In Windows 10 you can quickly add your smartphone to available devices without using special software or drivers, so you can synchronize your PC with Android smartphones and iPhones . In this guide we will show you in detail how to use the synchronization tool integrated in the latest version of Windows 10, in addition we will show you another very effective method to synchronize music and photo folders on your mobile phone, using OneDrive as a means of communication between them .
All this is possible without having to use the USB cable (it is sufficient that PC and smartphone are connected to the Internet, preferably on the same Wi-Fi network), once again revolutionizing the way we can connect our faithful mobile phone to the computer while we study or work.
READ ALSO: Synchronize and upload folders in Onedrive without moving them
1) Connect the phone to Windows 10
To connect your smartphone on Windows 10, you will first need to download the appropriate app on it.
The apps for Android and iPhone, both from Microsoft, can be downloaded from here -> Complement of Your phone (Android) and Continue on PC (iPhone).
(as usual Microsoft doesn't know how to make app titles).
Once the app is installed we will be asked to continue the configuration on the PC with Windows 10.
So let's go to the computer and look for the Shared Experience Settings item in the Start menu.
In the window that will open, make sure to activate the items Shares in the vicinity and Share between devices, being careful to limit sharing only to our devices (by selecting the Only from my devices item in the two drop-down menus).
Now that the shared experiences are settled, let's open the Start menu again and search for the Your Phone app. If we have not already done so, we log in with our Microsoft account (typing the email and password), then click on the Connect phone button that will appear in the center of the app. We will be asked to enter a phone number, necessary to complete the configuration; enter the phone number in use on our smartphone and confirm.
Now let's go to the app on the smartphone, put the check mark under the item Your PC is ready, then click on Start .
We enter the same Microsoft account used on the PC and provide the necessary permissions to the app, so that we can have complete control. After a few seconds the phone and PC will be synchronized; from the app on the PC we can access all the photos and messages saved on the phone, simply by clicking on the icons in the sidebar.
From now on, simply open your PC and the Your Phone app to quickly access all your saved photos, without the need to use USB cables or other strange apps for sharing files. Another interesting feature of this synchronization is the direct sharing of links and files from the phone to the PC. From the phone, simply click on any Share button in the app and select Your phone to immediately send it to the PC to which we are connected. At the moment to do the opposite operation it is necessary to use Microsoft phones, but we hope that soon it will become a complete feature to exchange files quickly between phone and computer.
READ ALSO: Read and send SMS from Windows 10 with the "your phone" app
2) Synchronize music and photos with OneDrive
An even more complete and effective method of synchronizing the Music and Photos folder from PC to smartphone (and vice versa) involves the use of OneDrive, the cloud service built into Windows 10 and easily installed on any smartphone.
We install the OneDrive app on our smartphone, using the links here -> Microsoft OneDrive (Android) and Microsoft OneDrive (iOS).
Once installed, simply use a Microsoft account to access the 15 GB of free space offered by the company, useful for saving the most important folders to be synchronized (music and images). After associating the service on the mobile phone, we open our PC and click on the OneDrive icon in the lower right corner of the system bar.
We use within this app the same credentials used on the phone, so that we can access the shared folders quickly and effectively (they will be downloaded and created inside the hard disk on the PC, ready to be viewed). We can also do the opposite, i.e. choose PC folders to always have available on your smartphone. In this regard, we recommend reading the following guide to understand all the secrets of OneDrive.
READ ALSO -> How many things Microsoft Onedrive is used for and how it works
3) Alternatives to connect the phone to the PC
If we are not convinced of the tools offered by Microsoft to synchronize music and photos, there are valid alternatives on which we can focus.
Pushbullet
One of the best services in this sense is Pushbullet, available for Android .
By synchronizing the phone with the program for Windows and Mac or via the Pushbullet web page we will be able to have all the notifications of the phone in real time, we can reply to the messages of all the chats we manage and also exchange notes and files (up to 100MB) in quick and easy way.
We can deepen the discussion on Pushbullet from here -> Send note files and links from PC to Android and iPhone and vice versa with Pushbullet.
Other cloud services
In addition to OneDrive we can also integrate another cloud service on Windows 10, simply install the relevant app on the phone and the management client on the computer. In this way we can exchange music and files quickly even with devices far from the same network.
The best free cloud services are available in our dedicated guide -> Free Cloud Drive comparison to save files online.
Management programs
Finally, we can always use third-party management programs, which can configure themselves via the Wi-Fi network and offer quick access to all the files on the phone.
For Android we recommend reading the following guide -> Programs to manage Android from PC and transfer data (in wifi or USB),
If instead we have an iPhone and we don't want to use iTunes, in this guide we will find valid alternatives -> Programs to manage the iPhone from PC without iTunes.
