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The phone does not recognize the external USB flash drive. Why doesn't my smartphone see the USB flash drive?

Not everyone knows about the ability to connect a USB flash drive (or even an external hard drive) to a smartphone, tablet or other Android device, which in some cases may even be useful. This instruction contains several ways to implement this idea. The first part is about how a flash drive is connected to phones and tablets today (i.e., to relatively new devices, without root access), the second is about older models, when connecting still required some tricks.

I would like to note right away that despite the fact that I mentioned external USB hard drives, you should not rush to connect them - even if it “starts up” (the phone may simply not see it), a lack of power can ruin the drive. You can only use external USB drives with their own power supply with your mobile device. This does not apply to connecting a flash drive, but still take into account the accelerated drainage of the device’s battery.

What you need to fully connect a USB drive to Android

In order to connect a flash drive to a tablet or phone, you will first need support for USB Host by the device itself. Almost everyone has this today, before, somewhere before Android 4-5, this was not the case, but even now I admit that some cheap phones may not support it. Also, to physically connect a USB drive, you will need either an OTG cable (on one end there is a MicroUSB, MiniUSB or USB Type-C connector, on the other there is a port for connecting USB devices) or a flash drive that has two connection options (available on sale There are drives with “two ends” - regular USB on one side and MicroUSB or USB-C on the other).


If your phone has a USB-C connector and there are some USB Type-C adapters that you purchased, for example, for a laptop, they will also most likely work for our task.

It is also desirable that the flash drive has the FAT32 file system, although sometimes it is possible to work with NTFS. If everything you need is available, you can proceed directly to connecting and working with a USB flash drive on your Android device.

The process of connecting a flash drive to an Android phone or tablet and some nuances of operation

Previously (up to approximately Android 5), in order to connect a USB flash drive to a phone or tablet, root access was required and you had to resort to third-party programs, since system tools did not always allow this. Today, for most devices with Android 6, 7, 8 and 9, everything you need is built into the system and usually the USB flash drive is “visible” immediately after connection.

At the current time, the procedure for connecting a flash drive to Android is as follows:


If everything went well and the flash drive is connected, it will be more convenient to use it not in the built-in file manager, but in a third-party one, see.

Not all file managers work with flash drives. Of the ones I use, I can recommend:


In Total Commander and X-Plore you can also enable work (both reading and writing) with NTFS, but only using the paid plugin Microsoft exFAT/NTFS for USB by Paragon Software (available in the Play Store, you can check the work for free). Also, most Samsung devices support NTFS by default.

Also keep in mind that if not used for a long time (several minutes), the connected flash drive is turned off by the Android device to save battery power (in the file manager it will look like it has disappeared).

Connecting a USB drive to old Android smartphones

The first thing, besides a USB OTG cable or a suitable flash drive, which is usually necessary when connecting not the latest Android devices (with the exception of Nexus and some Samsung devices) is root access on your phone. For each phone model, you can find separate instructions on the Internet for obtaining root access; in addition, there are universal programs for these purposes, for example - (here it should be borne in mind that the procedure for obtaining root access is potentially dangerous for the device and for some manufacturers it deprives your tablet or telephone guarantee).

You can get access (though not completely complete, but sufficient for most use cases) of an Android flash drive without root, but both of the actually working applications for these purposes that I know of support only Nexus and are paid. I'll start with the method with root access.

Using StickMount to connect a flash drive to Android

So, if you have root access to the device, then to quickly automatically mount a flash drive with subsequent access from any file manager, you can use the free StickMount application (there is also a paid Pro version), available on Google Play https://play.google .com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.stickmount

After connecting, mark the opening of StickMount by default for this USB device and grant superuser rights to the application. Done, now you have access to the files on the flash drive, which will be located in the sdcard/usbStorage folder in your file manager.

Support for different file systems depends on your device and its firmware. Typically these are fat and fat32, as well as ext2, ext3 and ext4 (Linux file systems). Keep this in mind when connecting an NTFS flash drive.

Reading files from a flash drive without root

The applications claim to support not only FAT, but also NTFS partitions, but, unfortunately, only Nexus devices (however, you can check whether Nexus Media Importer will work on your device not from this line by downloading the free application for viewing photos on flash drive - Nexus Photo Viewer from the same developer).

I haven't tried any of them, but the reviews seem to suggest that they generally work as expected on Nexus phones and tablets, so that's a good read.

We told you how you can connect USB gaming peripherals, such as a joystick or gamepad, both from a computer and from a game console, to a phone or tablet with the Android operating system. But the USB port installed in your Android device can work not only with joysticks.

Maybe you, like us, have had the thought come into your head more than once; “Why can’t you just connect a USB flash drive to your Android phone or tablet and download files directly?” In fact, this can be done, although sometimes this operation is associated with some difficulties. Today we will tell you, dear readers, how to connect a USB flash drive to your mobile device.

How to connect a flash drive to an Android device via micro-USB

Most modern smartphones and tablets running Android OS have a standard micro-USB connector installed as a communication port. In order for a phone or tablet to see devices connected to it through this port, it must support the technology USB On-The-Go, abbreviated USB OTG(sometimes you can also find the name USB Host). This technology means that the micro-USB port can supply power to external devices, thus allowing them to be visible in the system. The implementation of this technology is present in the Android operating system from version 3.1 and higher, so if your phone or tablet is not completely old-fashioned, then everything should work as it should.

If you are not sure about the hardware capabilities of your mobile device, and do not find the relevant information in the technical documentation for it, you can try installing the USB OTG Checker application on your Android device, available for download on the Google Play store.

Its only function is to quickly check your phone or tablet to see if it supports USB On-The-Go (USB Host) technology.

The only thing you need to connect a USB flash drive to an Android device is a USB On-The-Go (USB OTG) adapter cable.

You can buy it at any computer or mobile store and it is very inexpensive. Sometimes manufacturers include it in the delivery package of their devices, saving us time and money.

You insert it with the corresponding end into the micro-USB connector of your mobile device, connect the flash drive to the other end, and the job is done, you can look for the files on the flash drive in the usb storage folder (sometimes just USB), which will appear among the drives available in the system. It can be accessed using any file manager.

Unfortunately, not all mobile devices running the Android operating system can work in such a simple way. It often happens that you connect a flash drive to micro-USB via an adapter using the above method, but nothing happens. If you are sure that your device supports USB On-The-Go technology, but nothing happens when you connect the flash drive to your phone or tablet via an adapter cable, do not despair.

This problem occurs because your mobile device does not automatically mount the external drive, and it needs help with this. On the Google Play market you can find several programs that can do this. The most popular is StickMount, which can be downloaded for free. The latest version of the program works with the Android 4.0 operating system and higher. The application can work not only with USB flash drives, but also with digital cameras and other similar equipment.

Please note that this application requires root access! If you have not yet opened root on your mobile device, it's time to do so right now. You can find out how this is done from our database article:

As soon as you install StickMount on your device, you can connect a USB flash drive via a USB OTG cable. When connected, your Android device will show you a pop-up asking if you want to launch StickMount. Agree with this, the program will detect your USB drive and mount it.

You can find your drive along the path /sdcard/usbStorage/sda1.

To safely remove the flash drive back, go to the program and select the "Unmount" command.

How to connect a flash drive to an Android device without micro-USB

Chinese companies, and even famous manufacturers, sometimes sin by installing non-standard connectors on their mobile phones and tablets with the Android OS, to which it is not possible to connect a USB On-The-Go adapter cable directly. If you are the happy owner of just such a device, to use a USB flash drive with it, you will first need to find an appropriate adapter that connects the USB connector to the proprietary connector of your manufacturer.

This can be difficult, since every store around the corner usually does not sell such adapters. But you can always find and order the required adapter via the Internet on Western or Chinese trading platforms.

Otherwise, the algorithm of actions is the same as in the previous section. Connect the flash drive, and if it is not detected right away, try using a special mounting program.

We hope our article helped you figure out the question “How to connect a flash drive to Android”, and transferring files to your mobile device and back to an external drive has become much easier.

Solving the problem of insufficient internal memory on your smartphone is simple. It is enough to transfer important information to a flash drive and connect it to the device at the right time. How to connect a flash drive to a phone, and what is needed for this, is important for any Android user to know.

It is possible to connect a flash drive to an Android gadget directly (without using a PC) thanks to USB On-The-Go (OTG) technology. Its essence is as follows: when connecting a storage medium to a smartphone, the first device plays the role of an energy consumer, and the second - a power device.

Not all mobile phones can connect a USB flash drive. The main reasons are the restrictions set by the gadget manufacturer and the operating system. Information about support for OTG technology is usually not indicated either on the manufacturer’s website or in the documentation for the device.

How to check if you can connect a USB flash drive to your smartphone

You can clarify this information by contacting technical support on the manufacturer’s website or installing a special USB OTG Checker application. Also, the possibility of connecting a flash drive to the phone is indicated by the presence of an OTG adapter in the package.

The OTG support checker app can be downloaded for free on your Android gadget from the Play Store.

To find out whether you can connect a flash drive to a smartphone using the USB OTG Checker application, just install and launch it.

What you need to connect a flash drive to your phone

To connect a flash drive to an Android smartphone, you need a special OTG adapter. It is an adapter that has a connector at one end for connecting to a device, and at the other - a regular USB port where the drive is connected.

When you connect the drive to the device, a message indicating that it has been detected will appear in the device notification panel. You can also check this in your smartphone settings. To do this, you need to open the “Memory” section (at the bottom of the list there should be a “USB storage” item).

To start working with files, you need to launch the file manager on the device and select the storage medium in the list (can be designated by the system as “usb_storage”, “usbdisk”).

It is not recommended to disconnect the storage device without disabling it in the device settings. To safely remove it, go to “Settings”, select the “Memory” section and click on the “Disable USB storage” button.

What to do if your smartphone does not “see” the flash drive

If the USB OTG Checker program, as a result of the test, “showed” that connection is possible, but nothing happens during the connection, this means the following:

  • The flash drive has an NTFS file system (not supported by Android);
  • the system cannot mount (recognize) the drive;
  • damaged connector on the device.

To solve the problem with file system support, just format the USB flash drive in fat32. This issue is described in more detail in the article "To do this, you need to do the following:

  • connect the media to the PC;
  • open “My Computer”;
  • select the connected media in the list of devices and right-click;
  • select “Format” in the context menu;
  • in the “File system” section, set the value to “FAT32”;
  • click the “Start” button.
  • wait for the formatting process to complete.

If formatting does not give a positive result, you need to install a special application on your device that allows you to recognize the storage device.

Applications for recognizing external drives can be downloaded from Google Play. To use free applications, you must have root rights.

Popular programs that allow you to connect an external flash drive are StickMount and USB OTG Helper. Using this software, you can even connect a drive in NTFS format to the device.

In order for the gadget to “see” a regular flash drive using StickMount, perform the following steps:

  • connect the drive via otg cable to the phone;
  • after a dialog box appears on the screen asking you to launch StickMount, click “Ok”;

  • launch any file manager on your phone and go to sdcard/usbStorage.

If nothing appears on the smartphone screen when you connect this storage device, then you need to launch the StickMount program yourself and click on the “Mount” line in the menu.

To mount external media via USB OTG Helper you need to:

  • connect the adapter with the drive to the phone;
  • select “Yes” when the system “requests” to launch the application;

  • click on the “Mount” button;

  • select a file manager to view the contents of the external drive.

Before you unmount the storage device, you need to open USB OTG Helper and click on the “Unmount” button at the bottom of the screen.

To mount the drive, it is not necessary to root your smartphone. For such cases, you can download the Nexus Importer program from Google Play (paid application).

Nexus Importer is designed not only to work with “native” devices (gadgets from the Nexus line). Using the program, you can connect external media to smartphones of the Samsung, Sony, and HTC brands.

To mount media using Nexus Importer, do the following:

  • connect the drive via an adapter to the gadget;
  • Click “Yes” when a dialog box appears on the screen asking you to launch Nexus Importer.

After launching Nexus Importer, the file manager will automatically open.

If the problem with detecting a flash drive could not be solved either by formatting or installing programs, you should contact a service center.

Not all users know that you can connect a regular flash drive to your Android smartphone. Moreover, owners of top-end smartphones may not need this function, but for those who have a budget device there are a lot of different benefits from this.

For example, if you have little built-in memory, then you can connect a flash drive and watch movies or listen to music from it. Or you need to transfer some important information from a flash drive to your device, but you don’t have a PC at hand.

In general, this useful “trick” has a lot of applications and, of course, we won’t consider them all. We are more interested in how exactly to connect a USB drive to your gadget.

Checking support for the OTG protocol

OTG protocol is a technology with which you can connect not only a flash drive, but also any other peripheral device to your Android smartphone - a mouse, printer, video camera, etc. More details about this.

To check whether your gadget supports this technology, use the USB OTG Checker application, which can be downloaded.

USB OTG cable

This cable is an “adapter” at one end, which has a standard mini USB connector for connecting a smartphone, and at the other end there is a regular USB port for connecting a flash drive. We simply connect both devices with this cable and don’t need to do anything else.


USB OTG drive

It’s even easier if you purchase in advance a universal flash drive that can be directly connected to both a PC and an Android without any additional “adapters.”

Important! The flash drive must be formatted in FAT32. If it is in NTFS format, then the device on Android OS will simply not see it.

Conclusion

That's all: you shouldn't have any difficulties connecting a USB flash drive to your device. Ask any additional questions in the comments, and we will definitely answer!

In this article we will figure out how to connect Android to a computer/laptop via USB as a flash drive and be able to transfer information without using a classic flash drive.

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.

Before Android 4.4 KitKat, it was possible to connect via USB as a flash drive. The PC saw the device as a removable disk and provided the same rights: the user could also perform other actions.

Then, in new versions of Android, the USB mode was replaced by MTP, in which only the data transfer function remained, and the same formatting did not work.

Setting up a USB connection

To manage the connection to a computer via USB, you need. To do this, add the “For Developers” section to the Android settings (if it doesn’t exist):

  1. Open settings.
  2. Go to the "About phone" or "About device" section.
  3. "Build number" or "MIUI version".
  4. Press (click) on this item until you see a message that you have become a developer (usually 7-10 clicks are enough).
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After the developer section appears in the settings, you can enable USB debugging. The item is called that way, so you just need to move the slider to the “On” position and confirm the resolution.


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Now you can connect the device to your computer via USB and select the operating mode. In the latest versions of Android, the most used ones are:

  • MTP - transfer any files from computer to phone and vice versa.
  • PTP - transfer of photos, as well as transfer of files not supported in MTP mode.
  • Charging only.

Connecting in USB storage mode

If you can't get used to using the media player, go back to using USB storage mode. For this you will need:

  • USB MASS STORAGE Enabler installed.

Using this method may damage system files. In this case, you will have to reflash Android.

To connect Android to your computer as a drive:

  1. Launch USB MASS STORAGE Enabler.
  2. Grant superuser rights and agree to change how Selinux works.
  3. If the device is supported, the main application menu will open.
  4. Click "Enable USB MASS STORAGE".

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Now, when connected to a PC, the phone or tablet will appear as a drive. To connect in MTP or PTP mode, just restart the device. Once you're done with mass storage mode, go back into the app and disable USB MASS STORAGE.