Uploading pictures and video from cell phone to laptop or computer can be fast and simple. We don't have to leave our cell phones loaded with tons of extra pictures that we really want to put in an album or share.
Not only does the excess data gunk up our phones, we could end up losing the pictures if the camera phone gets lost, stolen or damaged. With a little extra know-how, getting your pictures off your phone and in a safe place to share them with friends and family is easy.
Email Pictures from Phone to Computer
For a few pictures, this is a simple option. If there are a lot of photos (or "snaps" as some call them) this will be time consuming. Emailing can also be costly unless the cell phone data plan has unlimited data transfer for texting and pictures.
Be sure to check if unsure, because sending pictures and videos this way can be expensive. Most cell phone plans have an option to add unlimited texting or pictures for a small monthly fee, so if this is a convenient way to capture and send or save pictures, the plans are definitely a good idea. Also, many mobile companies are offering video and picture storage for customers right on the company's websites at no charge.
- Each phone is a little different but when viewing the photo on your phone, there should be an option button. One of the options should be "send."
- After clicking "send," the phone should bring up the dialpad where you can change from numbers to abc and simply type in the email address where the pictures are to be sent.
- After verifying that the pictures are received on a computer, the pictures can be deleted from the phone to free up space.
Connect Your Phone to Computer or Printer with a Cable
Many new phones come with or are designed to be used with a USB data cable which allows us to transfer pictures and video from your phone to your computer.
Software is required to recognize the cell phone and handle the transfer with a USB data cable. Most cell phone companies have their product information and manuals online. It's easy to check the phone’s specific capabilities to verify if the phone is able to use this feature on the mobile provider website.
Bluetooth Sends Pictures Easily From Phones to Computers and Printers
Bluetooth does not use cables. With Bluetooth technology, photos and videos can be transferred straight from your Bluetooth enabled phone to a computer, Bluetooth printer, or transfer pictures to a friend's phone or laptop without ever picking up a cord.
- Both the phone and the computer have to have Bluetooth capability. Bluetooth will come as part of our phone, it can't be added later. Many new phones come with Bluetooth automatically
- A simple check with the cell phone company will tell us whether or not our phone has Bluetooth if unsure.
- Adding Bluetooth to the computer is easy. A Bluetooth adaptor simply needs to be plugged into a USB port on our computer and then "paired" with our Bluetooth phone.
New technology can be intimidating but once understood in simple terms, the ability to do things quicker and easier outweighs the time spent learning how to do it. Once we know how to send pictures from our cell phone to computer quickly and easily, we can use our camera phones a lot more effectively.
Elizabeth Richards - Elizabeth Richards has published almost 200 articles for Suite101 since 2007 as a Contributing and Feature Writer.
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