Now we will look at the reasons and what to do in a situation when your Android does not see a USB flash drive or hard drive via a USB OTG cable.
This article is suitable for all brands that produce phones on Android 9/8/7/6: Samsung, HTC, Lenovo, LG, Sony, ZTE, Huawei, Meizu, Fly, Alcatel, Xiaomi, Nokia and others. We are not responsible for your actions.
You can connect a USB flash drive and even an external hard drive to an Android device via an OTG adapter, but this is not always possible the first time. The reasons can be different, from the wrong file system to partial damage to the connector on the smartphone.
Most often, the problem can be eliminated on its own, but in severe cases, you have to contact the service center.
Attention! In the commentary, there is one more advice from a reader with experience in solving this problem. Don't forget to read.
Reasons why Android does not see through the OTG adapter
If you are trying to understand why Android does not see a USB flash drive, then the first step is to make sure that the smartphone can work with USB Flash at all.
To do this, it must support USB On-The-Go technology. It implies that microUSB supplies power to the external drive via an OTG cable, so that it becomes visible in Android, just like in Windows 7/10 / XP.
To make sure that the hardware specifications allow you to connect a modem, flash drive, keyboard or any other USB device to your phone, install an Android application.
If the program shows that the phone is ready to work with external devices through the hub, then you can connect the OTG cable and establish a connection to the USB flash drive through it.
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In addition to the lack of support for USB On-The-Go technology, there are other reasons that Android does not see the USB flash drive through the cord, even if the indicator is on:
- Wrong OS version. To work with equipment that supports USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, the device must have Android 3.1 or higher.
- The attached storage is too large.
- If there is a connection sound, but the hardware cannot be detected (or it is only charging), make sure that its file system is in the correct Fat32 format. NTFS and ExFat cannot be read on Android.
- USB stick malfunction. Try connecting it to your computer to make sure the drive is working.
- Damaged connector on your phone / tablet. Even if this does not mean that the connector is completely functional - the contacts responsible for data transfer may be damaged.
- Damage to the OTG cable or adapter. To make sure it is working properly, connect another USB flash drive to another phone that is known to be suitable for this task.
In some cases, the device cannot be connected without root. This happens in case a specific phone model cannot automatically mount an external storage. To eliminate the flaw, you need third-party software - for example, an application that can work with flash drives, modems, cameras and other devices.
Enlarge When connecting equipment via an OTG cable, the program will independently detect and mount it. You can find the contents of the drive in the / sdcard / usbStorage / sda1 folder. To safely remove the drive, select the "Unmount" option in StickMount.
A mobile device that runs on the Android OS, unlike other portable gadgets, can be connected to a computer as a flash drive. In many smartphones and tablets on Android, manufacturers initially set up functions that allow them to be used in the form of flash drives.
This allows the user to record the necessary information, delete files from the product that are not used, but take up a lot of space in it.
Using an Android mobile device in the form of a flash drive, there is no need to carry a drive with you constantly. Now you do not need to carry out a lot of manipulations with the connection to a laptop or computer, spending a lot of time on it.
Options for connecting a mobile gadget as a flash drive
Let's take a look at how to connect a mobile device like a USB stick... To do this, you need to perform certain sequential actions:
If you lower the shutter in the menu, uSB connection in the form of a flash drive. If you need to turn off the drive, you must also lower the shutter and click on the corresponding inscription.
Connecting the product with different versions of Android
Now let's look at ways to connect a tablet or smartphone as a flash drive, depending on the version used Android... First, we determine which operating system is on the device. To do this, go to "Settings", select the section "About device" or "About phone". It is often the last in the list that opens.
OS Android 2.1 - 2.3.7
If the operating system is Android 2.1 - 2.3.7, you must perform the following steps:
- You need to connect the gadget to your PC using a USB cable.
- The computer should automatically detect the new device. If this does not happen, you need to disconnect the smartphone from the computer, go to "Settings", select "Applications", click on "For developer", then "Debugging via USB". Now you need to connect to your PC again.
- The drive icon appears in the gadget. You need to click on "USB Connection", and the connection itself should be made as a media device.
Android OS version 4 and higher
Since version 4.4 KitKat, Android does not use USB storage mode, a tablet or smartphone can be used as Media Transfer Protocol (MTP). But you can make the gadget work as a drive.
It is required to use a special application that will help you connect Android with MTP as a USB drive in a few steps. This will require:
- Install on Android Root rights.
- Download and install a special application "USB MASS STORAGE Enabler".
Then you need to do the following:
- Run "USB MASS STORAGE Enabler". It will be displayed in the menu as a USB activator.
- Root rights must be granted. You will be prompted to change how Selinux works. It needs to be resolved.
- If this device is supported, then the application will go to the main menu.
- To solve the "flash drive" in Android was activated, you need to click on "Enable USB MASS STORAGE".
After using Android as a USB drive, you need to disable this mode. For this opens program "USB MASS STORAGE Enabler" and there the corresponding button is pressed. To connect a mobile device in a different mode, you need to restart Android.
Android does not detect memory card
There are situations when a flash drive is in the device does not work... To find it, you can use the ES Explorer file manager or similar application. With the help of such programs, you can find almost everything. In terms of its functionality, it is similar to the My Computer program.
To recognize the memory card, you should run "ES Explorer". After launching it, a menu will appear on the left side of the screen, where the SDcard (memory card) will be located. You just have to click on it. After that, the memory card will be detected and available for work.
Almost all the latest (and not so) flagship Android models are equipped with chic widescreen displays with a decent diagonal and high ppi. On such screens it is quite convenient to watch movies and TV series on the road, but where to record them? Google has a bad tradition of not installing memory card slots on its Google phones. If for the Galaxy Nexus this is still not so critical (16 GB on board), then the younger Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 are already suffering, because you cannot record a lot of video content on 8 GB, and this is not the only problem with Google phones. It remains to use removable external media. But how do you connect it to your smartphone and tablet? Very simple.
What is needed
- Smartphone or tablet to which we want to connect USB storage
- Removable USB disk
- USB OTG cable
The USB On-The-Go cable is an adapter that connects to the micro USB port of a smartphone at one end, and a standard USB port of a removable disk is plugged into the other end. Cool homemade products can solder it themselves (maybe they will send instructions with screenshots to us, we will gladly publish them), while the rest can go to the Internet or the nearest specialized store and buy such an adapter there for very ridiculous money. This posting actually opens up great opportunities. It can be used to connect joysticks, keyboards and other devices with a USB interface, as long as the smartphone or tablet understands them.
At the initial stage, this is enough. Now we need to find out if our mobile device wants to be friends with removable media without additional manipulations. Smartphones and tablets from one manufacturer allow you to plug in USB drives out of the box. We connect and watch. If it was not possible to access the storage, then go ahead.
Simple option
If you don't feel like messing around, then go to the Google Play Store and buy the Nexus Media Importer app there (it works not only with Nexuses) for $ 3. This is enough.
If you have a rooted device, you won't have to pay. We download the free StickMount application (works only with root) and along the way any file manager, if you don't have it installed for one reason or another (we like ES Explorer).
It remains to connect a removable disk and allow StickMount root access.
A corresponding message will appear in the notification area stating that the storage is successfully connected and has the address / sdcard / usbStorage.
We go to this folder through the file manager and enjoy.
Surely you more than once had the need to connect a USB flash drive to your Android tablet or smartphone, but you did not know how to do it. Yes, you will not find a full-size USB in almost any Android gadget, but you can still connect a drive to your device. Now I will tell you how.
Instructions: how to connect a USB flash drive to an Android tablet or smartphone
To open and view the contents of the flash drive, you will need a file manager. If you do not have a built-in manager initially, you will have to download an external one. You can familiarize yourself with it on our website. The path to the files will look like this: / sdcard / usbStorage.
True, not always tablets or smartphones can detect a USB flash drive or hard drive. In this case, you will have to download the paid Nexus Media Importer application (it works not only with the Nexus), or the StickMount application, which is distributed free of charge, but requires root (Superuser rights). Read about getting them in the posts: and. If you have previously rooted the device, then you can proceed. There is another great application for automatically mounting a USB flash drive. It is called USB OTG Helper and also requires root rights.
How to connect a USB flash drive to an Android tablet or smartphone via MicroUSB
If your tablet or smartphone uses a MicroUSB port, then connecting such a device will not be difficult. You just need to fork out a couple of dollars and buy a USB OTG cable. That is, you insert the corresponding end of the adapter into the connector of the device, and connect the USB flash drive to it. If your Android smartphone or tablet supports the OTG function, then the flash drive will be detected automatically.
How to connect a USB flash drive to an Android tablet or smartphone without MicroUSB
If your manufacturer was greedy for the USB connector, and instead equipped his device with only a proprietary connector for synchronization, then you will have to spend a little more. But even in such a situation, there is a solution: you will need another additional adapter, suitable for your connector. You will need to insert a USB OTG cable into it.
That's all, I hope my post was useful to you.
Modern flash drives can hold a huge amount of information, the weight of which will reach 256 GB and even more. That's just due to the lack of the required connector, it is problematic to "synchronize" with a smartphone, and come to the rescue adapters... Today we will find out how to connect a USB flash drive to Android via OTG and what is needed for this.
What is OTG
OTG cable is a special adapter, allowing you to connect devices with a standard USB connector to phones and tablets. In short, this is an adapter, one end of which is connected to a smartphone, and an accessory is inserted into the other.
You can connect with both mice and keyboards and any external storage device.
You can purchase the adapter at any store, which specializes in electronics and gadgets. Also note that oTG comes with some phones. For example, this detail was seen on Samsung and Sony smartphones.
How to check compatibility between Android and OTG
Unfortunately, not all smartphones can boast of support for the OTG protocol.But how do you know in advance if the device will be able to recognize an additional gadget? The easiest - this is a visual definition... If the phone has standard microUSB, most likely, in this case, it will connect to the adapter without problems.
But for a better test, we recommend using a special program, namely USB OTG Checker... This is a very useful application with a minimum of functions that perfectly performs the main option - recognition of OTG support or its absence in an Android smartphone.
USB OTG Cheker App
The utility can be easily downloaded from. After installation, we launch it and after a few seconds we see on the main screen either a green square or a red one. Everything is very clear here : green means successful further synchronization, red - inability to connect to the adapter.
Below is a table with a little information about the device, where the phone model, its name and ID are indicated. This, in principle, is where all the functionality of the application ends.
If the result is negative - there are two options for solving this problem... Perhaps the flash drive is simply not recognized by the built-in Explorer. There are special utilities for this, which we will talk about below. Or the OTG protocol is generally blocked in the device. Then, unfortunately, nothing can be done, only purchase a new phone running Android.
The procedure for the connection itself is very simple: we insert the accessory into the adapter, and connect the adapter to the smartphone. If the flash drive is successfully recognized by the operating system, a corresponding notification should appear on the screen, on which you should click "Allow"... The external flash drive is recognized by the device, but now how to read information from it?
File managers will help here, they are also called conductors. These are applications that allow you to view all the information stored in the memory of a mobile device and attached storage devices.
On some phones, for example, from Xiaomi, there is already a built-in Explorer.
But you can also install any third-party manager, the best option is ES Explorer, which we talked about in detail in the article. We launch the program, go to the root of the menu and an external drive should be displayed there. Click on it and a list of materials appears. Thus, you can view images, videos, read documents and work with archives. All information stored on a flash drive is available from a smartphone.
But what if the drive is not recognized? The only way out is specialized utilities. For instance, a great program is Media Explorer, available for download from Google Play. Unfortunately, it is paid and there is no beta trial.
StickMount (Root)
Don't want to spend money? Don't despair, there is also a free alternative - stickMout application, requestor. If you are already a "Superuser", you can easily adapt to the program, but otherwise you will either have to buy a tool or get root, otherwise you will not be able to work with the USB flash drive.
Possible problems why the phone / tablet does not see the USB flash drive via OTG
You bought an adapter, downloaded the required file manager, happily plug in a USB flash drive, but it cannot be read by the device - what is the reason? Let's discuss the most common factors that hinder successful synchronization:
- Invalid flash drive format.Android does not read file systems NTFS and ExFat. Suitable only FAT32.
- Inappropriate software or operating system. The matter may be in the firmware, and in special drivers, and in the Android version. To avoid such troubles - check the phone in advance via USB OTG Charge.
- Dirty connectorsdue to which no contact occurs. This can also include faulty flash drive or adapter.
- The flash drive contains too much information.For example, if you connect a 256 GB drive to a smartphone with only 4-8 GB of permanent memory, problems are possible. Likewise, with less than 1 GB of RAM.
Video instruction: how to connect USB to a smartphone without OTG support
As you can see, it is quite easy to connect a USB flash drive to Android via OTG, for this you just need to follow the instructions clearly and have the necessary tools at hand. Good luck!
