Nexus 5 can't connect to Win8 PC via USB. [Solved]

[David (PassMark)]

Fixed this problem today and thought I'll document it here in case it happens again, or someone else has the same problem.

The problem was that a Google Nexus 5 (made by LG) wouldn't connect to a Windows 8.1 machine. The phone would appear in device manager, and the the Win8 list of devices as a Nexus 5, but it was impossible to do anything with the phone. No file or image transfer was possible as the phone wasn't visible in Windows explorer.

STEP 1a) For Android V5: First check MTP is turned on in the Android settings window (In settings, under storage, click the 3 dots). This was already checked for me, so wasn't the problem. Note that the location of the MTP setting changed in V6 of Android.



STEP 1b) For Android V6: Google changed the process in V6 (Marshmallow). When the USB cable is connected this message appears in the notification area. It will say something like "USB for charging".


Then after, touching for more options, you will see this window.

Select the MTP option, if not already selected.

STEP 2) Have a look in Windows device manager. If phone appears in device manager as something another than a Nexus 5, then you have the wrong device driver loaded. In my case the phone appeared as a Acer ADB interface. Which is pretty strange considering this is a LG phone.


STEP 3) Right click on the driver and select "update" but pick "search your local drive". There should be another compatible driver already available. If you check for updates online, it will just (incorrectly) tell you that you are using the best driver.


STEP 4) Pick the 'MTP USB Driver" to replace the Acer ADB driver.




STEP 5) After this device manager should list the phone as a Nexus 5. You should then be able to transfer files & photos from the phone.

[nalbuquerque]

Funny Windows ... Removing the driver simply worked ...

Just removed the driver, unplugged the phone and reconnected ... worked!
Thanks for the tip - I haven't figred out before that the ACER driver was for the Nexus 5 (would've, anyway?...).

[robkil]

Very useful thanks. My Nexus worked fine for months, but after a Windows update stopped working, and I struggled to solve it. Your instructions worked perfectly.

[Ruchit]

Thanks

It was vey useful and solved a long standing problem . Thank u so much for sharing.

[orffull]

This is so simple, and you made it so easy to follow. Thank you. I couldn't believe how many challenging "solutions" I found online...most of which didn't appear to work. You are a GOD.

[miniGweek]

Thank you

Fixed this problem today and thought I'll document it here in case it happens again, or someone else has the same problem......

Thank you David! This is a life saver. I was confused why my friends Nexus 5 was not being recognized in my Lenovo lap.

I just signedup here to thank you and tell you that your advice was spot on.

[uplink]

Greetings,

First off, thank You for this thread, it's really helpful!

Secondly, but not least, I wanted to tell people that they are lazy porks, that they don't at least have the courtesy to thank You, because Your thread is on the first places in Google, and thus, it must have helped hundreds, if not thousands of people.

Though, I found the problem. First is captcha. I'm not a native english speaker, and figuring out what You wanted from me took me a few seconds. Second, it's the activation. It takes a few minutes, about 10-15.

In order for people to thank You, there should be some thank You function, or kudos, thumbs up, even for unregistered users, just with some minor captcha, otherwise You're losing credit,

Anyway, thank You once more!

best regards

uplink

[Olde Irish]

I followed your directions, and got my Nexus 5 recognized. What are the steps I need to perform to actually transfer photos?

[David (PassMark)]

You can transfer photos just via drag and drop from Windows Explorer.

[emptyNexus5]

It should be noted that after performing these steps, if you open the Nexus 5 folder on your computer and it is unexpectedly empty, you may need to unlock your phone. On my phone at least, you couldn't view the contents of its internal storage from Windows until you had unlocked the phone once after it was plugged in.

[nexus 5]

Thanks for the info...

Fixed this problem today and thought I'll document it here in case it happens again, or someone else has the same problem.

The problem was that a Google Nexus 5 (made by LG) wouldn't connect to a Windows 8.1 machine. The phone would appear in device manager, and the the Win8 list of devices as a Nexus 5, but it was impossible to do anything with the phone. No file or image transfer was possible as the phone wasn't visible in Windows explorer.

1) First check MTP is turned on in the Android settings window (In settings, under storage, click the 3 dots). This was already checked for me, so wasn't the problem.




2) Have a look in Windows device manager. If phone appears in device manager as something another than a Nexus 5, then you have the wrong device driver loaded. In my case the phone appeared as a Acer ADB interface. Which is pretty strange considering this is a LG phone.


3) Right click on the driver and select "update" but pick "search your local drive". There should be another compatible driver already available. If you check for updates online, it will just (incorrectly) tell you that you are using the best driver.


4) Pick the 'MTP USB Driver" to replace the Acer ADB driver.




5) After this device manager should list the phone as a Nexus 5. You should then be able to transfer files & photos from the phone.

I recently updated to Windows 10 and when I right click on ACER DEVICE it says scan for hardware changes and properties. I don't get the option to search for local drive. Please help.

[lasershark]

I recently updated to Windows 10 and when I right click on ACER DEVICE it says scan for hardware changes and properties. I don't get the option to search for local drive. Please help.

You are not following the instructions properly. If you see "Scan for hardware changes/Properties" you are clicking on the top category. You need to click on the specific driver entry which is one level down.