The three ways I always recommend to transfer photos from your cell phone to your computer for free and without cables

Thousands of photographs are taken every day in Europe. It is no longer just something to do at important events, such as weddings or communions, but we do them almost impulsively. The cult of the selfie has been the trigger for we are always in front of the camera. Since smartphones have been equipped with cameras, the number of photographs has multiplied, and many of them are completely disposable, but we want to keep some of them. And if we take hundreds of photos per year, or even per month, having them all on our phone without backup is not the best option.

For this, there are cloud storage systems, such as Google Drive or iCloud, where we can store all the information we want. However, even today, many prefer to have a physical backup, with a hard drive normally managed from a computer.

This means having to transfer the photos from your mobilewhich is normally the device that makes them, to the computer. Until a few years ago, the most common thing was to connect the data cable and transfer the photos as if it were a hard drive, but this process is uncomfortable and can not always be done easily, since sometimes it is necessary to install drivers, know how to manage connections. Fortunately, it is possible to transfer photos wirelessly and for free.

By Bluetooth

The easiest and most compatible way With all computers and mobile phones, this is done via Bluetooth. However, this is only convenient when we use older devices, which do not support other forms of connection, since their speed is not particularly high.

The Bluetooth protocol was created over two decades ago and was set up as a way to connect devices wirelessly. However, speed was never one of his prioritiessomething that is seen even when they are used to connect audio devices, which can have delay.

So, this method is very simple to use, just put the computer in discovery mode and select the photo from the cell phone to send it via Bluetooth to the PC itself. The duration of the process will depend on the number of images, their size and the physical distance. between the two devices…

By Wi-Fi

WiFi connectivity was designed to allow people to connect to the Internet without having to use cables inside homes and offices. Until the expansion of this technology, the need for Ethernet cables in a network was a certainty. However, little by little The protocol has evolved and even become a sort of improved Bluetooth.

WiFi Direct is a variation of WiFi which allows two computers to be connected wirelessly to send information between them. For example, it is possible to wirelessly connect a screen to a computer or, as in this case, send an image from a mobile phone to a PC. In this case, the most convenient way to do it is QuickShare, a protocol created by Samsung and that Google has now integrated into Near Share. Any Android mobile can send files to a Windows computer by simply installing this application on the PC. In the case of Macs, it is necessary to use alternatives, such as NearDrop.

Using apps

The last way to send photos from smartphone to computer is to do it using the Internet, through services and applications that allow itTo do this, you can use services like those offered by Amazon, Google and other giants, each with its advantages and disadvantages.

Google Photos. This application comes by default on Android phones and although it does not have an application for computers, it can be accessed through the browser. In addition, the speed of storing photos in the Google cloud is much faster than in the alternatives. Of course, this has the disadvantage that, unless we have configured the application for it, the images will have a slight compression.

Google Drive. Another option from Google is Drive, its cloud file storage system. In this case, there is an application available for computers, which syncs automatically. The only problem is that it cannot be configured to automatically upload photos to a folder synced with your computer, since Google wants this to always be done through Google Photos.

Drop box. One of the most popular applications for synchronizing files between platforms is Dropbox, although as it limited not only the amount of storage available, but also the number of devices that could be synchronized, its use has decreased. It has a very good desktop application, which automatically synchronizes the photos that we upload to its cloud, downloading them to the computer without having to do anything.

UnDrive. If the limitations of the free Dropbox account are too much for a user, but they do not want to sign up for one of the platform’s paid services, Microsoft has an alternative. OneDrive works in a very similar way, being able to select the folders that we want to synchronize with the computer, so that the photos are available easily and quickly, without having to send them or download anything.

There are other applications that can also be used for this purpose, such as Telegram, which allows you to send images as files so as not to lose quality, or web pages like WeTransfer, which, via email, allows you to download the photos we have sent from its platform. However, although they can be useful in specific cases, the services listed generally give better results for daily use.