidExploreris oneofthemostpopularfilemanagersonthePlayStore,andit’schock-fullofpowerfulfeatureslikecloudaccountaccessandtheabilitytoruntwoSolidwindowsside-by-sideinlandscapemode(onanydevice!).It’salsowell-supported,receivingfrequentupdateswithnewfeatures.Solidisfreetotryfortwoweeks,butafterthatyou’llhavetocoughup$1.99tokeepusingit.It’swellworththecost. UnderstandingtheFileSystemLayout Android’sfilesystemlayoutisn’tidenticaltoyourPC’s. Here’showitdividesitsstorage: RELATED:HowtoSetUpaNewSDCardinAndroidforExtraStorage DeviceStorage:Thisisthepoolofstorageyou’llbeworkingwithandaccessing.Your’efreetoaccessandmodifyanyfileshere.ThinkofitabitlikeyouruserdirectoryonWindowsorhomedirectoryonLinuxorMac.Asondesktopoperatingsystems,manyappsdump somedata fileshere–notsensitivedatalikepasswordsandlogincredentials,butdownloadedfilesandothercacheitems. PortableSDCard:ManyAndroiddevicesalsohaveSDcardslots.YoucanplugtheSDcardintoyourcomputeroranotherdevice,loadfilesontoit,andthenplugitintoyourdevice(providedit’sformattedasportablestorageandnotinternalstorage).Ifyou’reusingaMarshmallowdeviceandhaveyourSDcardformattedforuseasinternalstorage,itwon’tshowupseparatelyinyourfilemanager–itwillinsteadbepartofyourdevicestorage. DeviceRoot:YourAndroiddevicealsohasaspecialsystemfilesystemwhereitsoperatingsystemfiles,installedapplications,andsensitiveapplicationdataarestored.Mostfilemanagerapps can’tmodifythisfilesystemforsecurityreasons,unlessyouhave rootaccess,andafilemanagercapableofusingit.Youprobablydon’tneedtodothat,though.   YourdevicestoragewillincludeanumberoffolderscreatedbyAndroid.Someofthese arecreatedandusedbyappsfortheircachefiles,soyoushouldn’tmesswiththemorremovethem.However,youcanfreeupspacebyremovingunnecessaryfilesstoredhere. Othersaredesignedtostoreyourpersonalfiles,though,andyoushouldfeelfreetomodifyordeletefilesinthemasnecessary.Theseinclude: DCIM:Photosyoutakearesavedtothisfolder,justastheyareonotherdigitalcameras.AppslikeGalleryandPhotosdisplayphotosfoundhere,butthisiswheretheunderlyingimagefilesareactuallystored. Download:Filesyoudownloadaresavedhere,althoughyou’refreetomovethemelsewhereordeletethemaltogether.YoucanalsoviewthesefilesintheDownloadsapp. Movies,Music,Pictures,Ringtones,Video:Thesearefoldersdesignedforstorageofyourpersonalmediafiles.Whenyouconnectyourdevicetoacomputer,theygiveyouanobviousplacetoputanymusic,video,orotherfilesyouwanttocopytoyourAndroiddevice. Youcanbrowsethesefoldersfromanyfilemanager. Asingletaponafilewillbringupalistofinstalledappsthatclaimtheysupportthatfiletype.Youcanworkwithfilesdirectly,openingtheminappslikeyouwouldonyourcomputer. HowtoCopyFilestoorfromaPC RELATED:AndroidUSBConnectionsExplained:MTP,PTP,andUSBMassStorage TheprocessofcopyingfilestoorfromaPCiseasy.JustconnectyourAndroiddevicetoalaptopordesktopcomputerusingtheappropriateUSBcable—theoneincludedwithyourdeviceforchargingwillwork.WiththeAndroiddeviceinitsdefaultMTPmode(PTPisalsoavailable,andUSBmassstoragemaybeavailableonolderdevices),itwillappearinyourWindowsorLinuxfilemanagerwindowasastandarddevice.(Ifitisn’t,youmayneedtotapthe“ChargingOnly”notificationandchangeittoMTP.)Then,onyourPC,you canviewandmanagethefilesonyourAndroiddevice’sinternalstorage,movingthembackandforthasyouplease. Advertisement Macsdon’tincludeMTPsupport,soyou’llwanttoinstalltheAndroidFileTransferapponyourMacanduseittotransferfilesbackandforthwhenyouconnectyourdevice.TheappwillautomaticallyopenwheneveryouconnectanAndroiddevicetoyourMac. IfyouhaveanSDcard,youcanremovetheSDcardfromyourAndroiddeviceandinsertitintoanSDcardslotintoyourcomputertoaccessthefiles–again,assumingyou’reusingitas“portablestorage”andnotformattedforinternaluse.Thelatterwillnotworkonanydeviceasidefromtheoneit’sbeenformattedforuseon. Forwirelessfiletransfers,welikeAirDroid.ItallowsyoutoconnecttoyourAndroiddeviceoverWi-Fiwithjustawebbrowser,movingfilesbackandforthwithoutthe necessityofacable.Itwilllikelybeabitslower,butitcanbealife-saverifyou’reoutandaboutanddidn’tbringtheappropriateUSBcable.FortransferringfilesfromAndroidtoyourPC,Portalisalsoaquickandeasysolution. Forsimpletasks,afilemanagerisn’treallyevennecessary.FilesyoudownloadareavailableforusedirectlyintheDownloadsapp.PhotosyoutakeappearinthePhotosorGalleryapps.Evenmediafilesyoucopytoyourdevice–music,videos,andpictures–areautomaticallyindexedbyaprocesscalled“Mediaserver.”ThisprocessscansyourinternalstorageorSDcardformediafilesandnotestheirlocation,buildingupalibraryofmediafilesthat mediaplayersandotherapplicationscanuse.However,whileauser-visible filesystemisn’tnecessarilyforeveryone,it’sstillthereforpeoplewhowantit. READNEXT ›FiveWaystoFreeUpSpaceonYourAndroidDevice›HowtoGetanAndroid-StyleLocalFileSystemonaniPhoneoriPad›HowtoRecordYourAndroidDevice’sScreen›HowtoUseAndroid6.0’sBuilt-inFileManager›TheBestFileManagersforAndroid›HowtoGetYourAndroidDevicetoShowupinFileExplorer(IfItIsn’t)›HowtoEnableWake-on-LANinWindows10and11›HowtoGetFasterStreamingSpeedsonYourTV JOINGEEKTALKONFACEBOOK Theabovearticlemaycontainaffiliatelinks,whichhelpsupportHow-ToGeek. 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