Fix Android USB Device Not Recognized but Still Charging

Posted on November 2, 2020 - By Fucosoft | Follow YouTube, Twitter to Get More Information.
                   

Please help! My Galaxy S22 is not detected via USB when I connect it to my PC. Nothing shows in my computer, but phone remains charging. Anyone know the solution to this? How do I transfer files?

Many Android phones now are capable of connecting to a PC wirelessly. But when you take lots of photos and want to transfer those files to the computer or mistakenly delete important files and want to recover data from Android, you still have to plug your Android phone into a desktop PC via USB cable.

android usb not detected but charging

Unfortunately, things don’t always work as they should and your Android phone may not show up on PC (even though it’s charged).This connection problem can be very frustrating and happened with many Android devices.

What to do next? Read on this post to learn possible fixes for Android USB device not detected but still charging problem.

Tip 1. Restart Your Devices and Try Another Port

If you’ve been using your computer and Android phone for a long time, the device may become unresponsive and then your phone won’t detected via USB but still charges.

Before you try anything else, restarting your devices may help to solve such connection issue. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Disconnect the USB cable and restart your computer as well as your Android phone.
  2. Once the devices are fully rebooted, re-plug your Android phone to another USB port on your computer.

reboot android

If a simple restart doesn’t help to solve such problems, you can then move ahead to other solutions.

Tip 2. Try to Use a Different USB Cable

The top reason why your Android phone is not connecting to PC and only charging is the faulty or damaged USB cable. So please ensure that you use the proper cable, since not all USB cables can be used for data transfer.

Try to take a different authentic USB cable and plug Android phone directly into your PC or laptop instead of using any USB hub device. Then check if the computer can recognize the device.

Tip 3. Enable USB Debugging on Android Phone

Remember that USB debugging should be enabled on your Android phone, which allows you to directly access your device, transfer and install apps. If you haven’t done it, please follow the steps below:

  1. On your Android phone, go to Settings > About ( or About Phone) and tap on “Build Number” for seven times.
  2. Then you will be able to see the “Developer Option”. Tap on it and then enable “USB debugging”.
  3. When you see the message of “Allow USB debugging” on your phone, just tap on “OK”.

enable usb debugging on android

Click here to view the step-by-step guide on how to enable USB debugging on different versions of Android.

Tip 4. Enable Airplane/Flight Mode

Some users have reported that putting the device in Airplane or Flight more is one of the best ways to fix Android USB devices not recognized but charging problem.

Just, tap on the airplane icon to enable “Airplane Mode.” This will disable all network connections. So, when your computer detects the device, tap on the airplane icon again to disable it.

put android into airplane mode

Tip 5. Connect Android as Media Device (MTP)

Your Android phone can be connected to the computer just to charge. In such case, the computer won’t be able to recognize it. All you need to do is setting USB connection as MTP mode. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Plug your Android phone to computer via USB cable.
  2. Pull down the notification bar and choose “USB computer connection”.
  3. From the list of options, select “Media device (MTP) and connect your Android device to PC. Now it should be detected properly.

connect android as mtp

Depending on the mobile manufacturer, the MTP option may have different names like “Transfer files” or “Device File Manager”.

Tip 6. Remove Cache for External Storage

Removing any unwanted files from the external storage app may also make it easier for the computer to detect the connected Android device. Follow these simple steps to do it;

  1. Open the Android device’s Settings app.
  2. Tap on “Applications Manager” and then select “External Storage.”
  3. Then tap on “Cached Data” or “Clear Cache” to remove the caches on the external storage.
  4. Finally, tap on “Force Stop” to further refresh the storage.
  5. Once this is done, restart your Android device and then try connecting it to the computer again.

clear cached data on android

Tip 7. Connect Android as USB Mass Storage Device

Similar to connecting an external SD card or USB flash drive to your computer, some older Android devices are connected as USB Mass Storage devices. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Connect your Android phone to PC or laptop through USB cable.
  2. Slide down the notification bar and choose the option “Connected as a media device”.
  3. Tap on “USB Mass Storage Device” and your Android phone will be recognized by the computer.

Tip 8. Clean Up Other USB Devices on Computer

Sometimes the computer doesn’t recognize your phone because it “remembers” a lot of different USB devices and the number of installed drivers may be in hundreds.

You can use third-party tool like USBDeview to easily manage all USB devices and uninstall the unnecessary ones.

Tip 9. Update Your Computer or Android Version

Sometimes there may be some bugs in the software and updating your computer or Android version may indeed help to fix the issue.

Go to Settings of your computer or Android phone and check for updates. If there are any updates, install them.

update android

Tip 10. Update MTP USB Device Driver

If the above tips doesn’t help to solve the Android device connection issue for you, then you may have a driver problem. In this case, you can try to update your MTP USB device drivers:

  1. Press Windows Key + X on your computer and choose “Device Manager” from the list.
  2. Right-click on your connected Android device and choose “Update Driver Software”.
  3. Click on “Browse my computer for driver software > Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”.
  4. Choose “MTP USB Device” from the list and hit “Next”, Windows will update the device driver and your Android device should be recognized.

update driver software

Tip 11. Re-Install Android USB Driver

Your Android device is not recognized by the computer because the USB driver is not installed properly or outdated. Hence, you can choose to re-install the proper USB driver for your Android device on the computer. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Connect your Android phone to PC and open “Device Manager” by pressing Windows + X button.
  2. Locate your Android device under “Portable Devices” and right-click on it, then choose “Uninstall” option.
  3. Wait for the Windows to uninstall the driver. Then disconnect and re-connect your Android phone.
  4. Your Windows will re-install the Android drivers and your Android device should be detected.

uninstall driver

Tip 12. Enable The ODIN Mode

If your Android device is still not recognized by your computer, you can also try to enable the ODIN mode. Here’s how to do this;

  1. Turn off your Android device.
  2. With the device powered off, press and hold the Volume Down, Power, and Home keys at the same time.
  3. Then press the Volume Up key.
  4. Connect the Android device to the computer and then allow the device to complete the “Downloading.”
  5. Remove the battery from the device, reinsert it and then start the device.
  6. Once it restarts, connect it to the computer to see if the issue has been resolved.

Tip 13. Try Using Another Computer

It is also possible that your Android device is not connected because there is something wrong with the computer you are using.

To rule this possibility out, we suggest that you try connecting the device to another computer. If the second computer can detect the Android device, then there may be something wrong with your PC and you may need to check the system.

Extra Tip. Try Android Repair Tool to Fix Android Errors

If the Android device is not detected by any computer and all the solutions above don’t work, you may need to consider that there is a problem with the Android system.

One of the best ways to eliminate system errors on your Android device is to use a repair tool like iMyFone Fixppo for Android. The following are just some of the ways that Fixppo can be useful;

  • It uses the most advanced technology to ensure a high success rate in the repair of the Android system.
  • It is also one of the fastest solutions, allowing you to repair the Android system in a matter of minutes.
  • It has a very simple user interface, allowing you to repair your Android device even if you don’t have any technical knowledge of how the Android system works.
  • It is useful for the repair of all types of Android system issues including a device that won’t turn on/off, a device that is frozen, won’t update or that keeps restarting.

imyfone fixppo for android

Write In the End

I hope that this troubleshooting guide can help you fix Android USB not detected but charging problem. If your phone is still not connecting to PC, then feel free to contact us by email. Also let us know if you’ve found a fix that we haven’t mentioned here in the comments.

In case that you deleted or lost important files on your Android phone and want to retrieve them back, we suggest you use Fucosoft Android Data Recovery. This tool can help you recover deleted photos and WhatsApp messages from Android without root.