Managing Files on Android: Everything You Need to Know

Dealing with files on your Android phone or tablet can be intimidating, especially since there are several file transfer standards and dozens of different apps for file management. Do you find yourself overwhelmed by all the different Android file management options? Or are you just not sure where to get started?

Don’t worry. Today we’ll go over everything you need to know about file management on Android, including the best apps for managing files and how to transfer files seamlessly to other devices.

Utilize the Built-In Android File Manager

Android got a native file manager in Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It’s pretty barebones, but it gets the job done for basic file management.

Here’s how to access it on your stock Android device running 6.0 Marshmallow or higher.

Open Settings > Storage & memory. Here, you should see what files are hogging up space on your device. You should see a visual breakdown of your device’s storage into various categories like Apps, Images, Video, Audio, Cached data, etc.

To access the traditional Android file manager, scroll down and tap Explore. Switch to the Storagetab. You should see various partitions such as internal storage, external storage (if your phone supports SD card or USB OTG), and Google Drive.

You can tap on a particular item to cut, copy, delete, share or perform other file manipulation operations.

If your phone is running Android 8.0 Oreo, the location of the file manager is different. Open the Downloads app from the app drawer. Tap the three-dot overflow menu button and select Show internal storage. Here, you can manage your files and perform file manipulation operations such as cut, copy, delete, share, etc.

Note that if your device is not running stock Android, the built-in file manager might look pretty different. Some manufacturers, like Samsung, include their own file managers with their modified version of Android.

Use Third-Party File Managers for Extra Functionality

While the native Android file manager works great for basic file operations, it lacks advanced features. If you’re looking to do more with your files, a third-party file manager is what you need.

Here are some of our favorite third-party file managers for Android.

Solid Explorer

Solid Explorer is a powerful file manager wrapped with the beautiful material design. It features a dual-pane setup, rich customization options, and supports various network protocols like FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, etc.

For the uninitiated, FTP lets you host files in one location and access them from anywhere. Perhaps the best thing about Solid Explorer is that it supports extensions, so you can extend its functionality.

Download: Solid Explorer (Pro version, 14-day free trial)

ES File Explorer

ES File Explorer has lately faced criticism for its heavy advertising nature and unnecessary bloatware. While it’s true to some extent, there’s no denying that the once-favorite file manager still comes with a powerful set of features.

It boasts of real-time search, built-in support for compression and encryption, and remote file management using FTP.

Download: ES File Explorer (Free with ads, $2.99 for Pro)

Transferring Files Between Android Phone and PC

Now that we have seen various apps for on-device file management, here’s how to simplify file transfers between your Android phone and your computer.

Transfer Files With a USB Cable

This one is fairly obvious, but it’s still pretty reliable. Simply connect your phone by plugging it via USB to your computer. Unlock your device and tap the “USB for…” notification. Select Transfer Files. A file transfer window should pop up on your computer. You can now transfer files seamlessly.

If you’re using a Mac, you need to download Android File Transfer first. Then connect your phone by plugging it into your Mac. Android File Transfer should launch automatically. Unlock your Android device. You should be able to transfer files back and forth between your Mac and your Android device.

Transfer Files Using Bluetooth

Bluetooth transfer can be pretty slow, but it’s always nice to have a quick, easy wireless option.

Start by pairing your Android device with your PC or your Mac. To transfer a file, just hit the Share button inside any file manager app and select the paired computer from the list.

USB On-the-Go

Most Android phones these days support USB On-The-Go. USB OTG lets your Android device read data from a USB connection without requiring a PC. This essentially means that you can connect a USB flash drive or a portable hard drive directly to your Android phone and transfer files easily.

To check if your device supports USB OTG, you can download this free app called USB OTG Checker. Alternatively, you can check the device specifications on the manufacturer’s website.

Transfer Files Using AirDroid

If you don’t like fumbling around with USB cables, you can transfer files remotely using AirDrop. To begin, download AirDroid on your Android device and your desktop. After you sign up for a free account, you can easily transfer files to nearby devices and other registered devices. You can transfer files remotely even when the devices aren’t connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Download: AirDroid for Android (Free) | AirDroid Desktop Client (Free)

Browse Your Files Remotely From Anywhere

Until now, we’ve seen how to manually transfer files between your computer and your Android phone. But what if you forget an important file on your work computer, and have no physical access to the computer?

Pushbullet provides an easy solution. Pushbullet’s Remote Files feature lets you access your files remotely from anywhere. To get started, download Pushbullet and sign up for a free account. Head over to Pushbullet’s support page for instructions on how to enable Remote Files.

Download: Pushbullet (Free)

Transfer Files Between Android Devices Using Files Go

Late last year, Google launched Files Go, its very own file manager app aimed at lower-end smartphones. Its primary focus is to make storage management easier, but it also comes with a nifty feature to transfer files securely without the internet.

To use it, both the Android devices should have Files Go installed.

To send a file, switch to the Files tab and tap on Send. If you’re using it for the first time, tap Allow to grant the required permissions and enable Allow modify system settings. Enter your name and tap Next. The setup is now complete.

Ask your friend to open the app and tap Receive. It creates a secure Bluetooth connection to let you share files quickly. It might take a while to transfer the file to the other device, depending on the file size.

Note that you can alternatively use AirDroid and Pushbullet to transfer files between Android devices.

Download: Files Go (Free)

Transfer Files From Android to iPhone Using ShareIT

ShareIT has been the go-to app for sharing files between Android and iOS devices for a while now. It doesn’t require an active internet connection, but it requires both devices to be connected to the same WiFi network. It utilizes a feature called WiFi Direct for blazing fast transfer speeds.

Download: ShareIT for Android (Free) | ShareIT for iOS (Free)

Automatically Sync All Your Files Across Several Devices

Do you have some important files on your Android that you want to keep up-to-date always, across all your devices?

Enter Resilio Sync.

Resilio Sync lets you sync all your files/folder across your phone, computer, and NAS. Every time you make changes to a file, it instantly syncs the changes seamlessly across all your registered devices. It also features a proprietary file transfer service that the company claims “skips the cloud and finds the shortest distance between devices.”

Download: Resilio Sync ($59.99, business plans start at $29/mo)

5 Note-Taking Web Apps to Be More Productive

These days, note-taking apps tend to add a whole lot of features. Most OneNote or Evernote users aren’t utilizing half of those features. In fact, these simpler, uncomplicated notepad apps can actually make you more productive.

A lot of productivity is about discarding unnecessary things that you think are necessary. Strip the useless bits of note-taking apps and you’re left with lean and mean productivity tools, ready to get things done. It’s something that the Notes app on macOS and the ever-popular Simplenote app do well. And that’s the philosophy that more apps have taken up.

So try out these free web-based notepads, ready to jot down what you have to say. And each adds a little something to make your life easier.

Nooot (Web): Always-Saving Web Notebook With a Unique URL

Notepads and notebooks are best when you don’t need to actually click the save button. When you type anything, they should save it automatically. Not only does Nooot do that, it also gives you a unique URL.

Here’s how it works. Go to the site and choose a unique URL to type into the box Nooot provides. If successful, that’s your notepad from now on, saved forever. And yes, it’s completely free. Any time you want to access that notepad, just go to Nooot and type it in the box again. Simple, eh? Plus, you can make as many such notepads as you want.

The only missing feature is any password protection in your Nooot. That means anyone with your Nooot URL can also visit your notepad. If you plan on saving any sensitive information, make your URL like a unique password.

Take A Note (Web): Password-Protected Quick Notepad

So let’s say you want something more than what Nooot offers, especially some password protection. Turn to Take A Note. But only if you want the password protection because otherwise, Nooot is better.

Take A Note is a large, blank notepad ready for you to write notes immediately. You can also change the URL to a custom address you remember. And there’s the ability to add a password at any time you want so that no one can tamper with your notes.

Be careful though, the password protection turns the note into read-only mode. If you want to edit it, you’ll need to remove the password, delete or add text, and then password-protect it again.

Dictation.io (Web): Quick Voice Notes and Support for Multiple Languages

Don’t you love it when a no-fuss, no-signup productive app does everything right? Meet Dictation.io, a voice notes app that works through your browser and supports multiple languages. I haven’t seen anything like it before.

Using the app is as simple as it gets. Fire it up, choose the language you are going to speak in, and click the Start button to begin talking. Dictation.io will listen to what you say and turn it into written sentences in the notepad. Apart from the Roman alphabet, it can take dictation in other scripts like Espanol, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, and more.

The notepad itself also includes some cool features. You can format the text with basic formatting tools, like bold, italics, strikethroughs, and so on. And the entire notepad can be saved to your hard drive or exported as an email or tweet. And of course, you can print it out if you want to.

RexPad (Web): Powerful Yet Fast Full-Featured Notes App

With the number of things RexPad packs in, you’d expect it to be a little slow. But this app surprises you with how fast and lightweight it is, while still offering the kind of features you see in heavy apps like OneNote or Evernote.

RexPad is text-only, but it achieves everything you want in a text-only notepad. You can write notes with full text formatting, to-do lists, bulleted lists, and anything else you can think of. The to-do lists actually have checkboxes to tick once you’re done. You can add hashtags to tag similar notes, and the powerful search feature is lightning-quick at finding what you want.

The app also includes a simple note-sharing feature to collaborate with others. Share the link with any email address, and they can see and edit the note as long as they register for Rexpad. Give it a try, the look and feel of this one might be just what you have been looking for in a notes app.

Snippetnote (Web): Notes That You Copy-Paste Often

There are somethings that you tend to write often in different places, like your full home address or a favorite emoticon like the shruggie. It’s easier to use a text expander for these, or copy-paste them from a clipboard. Snippetnote does just that.

It can seem a little strange to use a clipboard as a notepad, but try it out. The Snippetnote developers are on to something here. Start adding notes you use often to the app, and see how it retains text formatting to ensure a good copy-paste experience. In fact, Snippetnote works exceptionally well with code syntax and highlights, making it a valuable tool for coders.

It’s also nice to have an app that works across devices, where all you need to do is sign into a website to access your frequently used snippets. Given that it’s mobile-friendly, the cross-use between desktop and mobile is welcome.

Three Things Businesses Can Do to Protect Data Privacy

In today’s global digital economy, protecting data privacy is a must. With customers all over the world, every company must be able to demonstrate how they are protecting data privacy to earn the trust of their customers, users, partners and employees. It starts with these three things.

1. Be transparent and accountable. Let customers and partners know your commitment. For example, Cisco is committed to helping our customers and partners by protecting and respecting personal data, no matter where it comes from or where it flows. We have established long-standing security, data protection and privacy programs and are committed to comply with regulations, customers’ needs and our own corporate code of conduct.
2. Invest in a comprehensive data protection program.  Make sure your data protection program covers data throughout its lifecycle. It begins with security and privacy by design and includes privacy engineering methodology and privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs); managing collection, use, processing and storage; addressing operational needs such as reporting and oversight; and secure disposition or destruction at end of life.
3. Be vigilant about global regulatory requirements. Addressing personal data handling requirements across different jurisdictions around the world requires a mature data privacy practice that aligns with industry best practices, customer demands and regulatory requirements. Being a global data citizen includes awareness and structured flexibility across cultural divides.

With enforcement of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) just around the corner (May 25), Cisco has been getting ready for GDPR across its global enterprise. Additionally, to secure a safe and legal transfer of personal data across multiple jurisdictions, Cisco was an early adopter and among the first to achieve Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules system certification. We are also certified under both the European Union (EU) and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield and recently received accreditation under the EU’s Binding Corporate Rules with policies aligned to GDPR.

With an eye to these three things and a collaborative, risk-based approach to data privacy, companies can focus and respond effectively in an ever more complex and dynamic world.

Student’s Guide to Social Media Security: Managing Privacy Online

College students access open networks more often than any other online users. Unfortunately, some students are careless with managing online activities and personal information, which can make you more vulnerable to security threats, identity theft and malware attacks. Any time you log in to your social media accounts, you leave digital footprints that could be traced back to your identity. Having sensitive data, such as credit card or bank account data and passwords, fall into the wrong hands could result in major repercussions. Identity thieves can access payment information using your login credentials and make fraudulent transactions with your debit and/or credit cards. In addition, posting photos online and location check-ins or tags expose you to stalkers and cyberbullies who can use this information against you. Therefore, as a student, it is important for you to manage your privacy online. Below are some useful guidelines.

Avoid Downloading Free Media

Downloading media from direct download websites, torrents or streaming hosts opens your devices up to viruses and malware. Some of these websites contain malicious codes that can be used to steal your personal information. To prevent this from happening to you, avoid downloading illegal content from piracy websites.

Do Not Store Your Payment Information Online

Amazon and other popular online retailers give users the option of storing payment information on their sites for future use. Even though some of these sites are secure, cybercriminals can still hack and access this stored information and make unauthorized transactions. Avoid storing payment information online to improve your financial security.

Use Strong Passwords

Using your name, birth date, pet’s name or phone number as your password makes it easy for hackers to crack your account. The stronger your password is, the harder it is for hackers to crack. Make your password a sentence that’s at least 12 characters long – you can even use capital and lowercase letters, numbers, symbols, punctuation and spaces!

If you have a lot of passwords to remember, you may opt to use a password manager that helps you manage all your passwords securely. With many password managers, you only need to remember one password that will enable you to log in to any website that has your login credentials.

Avoid Oversharing Personal Information

Since it’s hard for students to resist the urge to share everything online, cybercriminals can easily access their personal information and use it against them. To prevent this, avoid oversharing and review your privacy settings so that your status updates can be viewed only by the people you trust. Also, declining friend requests from strangers, since they may not be trustworthy, is best practice.

If what you are sharing involves your friends or family, make sure that you check with them to see if they are comfortable with you doing so. This will help you to avoid sharing their sensitive information. Posting about your neighborhood or place of residence could also make your home a target for robbery.

Install The Latest Antivirus Software

Antivirus software protects devices from trojans, worms, viruses and spyware. These malicious programs are capable of invading your privacy and stealing personal data; it is important to have your devices protected by the latest antivirus software.

Unique Account, Unique Password

Create different passwords for different accounts; if a criminal has your login information for one account, he/she will try to break in to your other accounts.

Delete or Clear Tracking Cookies

Tracking cookies are pieces of code that sites attach to your devices to store information concerning what you do while online. This information is then sold to various companies across the globe without you knowing about it.

In case you have concerns regarding the manner in which the data about you is both collected and used, remove or block all the unwanted cookies regularly on your browsers.

Encryption

It is common for social media and banking login pages to use HTTPS encryption to scramble login information and help prevent identity theft. Prior to signing in to a social media platform or other website or app, ensure that you check for https at the beginning of the URL.

It is also possible for you to encrypt your whole hard drives via the use of BitLocker by Microsoft or FileVault by Apple. These two software programs are examples of some of the best current methods of protecting your documents in case you find yourself in a data theft quagmire.

Pop-Up Blocking

Almost all browsers available today have built-in settings that assist in the prevention of pop-ups. In addition to this, you may find that others can allow you to modify the pop-up restrictions in order for you not to miss out on some legitimate data online. With these features available, it is possible for you to avoid accidentally stumbling upon malicious ads.

Be Careful on Public Networks and Computers

Cybercriminals can install malware on public computers and collect personal information from unsuspecting users. Alternatively, these criminals can set up free Wi-Fi hotspot stations and use phishing to collect information. To avoid becoming a victim to such scams, steer clear of using public networks for personal and financial matters.

Conclusion

It is still possible to use social networks to share and engage, but it’s important to be cautious and ensure that you keep your personal information from getting into the wrong hands. Identify the threats to which you’re most vulnerable, and take the necessary measures to protect yourself.

How to Fix a Mac That’s Running Slow

Every device sooner or later begins to run slower and slower. Even the Mac, which is a highly-efficient Apple product, starts to slow down and becomes a real pain to use over time. If you are a heavy Mac user this is especially true and you are more likely to experience performance issues.

There are several other reasons why your Mac might be running slower:

• Limited hard drive space available
• Too many apps running
• Lots of cache and log files in use
• Not enough RAM
• Overloaded browser cache and history
• High CPU utilization
• Other causes

If you find that your Mac is starting to lag in performance, freeze up, or just acting strangely, it’s probably time to optimize it with an efficient Mac cleaning tool.

1. Mac Disk is getting full

Nothing slows down a Mac more than having too much on your hard drive. If you can increase available disc space on your Mac, you’re sure to see an increase in your Mac’s speed.

How to fix it: Clean up your Mac Disk

Unfortunately, doing this manually isn’t as easy as it sounds. Cleaning up old movie files, organizing your Desktop, and searching your Mac for old files you don’t need is the easy part. However, the hard part is cleaning up your system and figuring out all the stuff that can be safely removed for more space. The best option is to use a Mac cleaner, like Dr. Cleaner. It offers all-in-one Mac cleaning features including a disk cleaner for junk files, big files and duplicate files.

Uninstalling apps and deleting useless files from your Mac is easy, but the residual junk or cache files left behind often fill up your disk space and clutter the system. When the free space on your drive gets really low, your Mac stops operating efficiently and becomes very slow. Dr. Cleaner frees up your disk space by removing all the unnecessary and unwanted files in just one click.

2. Outdated Mac OS

Your Mac’s OS X is extremely important to how well it performs. An older OS X typically runs slower — that’s why Apple releases new OS X’s every year or so.

How to fix it: Update your OS X.

Having the latest version of OS X is a good practice (the latest version right now is macOS High Sierra 10.13). Don’t think of it as adding more junk to your already-slow Mac — think of it as new software that makes your Mac run more smoothly. So, head over to the Mac App Store download and install the latest version. You’ll probably see a nice performance boost.

3. Startup is slowing you down

When you start your Mac, a lot of things get loaded in the background. Not only do they slow down your Mac on startup, but they continue to use up resources the whole time you’re using your Mac.

How to fix it: Manage your Startup Items.

Give your Mac a clean start and make OS X run faster. When you don’t manage your Startup Items, it’s like making your Mac run a sprint with a gigantic, book-filled backpack — it’s going to take a bit longer for it to get moving, right? Lighten the load on your Mac.

Speed up your Mac’s startup time by removing unnecessary startup apps. Go to your System Preferences > Users & Groups, then click your username. Now, select Login Items, click the name of an application you don’t need to launch during startup, then click the “-” symbol located below the list to the left. This will remove the application from the list and it will no longer be loaded on startup. This should help a lot to speed up your Mac’s long startup time.

4. Too many things running in the background

Due to increased workload, (for example, when you open multiple heavy applications simultaneously), your RAM tends to get cluttered. Your RAM should have enough space to read and write contents efficiently without any lag. When this memory gets low, your Mac system or apps may become slow or unresponsive.

How to fix it: System Monitor and Memory Free

Activity Monitor shows you which resources various processes are using on your system. Check the list of apps and processes that are running on your Mac in real-time. Quitting unnecessary apps that take up a lot of processing power could make a huge difference in speeding up your slow Mac. Be careful not to remove any critical or necessary processes!

Seems pretty complex, right? Yet there is a much simpler way to do this. With Dr. Cleaner, you can easily monitor your system status. Dr. Cleaner’s smart activity monitor lets you easily view your system’s network usage and CPU usage in real time. This allows you to optimize your Mac on your own whenever you experience performance or speed issues.

5. Overloaded Browser Cache and History

Sometimes, even simple tasks seem to run slowly and you suddenly think ‘Why have I spent my precious dollars on this dumb device’! Well, your anxiety is genuine but you can do something about it. There can be a number of reasons why your Mac is behaving this way and low hard drive space due to an overloaded system and browser cache may be one of them.

How to fix it: Clear Cache on Your Mac.

You can either clear your browser cache manually or you can use Dr. Cleaner’s simple one-click feature to do it for you.

But it all begins with cleaning up your Mac.

Dr. Cleaner: An Easy Way to Speed up your Slow Mac!

Dr. Cleaner is the Best FREE Mac Cleaner app that offers all-in-one Mac cleaning features including; Memory Free, Disk Clean, Uninstall App, and more. It offers great solutions to get rid of all the culprits that slow down your Mac.

Dr. Cleaner also works well on MacOS High Sierra. So, if you have been looking for a safe and reliable app to make your slow Mac run faster, Dr. Cleaner is the answer!

How Dr. Cleaner Works?

Dr. Cleaner is a smart app that comes bundled with three super amazing features to make your Mac work like new again, including – Disk Clean, Memory Free and System Monitoring.

Dr. Cleaner also includes an intelligent app manager, as part of system monitoring, ensuring your Mac runs smoothly and does not slow down or freeze up while you’re using your Mac. Also, with an interactive interface, the app is very easy and simple to use. In just one click, you can clean up the disk or purge the memory of your slow Mac to speed it up and enjoy much improved performance.

Is Dr. Cleaner really worth downloading?

When you own such a high-end, expensive Mac device, why suffer from lagging issues! Your Mac should be capable of always delivering the best performance so you can complete your work on time and without any stress or hassle.

Dr. Cleaner is definitely worth downloading because it refreshes the performance and speeds up your Mac all at NO COST! Dr. Cleaner is also safe. With more than 4,000,000 downloads in 30 months, 110,000 ratings with an average score of 4.8 stars, you can be sure Dr. Cleaner is completely reliable. Its simplicity in terms of interface and usage makes Dr. Cleaner really worth trying. So, the next time you find your Mac running slow, make sure you use Dr. Cleaner.