How to Transfer Files from Macbook to OnePlus 5

I am writing this on the same day I received my brand new OnePlus 5. If you are reading this, chances are when you plugged in your OnePlus 5 using the USB cable to your laptop — be it a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro — nothing happened. Well, it does charge the phone but you probably expected to see a file folder appear on your desktop just like it does when you insert a USB drive. Turns out, that doesn’t happen.

Firstly, you need to change a setting on your phone to make it so that you can enable file transfer when you plug in your device via USB. If you do not get a prompt the first time you plug in your device via the USB cable, then follow the instructions as outlined in this video to find Developer Options under the System settings.

Once you have done that, you will now see an icon appear that looks like a compact disc (CD). It will have some numbers underneath it. When you double click the disc icon, you will see a few files in a folder like the one below. But you will not be able to copy files into it.

Instead, double click on the AndroidFileTransfer(OSX).dmg and install the Android File Transfer software into your Applications folder (by dragging and dropping it). Once installed, open Android File Transfer and you should see the below screen…

… and the folder containing all the sub folders on your OnePlus 5 should appear in a window behind it.

Now you can copy files into the respective folders!

The process also works on Windows laptops if the device does not show up as a USB device when plugged in.

This is how I copied over my mp3 collection into the Music folder of the OnePlus 5 and some of the photos I had taken on my previous phone.

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