Cannot get Android File Transfer to connect to my tablet

Amy Lewis · Nov 28, 2020

Hi everyone,

Well I have this 2019 Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8 in. tablet that this site seems not to know exists, and I've had a great deal of trouble connecting a USB cable to it from my Mac with Android File Transfer. It never just connects, it puts me through a long hassle of cannot connect messages on my Mac screen, and endless allow/deny buttons on the tablet, and no matter how many times I hit the allow button AFT just keeps saying it cannot access the tablet. I've been able to get i to work in the past, after much fussing, but today it's just not going to work for me, and I'm wanting to put some files on the tablet, so this is not good.

Now I know I'm supposed to use MTP or file transfer mode, but I've looked around this tablet a very long time and while I can find MTP host and the MTP application there are no settings for either one, and I cannot find any way at all to just let my Mac connect with the tablet without the hassles. I just want to plug it in and go. I could do that with my old Acer tablet, but not with this one.

If anyone knows how to solve this problem I'd greatly appreciate the help.

Thanks,
a.

ocnbrze · Nov 28, 2020

have you tried different cables? and if anything you can try airdroid. its an app that allows you to connect to a pc (not sure on macs) wirelessly using wifi.

Amy Lewis · Nov 28, 2020

ocnbrze said:
have you tried different cables? and if anything you can try airdroid. its an app that allows you to connect to a pc (not sure on macs) wirelessly using wifi.

I used to use Airdroid, but it just got more and more demanding about my personal information and wanting more and more of it until I didn't trust it anymore. I didn't know what they were going to do with my system password and other information, and AFT worked well so I just went with that, and it worked great until I got this new tablet. Now is just a big hassle. A different cable might help, I'll see if I can find one, but there seems to be 2 kinds, one just charges and another transfers files, and I'm not sure how to tell them apart.

5 min later: I just tried another cable and it's working. This one has all kinds of annoying blinky blue lights in it, so I'm going to have to find another one that works, but this seems to be the issue.

Dannydet · Nov 28, 2020

If you are wanting to transfer just photos, use Google photos on your tablet.
Sign in to your Gmail account on your Mac and go to photos.google.com
Transfer from the web....

Hadron · Nov 28, 2020

Have you enabled the developer options menu on your tablet (go to the software information in the "About..." part of the settings, find the build number and tap repeatedly on it until it tells you you are now a developer - for some reason Google think this is cute)? In there you should be able to set the default USB connection mode to file transfer or MTP, after which whenever you plug it into the Mac (with the Android's screen unlocked, of course) it should just connect without you needing to do anything.

Amy Lewis · Nov 28, 2020

Dannydet said:
If you are wanting to transfer just photos, use Google photos on your tablet.
Sign in to your Gmail account on your Mac and go to photos.google.com
Transfer from the web....

Well no, I'm not just wanting to transfer photos, but video, and large volumes of it, and I try to have as little to do with Google as possible.

Amy Lewis · Nov 28, 2020

Hadron said:
Have you enabled the developer options menu on your tablet (go to the software information in the "About..." part of the settings, find the build number and tap repeatedly on it until it tells you you are now a developer - for some reason Google think this is cute)? In there you should be able to set the default USB connection mode to file transfer or MTP, after which whenever you plug it into the Mac (with the Android's screen unlocked, of course) it should just connect without you needing to do anything.

Wow! Can it really be that easy? I shall have to try it when I get off work, but I have a 20 hour shift first, so I'll get back to you on that. Thank you!

Amy Lewis · Dec 1, 2020

Hadron said:
Have you enabled the developer options menu on your tablet (go to the software information in the "About..." part of the settings, find the build number and tap repeatedly on it until it tells you you are now a developer - for some reason Google think this is cute)? In there you should be able to set the default USB connection mode to file transfer or MTP, after which whenever you plug it into the Mac (with the Android's screen unlocked, of course) it should just connect without you needing to do anything.

Well gosh, I can't find any "about" part of the settings, just a long list of other things. Seems every android device has different software, and none of mine have any of the things I find in instructions online.... Okay I found an about tablet thing, it has the tablet serial number and a model number, and I found the build number, but no matter how many times I tap it nothing happens.

Android version is 9.

Amy Lewis · Dec 1, 2020

Hadron said:
Have you enabled the developer options menu on your tablet (go to the software information in the "About..." part of the settings, find the build number and tap repeatedly on it until it tells you you are now a developer - for some reason Google think this is cute)? In there you should be able to set the default USB connection mode to file transfer or MTP, after which whenever you plug it into the Mac (with the Android's screen unlocked, of course) it should just connect without you needing to do anything.

Okay, I found that developer mode is turned on now, and I went into developer options, and set USB mode to file transfer. Android File Transfer is still giving me the same initial rejection, and the tablet is still asking me to permit the connection. I had hoped that would go away. I have to tell the tablet to allow the connection, re-connect the USB cable, and start Android File Transfer over again. Was hoping I could just plug it in and go. Do I have to restart the tablet for it to work?

Amy Lewis · Dec 1, 2020

Hadron said:
Have you enabled the developer options menu on your tablet (go to the software information in the "About..." part of the settings, find the build number and tap repeatedly on it until it tells you you are now a developer - for some reason Google think this is cute)? In there you should be able to set the default USB connection mode to file transfer or MTP, after which whenever you plug it into the Mac (with the Android's screen unlocked, of course) it should just connect without you needing to do anything.

Did that, I set USB mode to file transfer, do I have to restart the tablet for it to work?

Hadron · Dec 1, 2020

No, shouldn't have to. It should just ensure that the phone always enables file transfer when connected without asking anything.
Stupid question, but have you tried a different cable?

Amy Lewis · Dec 1, 2020

Hadron said:
No, shouldn't have to. It should just ensure that the phone always enables file transfer when connected without asking anything.
Stupid question, but have you tried a different cable?

I still have to tell the tablet to allow the connection, then restart Android File Tranfer, and yes I did use a different cable that seems to work. I just can't plug it in an go as I wanted. I still have to tell the tablet to accept the connection. Not plug and play yet.

Amy Lewis · Jun 4, 2021

Hadron said:
Have you enabled the developer options menu on your tablet (go to the software information in the "About..." part of the settings, find the build number and tap repeatedly on it until it tells you you are now a developer - for some reason Google think this is cute)? In there you should be able to set the default USB connection mode to file transfer or MTP, after which whenever you plug it into the Mac (with the Android's screen unlocked, of course) it should just connect without you needing to do anything.

Well I'm back at this again, and totally lost in it. Sometimes the tablet will give a notice I cannot connect usb to it and allow it on the next try, but now it's just not allowing it at all and I've been trying all morning. I've gone back into the developer thing and cannot find any way to set default USB mode to anything. Why do they have to make it so hard?

This was working yesterday, but not today and I've done nothing different. Should I restart my Mac? Already restarted the tablet, to no effect. I'm just lost here.

Cannot get Android File Transfer to connect to my tablet

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