Device is unreachable error when transferring photos from Android phone to PC

Hi,

[SOLVED]

I was able to fix this for me. Hope this helps someone else.

I got the "device unreachable error" while trying to transfer videos from my Samsung S23 to Windows laptop. Funny enough, I was able to transfer photos without any problem.

I was able to fix this by clicking on the "USB file transfer turned on" from the notifications. This opened "USB Settings". When I scrolled down to the bottom, there was "File transfer options" settings. I turned on Transcode exported video option and this fixed the issue.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

I also had success going thru "Tap for other USB options" in the "USB file transfer turned on" notification on my S23. There are 2 options. In my case, I kept "USB controlled by" on "This device", and then only changed "Use USB for" FROM "Transferring files / Android Auto" TO "Transferring images".

I'm not sure why the USB interface is designed this way. After my images are transferred I'll have to remember to change it back so I can use it in my car, and then remember this re-setting at some point in the distant future when I transfer photos again.

I tried all of these (I have an Android Google Pixel 4a) with highly sensitive data and still, no luck. Called Microsoft many times - only solution they gave me is to move the files in chunks. I have my dead brother's photos on here so it's extremely sensitive. I'm so frustrated. Will an update to Windows 11 fix it? Based on my research, it doesn't seem to. I've changed USB cables, changed transfer settings on the phone, fixed the driver issues, ran the hardware troubleshooter, looked into pc health. Ugh, I really wanted to get this transferred over this weekend :-(.

Hi, just had the same issue and disconnected my phone, then realised it was still showing in my Windows Explorer even though it wasn't connected anymore to the computer. Wondered if that was the issue so I restarted my computer to make it not show anymore, then reconnected my phone and everything was back to normal!

Wow, so sorry!

I tried several times to upload pictures from phone to laptop and got same error. However, I just tried again after closing the photo app on my phone and it worked. I had assumed the photo app would need to be open.