The very best Android file manager apps
File administration isn’t the sexiest issue around smartphone ownership – but if you are using your device for productivity, it’s a significant area to consider.
Your phone, in the end, is your on-the-go link with the global world. It’s the always-available Computer of our contemporary computing period. And whether your projects involves presentations, PDFs, paperwork, or pictures, you’re bound to get yourself fumbling around with data files on your own pocket-sized screen ultimately.
With the proper tools, though, coping with files from your own phone doesn’t have to become a hassle. And the good thing? Android’s got a lot of outstanding options.
These are the very best, organized with what they’ll assist you to accomplish.
The best all-around Android file supervisor for some business users
Files by Google
Google’s own Documents app has come quite a distance since its inconspicuous 2017 debut. These full days, Files is really a featured file administration tool fully, with all the fundamentals you’d expect plus some compelling extras – all loaded right into a properly designed and easy-to-use user interface.
At its core, Files helps it be painless and almost actually pleasant to flick through your phone’s local storage space and discover, share, or organize any documents you’ve downloaded or transferred onto these devices. The app enables you to look over folders or sort products by type (documents, pictures, videos, and so forth) and optionally move delicate components into an encrypted and password-protected Safe Folder.
It comes with an effective search program, too – since you’d expect, being truly a Google product – also it even supplies a convenient solution to send any locally stored data files to Google Generate with a couple fast taps (though it generally does not, curiously enough, actually enable you to search and connect to your Drive storage or even connect at most to any non-Search engines cloud services).
Files can open up compressed archives, as well, though it isn’t in a position to create new ZIPs. If those types of advanced file administration functions are usually what you’re after – or if you prefer a better quality all-in-one control middle for handling both nearby and remote storage space – the app within the next section could be more suitable for you.
Files does, nevertheless, have a remarkably handy program for freeing up storage space on your mobile phone: The app continuously analyzes your storage space and will be offering up intelligent ideas for superfluous files it is possible to safely delete – things such as duplicates, temporary data files, and large items unusually. It functions seamlessly with Google Pictures and will prompt one to remove nearby copies of any pictures or videos which are already supported to the cloud. It’ll even search for apps you haven’t opened up in weeks and recommend uninstalling them to very clear some room.
And if you should send files to any Android Chromebook or cell phone in your physical area, Files includes a simple program for wirelessly transmitting information between devices – though and then other devices where in fact the Data files app is actively installed. (If you want to move between an Android telephone and a non-Chrome-OS personal computer or transfer between products that aren’t in exactly the same physical area, jump right down to the “Wi-fi transfer” section of the story for tips about both of these fronts.)
JR Raphael/IDGAll in every, Files by Search engines is a well-curved and intuitive file supervisor that handles all of the file management duties most business customers will require on a phone. It is a substantial update from the default document managers which come preinstalled of all Android devices, and when you do not have any special specifications or advanced needs, it’s probably the application for you.
Files by Search engines is free.
The best innovative Android file supervisor
Solid Explorer File Manager
For anyone who requires a bit more mobile file administration oomph, Strong Explorer may be the real strategy to use.
Solid Explorer has yet file manipulation essentials as Google’s Documents app but adds within advanced options just like the ability to create brand new ZIP archives and also password-protected ZIP collections. It is also able to incorporate with a wide selection of internet-based storage providers – including Google Drive alongside Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, as well as your own personal servers – and assist as a streamlined user interface for managing all your things and transferring information between different locations easily.
JR Raphael/IDGSolid Explorer includes a smart two-panel interface for fuss-free of charge dragging and dropping between places, too – be they two local folders or a combination of cloud-based and local folders from any connected service. All you have to accomplish is flip your mobile phone for that setup to seem sideways.
From variable-dependent batch renaming to folder bookmarking and also support for casting articles to a TV or even other Chromecast built-in screen, Solid Explorer is merely jam-loaded with useful stuff – yet it manages to stay reasonably easy and simple to use. (In addition, it works exceptionally well on a Chromebook, as soon as you’ve bought it for the phone, you can set it up onto any Chrome OS gadget without needing to pay once again.) The app’s sophisticated elements will not be necessary for a lot of people, if a on-the-go work requires this kind of next-level file management features, Solid Explorer may be the path to pursue.
Solid Explorer costs $3 following a free 14-day trial.
The best applications for wirelessly transferring documents
Files by Google, Microsoft Your Phone Companion, or Google Drive
Ever find yourself having to beam a screenshot from your own phone to your personal computer? Or fire off a PDF from your own laptop to your cell phone maybe? It’s a location that’s gotten annoyingly difficult lately, but you’ve kept the right (and free) choices. You merely have to find out which set up is best suited for you:
If you’re functioning only with Android mobile phones or a mix of Android and Chrome OS products – and when the delivering and receiving devices come in the same physical place – these Files by Google app may be the simplest strategy to use. Just search for the app’s “Reveal” choice, either in the primary menu in the bottom of the display screen or in the three-line menus icon in the upper-left part, and follow the methods to establish a primary device-to-device connection.
For Android-to-Android document sharing, specifically, Google can be amid rolling out a fresh system-level Nearby Share feature that works similarly but with no need for the Data files app to also be installed. As of this moment, though, it’s available just on a restricted number of phones, also it doesn’t yet assistance Chromebooks or any types of gadgets. But it’s something to help keep a watch on and notice if/when it may be useful for you.
For transfers between a Samsung Android telephone and a Windows 10 computer, Microsoft’s Your Phone Companion app is really as good since it gets. The plan, alongside its desktop-based equivalent, enables you to drag and drop data files within either direction – but that capability, frustratingly, happens to be available only on select Samsung phones (exasperated sigh). It is a great choice, if you may use it.
Otherwise, the catch-almost all solution for almost every other manner of Google android to non-Chrome-OS device exchange is simply Search engines Drive. It’s consistent, dependable, and protected, and it’s really tightly integrated with all of those other Google (and therefore also Android) ecosystem.
For transfers in the middle of your own pc and phone, just install the correct Drive Backup and Sync program for the desktop operating-system. That enables you to sync chosen folders from Generate to the computer’s local hard disk drive. Then all you need to do may be the files from your mobile phone into that folder upload, using the Google android Drive app, and they’re going to appear and be obtainable in the exact same folder using the pc inside a matter of seconds.
For revealing with a tool owned by another person – say, litigant or perhaps a colleague – tap the file’s title in the Generate app on your own phone and tap the “Link expressing” line in the menus that arises. That’ll activate Drive’s hyperlink sharing feature and instantly copy a web link to the document on your system clipboard. After that you can send that connect to anyone, and they’ll have the ability to look at and download the document without needing to register or install anything.
You might see other standalone wireless sharing services in the Google Play Store, but as of this true point, do not require strikes me to be reliable, professional, and trustworthy sufficient – and actively developed – to warrant recommending.
The best application for immediately syncing folders
Autosync for Google Drive, Autosync for Dropbox, or Autosync for OneDrive
Got specific folders you need to keep synced in the middle of your cell phone and the cloud totally, without the ongoing hard work? Autosync is strictly the app you will need. Autosync – designed for Google Drive separately, Dropbox, and OneDrive – enables you to set any folder or group of folders on your telephone with complementing folders in your cloud storage space account.
It works similar to the history syncing apps those cloud storage space services give desktop computers: As soon as you create a folder set, any new documents you conserve to the folder on your own phone will automatically become uploaded to the cloud – and any files which are put into the associated folders online will automatically end up being downloaded to your mobile phone. (You can even opt to setup one-method syncing pairs in either path, if you’d rather, and you will even create wildcard-based filter systems to restrict syncing to only specific forms of files.)
The Autosync apps are usually absolve to use for an individual folder pairing sufficient reason for files which are 10MB or smaller sized. In order to remove those limitations (and remove ads within the app’s construction utility), you can decide on a $5 Pro improve, which unlocks all advanced functions, or a $10 Best upgrade, which provides in the capability to sync with several accounts in your selected cloud service.
in April 2018 & most recently updated in September 2020 This article was originally published.