How to install Android drivers on PC

Normally when we connect an Android smartphone or tablet to a computer, it is recognized as an external disk, so that we can easily transfer all the files from the folders of the smartphone to the PC (and vice versa), without having to do anything else. Unfortunately, sometimes the computer refuses to "see" the phone due to a phantom driver problem, making it impossible for us to access the files stored on the portable device. If our PC makes a fuss with an Android device, we can solve most of the problems by installing the right management driver. In this guide we will show you how to install Android drivers on PCs with Windows operating system, so you can connect smartphones and tablets with the green robot without problems. After installing the right driver, the device will be recognized as an external storage device and we can finally move our files.
READ ALSO: Connect the Samsung Galaxy to the PC (Drivers, Kies and Programs)

How to install specific Android driver

Depending on the device in our possession, we will have to download the right USB driver, optimized for that specific manufacturer. To do this, go to the third-party USB driver page, then click on the page corresponding to the manufacturer of the device in our possession (Samsung, Huawei, LG, Xiaomi etc.).

In the page that will open we start the download of the driver as proposed by the manufacturer, then we open the compressed archive and unpack the driver files in a folder of your choice.
Note : if the manufacturer supplies ready-to-use drivers, all we have to do is start the supplied installer, complete the installation, restart the computer and connect the smartphone or tablet to the PC.
After unpacking the driver archive, we try to connect the Android device via the supplied USB cable: if a driver error appears or the device is not recognized correctly, we right-click on the bottom right of the Windows Start menu, select Device management and, in the new window, we identify the problematic Android device (it shouldn't be difficult, since it will appear as a device accompanied by a yellow triangle).
After identifying the device, we right-click on it, select Properties, go to the Driver tab and click Update driver .
In the new screen we click on Search for driver software on my computer, we click on Browse and go to the folder where we unzipped the driver downloaded earlier.

After selecting the folder, click OK and then click Next at the bottom. Windows will start looking for the right driver for the device and will install it completely automatically. Immediately after installation our device will finally be accessible and we will be able to move files without problems.
Note : after each driver installation we advise you to restart your computer, a precaution that helps in all cases where the driver is correctly installed but "blocked" by the installation system.

How to install generic Android driver (for Nexus and Pixel)

If we use a Nexus smartphone or a Google Pixel or we cannot in any way download the specific driver for our device, we can install the Android USB driver released by Google itself.
To obtain it, go to the official page of the Google USB driver and follow the steps already seen previously to install it correctly; if we have already installed the Android Studio on our computer (we can always install it from here), open the suite, go to the Tools> SDK Manager path, click on the SDK Tools tab, select the Google USB Driver item from the list and click on OK.

The Android USB driver produced by Google will be added to the system; so let's try to connect the device and verify that it works properly.
If the device does not work as well, we open the manual search for the driver, going to the item Search the driver software on the computer as seen in the previous chapter and indicate the folder in which to fish the driver android_sdk \ extras \ google \ usb_driver \ .

Other connection problems

Despite all the suggestions proposed, the Android smartphone or tablet is not accessible if connected to the computer "> if Android is not recognized by the PC with USB connection
It is important to ensure that you always have the latest drivers for managing USB ports, updating if necessary with a program such as IObit Driver Booster.
If the problem is the specific USB port, try to use another port: many times the problem was not the driver but the defective port that prevented you from connecting the Android device correctly to the PC.
As a last resort we try another USB cable, perhaps more robust and new: even a worn and damaged cable could prevent us from viewing the Android smartphone or tablet on our PC. Some of the best USB cables can be found below:

1. Micro USB Cable [1M - 2Pizzi] Rampow Data Transfer and Fast Charging (5 €)
2. Micro USB cable, Gritin [3 Pieces: 1m, 1.5m, 2m] Braided Nylon Micro USB cable (7 €)
3. AUKEY USB 3.0 C to USB A cable, 1m Nylon USB Type C cable (€ 8)
4. RAVIAD USB cable [3Pizzi, 1m 2m 3m] Nylon USB Type C cable (€ 9)

Conclusions

We saw together how to correctly install the USB driver for any Android smartphone or tablet, so that we can access the internal memory and transfer the files from the device to the PC (and vice versa) via the included cable or with a new USB cable.
If we are looking for an alternative to the cables to connect the smartphone to the PC, we recommend you read our guide on Programs to manage Android from a PC and transfer data (via wifi or USB) . If we connect the smartphone or tablet to the computer only to transfer data, we can also use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, as described in the guide on how to Transfer files between Android phones (via bluetooth or wifi) .