Transfer Files Between Galaxy Tab and USB Drive, SD Card or Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 tablets stand out with their iPad-like thin profiles. It is also noteworthy that they only have one port: a 30-pin connector. By default, users cannot insert a USB flash drive or SD card to transfer files on the go. Samsung offers a solution to this problem. Galaxy Tab USB and SD Connection Kit.

These dongles make it pretty easy to transfer files between Tab and a drive or memory card if you can figure out where that is. A notification pops up in the tray, but tapping it does nothing.

If you encounter this, don’t worry. The Galaxy Tab isn’t very good at clearing out next steps, so I’m here to help.

Transfer Files Between Galaxy Tab and USB Drive / SD Card

Plug the USB drive or SD card into the adapter, then plug it into the Galaxy Tab’s port. When the tab recognizes the drive or card, an indicator will pop up in the Notification Tray.

Android tablets can read USB flash drives or external SSD drives, but not traditional (spinning) hard drives. If you tried to plug in your external HDD and Android didn’t recognize it, that’s why.

Open the app drawer and find the app.

If the app opens in the Root folder, scroll through the folder list on the left side of the screen until you find the folder. Tap to expand, then tap to expand the folder inside it, then expand the folder inside it.

The folder is not a new folder on the drive, but where the files on your USB or SD card live.

The application can open in the correct folder when launched. If you’re already in My Files when you plug in the adapter, the correct folder will open automatically.

To copy or move files or folders to the Tab, select them by tapping the box to the left of the file name. This will bring up the editing options in the upper right corner.

The two page icons are for Copy, scissors is for Cut, and the trash is for Delete. You’ll find Rename & Details in the far right drop-down menu.

Tap the Copy or Cut icon once you’re done selecting. The icons in the upper right corner will turn into a clipboard icon. This is the Paste command.

Navigate to the folder in the Galaxy Tab (under Root) where you want to copy or move the file/folder. Tap on it to open it, then tap the Paste icon. Your file is now in the new folder.

A quirk of many Android file apps is that unlike a computer, it forgets what the clipboard is holding if you do another command before pasting. Example: if you select another file or create a folder. If this happens, go back to the Repositories folder and start over. For this reason, I usually Copy instead of Cut, then delete any files I don’t need on the drive later.

Reverse the above steps to copy or move files from Tab to USB Drive or SD card.

When you’re done, click the USB icon in the Notification area. It will now say “Click here to uninstall the driver”. Tap this and the folders will disappear from the My Files manager. You can now remove the drive from Tab’s port.

You can connect a camera to the Tab without having to remove the SD card as long as the camera has a USB connection. Simply plug the USB cable into the USB Adapter dongle. The tab will recognize it as a drive and you can quickly copy images to a folder on the whiteboard.