Are you trying to connect your smartphone to the PC but you just can't? Well it's a common problem for so many Android and iPhone smartphone users, there's no need to worry. Usually, to connect a phone to a PC you just need to find, download and install the right programs on the Internet - these are two very easy operations to perform.
It takes five minutes to learn how to connect all Android and iPhone smartphones to your PC (or Mac). At the end of the procedure, you will be able to have access to the files in the phone memory, you can use them as a modem or perform a multitude of operations. The methods you are about to read can be applied to all the latest versions of Windows and macOS. In the end, the version of the operating system installed on our device does not matter.
How to connect phone to PC without cable
Read this article if you are interested in how to connect your mobile to PC without using any USB cable.
Android
If your smartphone uses Android, the first method I recommend to connect phone to PC without cable is to use AirDroid: a very useful complete tool for managing phones and tablets based on the Android operating system, it is available for free on the Play Store , as a web service that can be used via a browser and as a standalone computer program.
To use AirDroid for free, I recommend that you register: by doing so, it will connect the devices via an encrypted connection, will allow you to view notifications in real time and will no longer make you repeat the pairing process. If you want to use this tool, connect to the website from your PC, then click on Register and enter the required data: email address, nickname and password; alternatively, you can use Facebook, Twitter or Google, using the appropriate buttons.
As soon as you are done registering, download the AirDroid app from the Play Store; then install it and open it, click on the Login button and access the service using the credentials you entered when registering. Now press the Continue and Allow buttons, so as to authorize access to the internal memory, and decide whether or not to allow the app to run in the background by pressing the Allow or Deny button. After, hit the OK button and choose which remote features you need to use.
After this work, go back to the PC, go to the AirDroid Web page and log in again: if everything went well, you should see the phone management console, you can access photos, SMS, files on the device, call log , apps etc. To use this feature, double click on the icon; to close the connection, simply close the browser window.
If you want to use AirDroid without registering, after you have connected to AirDroid Web, start the "parallel" app on your smartphone, tap the barcode icon at the top right and, after allowing the use of the camera , scan the QR code, unchecking the Connect via HTTPS box.
There is not only AirDroid to connect your smartphone to your PC without a cable, you can use other tools to connect your Android smartphone to your computer wirelessly: I've listed some of them below.
- Pushbullet - Available as a web service, Android app, Windows PC software and extension for Chrome, Firefox and Safari, this tool allows you to read phone notifications on your PC, reply to SMS, and send and receive files between paired devices. The service is free, although with limitations, requires mandatory registration.
- Google Drive - is the cloud service integrated into the Android operating system, is available for Windows, macOS, Android and iPhone, allows you to exchange files via the Web.
- Google Photos - just like Google Drive, is an integrated service on almost all Android devices, where you can save your images and access them from any location, including your PC.
iPhone
If you are the owner of an iPhone you can establish a connection with the PC wirelessly using the official software made available by Apple, such as iTunes on Windows, Finder and AirDrop on macOS and Web iCloud. The requirement to be respected is that both devices must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
iTunes / Finder
If, on the other hand, you want to connect the iPhone to a Windows PC in Wi-Fi mode, you must first install iTunes, if you don't have it already installed; to do this, connect to this website and, if you are using Windows 10, click on the Get it from Microsoft button and install the program by clicking on the Get button, Open Microsoft Store and Get.
If, on the other hand, you have an old version of the Microsoft operating system, you have to click on the Windows link located under the word Are you looking for other versions? and press and hold the Download now iTunes for Windows button, by doing so start the download of the software installation program. Once the iTunes .exe file has been downloaded, open it and press in sequence the Yes, Next, Install, Yes buttons twice and finally on the Finish button.
On the Mac, this step does not need to be done because, starting with macOS 10.15 Catalina, the iTunes features have been inserted into the Finder; on the old versions of macOS, however, the software we mentioned earlier is “officially” installed in the operating system.
After performing the previous method, open iTunes on Windows or Finder on macOS, connect the iPhone to the computer via cable (it must be done only the first time) and, if you have not yet paired the two devices, you have to tap on the Allow buttons / Authorize that appear on both devices and enter the iPhone unlock code.
Once done, click on the iPhone icon found at the top left of iTunes, in the Finder sidebar, go to the General / Summary tab, check the Synchronize with iPhone via Wi-Fi / Show iPhone item and if it is active connect to Wi-Fi click on the Apply button found at the bottom right.
From now on, you can use the items found in the iTunes sidebar or the tabs that are located at the top of the Finder window to copy or sync data between your phone and computer.
AirDrop
If you want to connect the iPhone to a Mac, you can also use the proprietary technology called AirDrop, which allows you to establish the connection between most Apple devices and exchange files in Wi-Fi mode, as long as both devices are connected. to the same network and have Bluetooth enabled.
To activate AirDrop on the computer, go to the Go menu located at the top, select the AirDrop item and, if necessary, press the appropriate button displayed on the screen to activate Bluetooth and / or Wi-Fi, in order to prepare the computer for communication with the telephone. To finish this process, click on the item Allow me to find me at and select the item Only contacts from the menu that appears.
Once done, take the iPhone, open the Control Center swipe from the top right corner to the bottom on iPhones that have Face ID or from bottom to top on iPhones that have Home button, perform a long press on the network panel, turn on Wi-Fi, if needed, then select the AirDrop icon and select the Only contacts item from the menu that appears, in order to configure the sending / receiving of files only to yourself or yours contacts.
If all went well, you can use AirDrop to perform the file transfer: to migrate files from iPhone to Mac, go to the content you are interested in, select the share icon, click on the AirDrop icon from the panel that appears and select your Mac name from the next screen.
To move files from Mac to iPhone, right-click on the file to be transferred, select Share from the context menu, choose AirDrop and click on the name of the iPhone to which you need to send the file. Finally, to start the transfer, click on the Send button.
iCloud
Another good method to connect iPhone and computer, leaving out the operating system, is iCloud: Apple's cloud service, in fact, allows you to have access to the phone files generated through compatible apps, using a practical Web console, accessible from any browser to computer.
Normally, iCloud is activated during the configuration phase of the iPhone but, to find out if all the apps are synchronized, you need to go to the Settings menu> [your name] of iOS, touch the iCloud item and make sure that the lever corresponding to the app you we must synchronize is active, otherwise move it.
To access the synchronized files from your computer, proceed as follows: connect to the iCloud site, log in with the Apple ID credentials associated with the iPhone and, if necessary, perform two-factor authentication by following the instructions shown on the screen.
Finally, use the console shown in the next screen to view, download or create / upload new contacts, videos, files, etc.
What is Apple's iCloud and what does it backup?
How to connect phone to PC for the Internet
Do you need to connect your phone to a PC to share the Internet connection? You don't have to worry at all, it's super easy!
Android
To share the Android connection with the computer, first go to the Settings> Network and Internet> Mobile network of the operating system and check that the data connection lever is set to ON, otherwise move it.
Then, go back to the Network and Internet menu, go to the Hotspot and Tethering section and, to use the phone as a Wi-Fi modem, touch the Wi-Fi hotspot item, if necessary write the name of the hotspot, the password to access and, finally click on the item Advanced to establish the automatic deactivation options and / or the connection band.
When finished, move the lever at the top of the screen to ON: after this other operation, you can also connect the computer to the phone's wireless network.
To use, connection sharing using the cable, connect the smartphone to the computer via USB cable and move the USB Tethering lever, in order to authorize the navigation of the PC via the cellular network; to use the connection via Bluetooth, you need to enable the Bluetooth tethering switch and, after activating it also on the PC, pair the two devices using the right procedure for Windows or macOS.
For more information on how to use your Android smartphone as a modem, read this guide.
iPhone
Using your iPhone as a modem is child's play! If you plan to share the cable connection, connect your phone to your computer, and if you're using Windows, make sure iTunes is installed on your computer. To share the connection via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, you don't need to do this.
In any case, to activate the "modem" mode on the iPhone, go to the Settings> Cellular iOS menu, make sure that the Cellular Data lever is set to ON and click on the Personal Hotspot item. Then, move the Allow others to access item lever to ON and that's it!
Now, if you want to use the phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, you have to choose, from the computer, the wireless network created by the smartphone eg. Fulvio's iPhone and, when prompted, enter the password you see right now on the phone screen.
If you have an iPhone with iOS 8 and a Mac with macOS 10.10 Yosemite or later, you do not need to activate the hotspot function on the phone since, when you activate Bluetooth, the computer and the iPhone will automatically "pair" and your phone's wireless network will immediately appear in the PC's WiFi network list.
To take advantage of the USB modem, on the other hand, click on the Authorize button you see on the screen, thus allowing the computer to access the data connection; to use the Bluetooth Hotspot, you need to pair the phone to the computer using the procedure best suited to your operating system and type, when requested, the security code that appears on the screen.
How to connect phone to PC with broken screen
Your smartphone screen has cracked and no longer works and now you need to connect it to your computer to back up your data before taking it to a professional? The success of the procedure depends on the phone in your possession (Android or iPhone) and what the screen break consists of.
If the screen is shattered but the touch still works, so much so that you can enter the unlock code, pattern or password, you can still connect your phone to your computer using Wi-Fi, or with a USB cable, using one of the procedures you read in the guide.
If you can see the screen well but the touch does not work, we can try to solve the problem using the OTG technology, which allows us to connect a USB mouse and / or keyboard to the device.
If your phone is a Samsung, you can use the Find Device site to clear the unlock code or pattern from your phone; after doing this, you will be able to connect your smartphone to your computer.
If the smartphone screen, on the other hand, is completely black and shows no signs of life, the chances of accessing the phone's memory are greatly reduced: on Android you could use the ADB platform, together with Fastboot and a custom recovery which, however, must have already been installed on the device.
If, you have an iPhone, I'm sorry, but there is no way to access the data in the memory. But if you made a backup via iTunes, Finder or iCloud, you can restore the device after fixing its screen.
