How to Copy Pictures and Videos to a Portable SSD on Samsung Android Devices.
Learn how to transfer photos and videos from your Samsung phone to a portable SSD to back up your files or free up space.
If you take a lot of pictures and videos, your phone storage can fill up quickly. Copying your media to a portable SSD is a great way to back up everything and create extra space. You can do this directly from your Samsung phone using a USB-C cable.
This guide uses a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra running Android 14 with OneUI 6.1. The steps work for most modern Samsung Galaxy phones with a USB-C port.
What You Will Need
· A Samsung phone with a USB-C port
· A portable SSD (like the Samsung T7 Shield)
· A USB-C to USB-C cable (usually comes with the SSD)
· At least 50% battery charge on your phone (large transfers can take time and battery)
A Warning About Data Safety
Before you start, know this. When you move files from your phone to an SSD, things can go wrong. Drives can disconnect. File systems can have errors. Files can get lost.
The safe way to do this:
· Copy files to the SSD first (do not move them yet)
· Then copy those same files to a computer
· Check that everything opened correctly on the computer
· Only then delete the files from your phone
If you can, use two SSDs. Keep a copy on both drives. That way if one drive fails, you still have your photos and videos.
How to Connect Your SSD to Your Samsung Phone
Here is how to connect:
· Plug the USB-C to USB-C cable into your SSD
· Plug the other end into your Samsung phone
· Look for a notification saying “”USB storage added”” or something similar
Your phone powers the SSD. This works fine for portable SSDs, but keep an eye on your battery level during the transfer.
How to Copy Files Using the Files by Google App
The Files by Google app works well for this task. You can also use Samsung’s My Files app. The steps are very similar.
Here is how to copy pictures and videos:
· Open the Files by Google app
· Tap on Internal storage
· Navigate to DCIM (this is where your camera photos and videos are stored)
· Inside DCIM, you will see folders like Camera and Screenshots
· Long press on the folder you want to copy
· Tap the three dots menu in the top right corner
· Tap Copy to
· Select your SSD from the list (it might show up as T7 Shield or USB storage)
· Navigate to where you want to put the files on the SSD
· Tap Copy here
The files will start copying. This may take a while depending on how many photos and videos you have.
How to Organize Your Files on the SSD
It helps to create a folder on the SSD with today’s date. This makes it easier to find your backups later.
Here is how to create a new folder on the SSD:
· In Files by Google, tap on your SSD
· Tap the three dots menu in the top right
· Tap Create new folder
· Name it something like 20260126_S23_Backup (using YYYYMMDD format keeps dates in order)
· Tap Create
Then copy your files into that folder instead of just dumping them on the root of the drive.
How to Safely Disconnect Your SSD
This is very important. Portable SSDs often use the exFAT file system. This system does not handle sudden disconnections well. You can lose data if you just unplug the cable.
Here is how to safely disconnect:
· Swipe down from the top of your screen twice to open the full Quick Settings menu
· Look for the notification that says USB storage added
· Tap on it or tap Unmount or Eject
· Wait for the notification to say it is safe to remove the cable
· Check that the light on your SSD has stopped blinking
· Now unplug the cable
If you unplug while the drive is still writing data, those files may become corrupted or disappear entirely.
One More Backup Tip
After you copy everything to your SSD, take that SSD and plug it into a computer. Open a few random photos and play a couple of videos. Make sure everything copied correctly. Once you are sure the files are good, then you can delete them from your phone to free up space.
Never keep important photos and videos in only one place. A phone can break. An SSD can fail. Cloud storage plus an external SSD plus your computer is a good combination.
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