In this post we detail the steps involved in transfering files between your android and your PC/Mac through the local WiFi connection.

Step 1. Download FTP clients

In order for this to work we require:
  • FTP server on the android device: Primtive FTPd is our choice. A simple open source FTP server for android.
  • FTP client on the computer end: FileZilla is our choice. It is the world’s most popular cross platform open source free FTP client with clients available for Windows, Mac, Linux and so on.
  • Connect your phone to Wi-Fi/Turn on WiFi hotspot. 

Step 2. Connect mobile phone and computer through FTP

First, we are to set up or enable the FTP server on android. Open Primitive FTPd app.

Now tap on gear icon on top right corner of your screen to go to Settings section. Now under the FTP server preferences select suitable username and password.

After that go back and press on the play button present in the top right half of your screen to turn on FTP server on Android device. Upon starting the Play icon will be replace by a Stop icon.

You will then get the Android device IP address with a server port number. In this case, the mobile phone FTP address is 192.168.1.2, FTP port is 12345, username is user, see above screenshot. Note that this is a local IP address of your device, and it can change every time you connect your mobile phone to the wireless network or router. For example, the next time your cell phone local IP may change to 192.169.1.101, 192.169.1.102, 192.169.1.x.

Second, we need to run the FTP software on computer to access the FTP server address above. Run FileZilla or any other FTP tool you have.


To connect to Android phone using FileZilla FTP client you can follow these steps:
  1. Type in Android device's FTP address in the Host field;
  2. Type in Android device's FTP port number in the Port field;
  3. Click the Quickconnect button to establish the FTP connection between android device and PC.

Download or upload files between phone and computer via FTP

In the middle section of the FTP client, you can see the Local site and Remote site, which represents the local computer and Android device separately. Open the folder on your phone or PC which houses the files you want to transfer. then open the target folder on the phone or PC where you want to save the files to. All files beneath the folders will be listed at the lower section. Click to select the files you want to transfer, then right click on them to reveal the options to download files from phone to computer or upload files from computer to mobile phone.


For example, if you want to upload files and documents from PC or Mac to android device, open the source files folder on our computer from the Local site box, then open the target folder on your smartphone from the Remote site box, select files in the box below the Local site, right click on them and choose Upload from the context menu, all your selected files will be copied from computer to android device through FTP.
A small tip if you just want to download files from android just navigate to "ftp://device-ip-address:port-number" in your browser and download the file.
Should you still have problems sending or receiving data through this method, do not hesitate to leave us a message in the comments section down below.

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