Transfer photos from Android to a PC

Plugging in a USB cable means unlocking the phone, switching it to file transfer, and digging through DCIM folders. To move the photos you actually want, pick them on the phone and send them from the browser.

Steps

  1. Open toss2.me on the PC, and in Chrome (or any browser) on the phone.
  2. On the same Wi-Fi, the PC appears under Nearby on the phone.
  3. Tap the PC, then Choose files. Android opens a picker with your photos and albums. Select several at once.
  4. On the PC, press Accept, then Save next to each file.

Phone on mobile data? Press Create a code on the PC and type the code on the phone. More about codes.

A whole album, or every day

If one of the devices is a computer you send to often, keep an inbox on it instead. Run this once on the computer (it needs Node.js 22 or newer):

tosstome listen

It prints a link and a QR code, and saves incoming files to a tosstome-inbox folder (change it with --dir). Scan the code with your phone and add the page to your home screen. From then on you only open that page on the phone, pick files, and press Send. Nothing needs to be open on the computer except the running command, and it works from any network. More about the inbox.

On Android, open the inbox link in Chrome and choose Add to Home screen so it sits next to your other apps.

From the PC to the phone

Tap the phone on the PC, pick the photos, accept on the phone. They are saved to the phone's Downloads folder, where your gallery app can find them.

Questions

Do I need to install an app?

No. Sending and receiving both work in a normal browser tab. The command line tool is optional and only needed if you want an always-on inbox on a computer.

Do I need a USB cable or Phone Link?

No. Everything happens in the browser on both devices. If Phone Link is refusing a file, this is a quick way around it.

Are my files uploaded or stored anywhere?

No. Files go straight from one device to the other over WebRTC when the networks allow it. When they do not, the file passes through a relay on Cloudflare that forwards the bytes as they arrive and keeps nothing. If the receiver is offline, nothing is sent.

Do both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi?

No. On the same network they find each other automatically. On different networks, for example a phone on mobile data and a laptop at home, one device creates a 6-digit code and the other types it in.

Is there a file size limit?

tosstome sets no limit. A receiving browser holds the file in memory until you save it, so for files of several gigabytes the command line inbox is the better receiver, because it writes straight to disk.

Related

Last checked 2026-10-28.

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