How To Organize Your Android Media Using Windows Media Player

Probably the most typical complaints I hear about Android is that it lacks a desktop interface like iTunes. But actually, Android devices can sync effortlessly to Windows Media Player in much the same way how the iPhone and iPad sync to iTunes, so any Windows consumer can transmit music between their PC and their Android phone or Android tablet. Here is how.

Different from iPhone and iPad, Android devices are designed to become completely self-sufficient. Since they don't depend on desktop synchronization at all, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Droid doesn't sync with Windows. Needless to say, Android devices can sync to Windows quite as every other media player can. You just need to set up the device properly first, and then you can drag files around in Windows Media Player and automatically sync media libraries between your phone/tablet plus your PC.
First Contact

The initial time you connect your Android phone to your PC, you'll probably see a small autorun dialog box asking you to install your phone's drivers or perhaps a small helper app that's preloaded to the phone. This procedure will vary fairly based on the phone maker. On my Motorola Droid X, for example, I get a prompt to install a Motorola Helper app. Run the installer, because it'll load all the required drivers Windows in order to sync along with your device.

Be cautious  of any prompts that try to force you into downloading and installing other software from your wireless carrier, such as Verizon's V Cast Media Manager. Being a common rule, these apps are annoying Primarily they present as a means for wireless carriers to squeeze extra income from their customers, and they are not required to sync your phone to your PC, so just shut any browser tabs that pop open with invitations to download this junk.

As soon as you've finished the installation, you must see a control panel window for your device, like the one below.

If you do not notice it, open the Windows Control Panel, find 'Devices and Printers', and look for a listing for your device. As an example, on my system I see an icon that appears exactly like my phone, also tagged as DROIDX.

Inside the device control panel on your phone, you'll see a number of options for handling the contents: 'Manage media in your device', 'Import pictures and videos', 'Browse files', and 'Change general settings'. With other devices you may see additional options, but those are the core choices.

Windows will immediately choose the default apps for managing music and photos, but you can change them if you want to by clicking Change program below each option. For this tutorial, accept the defaults of Windows Media Player and Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Transfer Video and Photo

To transfer videos and pictures you've taken with your phone's camera, double-click Import pictures and videos. Windows will automatically look for your phone's camera roll. You may add tags if you wish, and then click OK to start the import. You could check the box to delete the files from your camera, or leave it unchecked to keep them, just as with every digital camera. After all of them are imported, an Explorer window will display to provide you with what you've transferred.

Sync Videos, Files and Music

Twice-click Manage media in your device to get started syncing media files.

If you already have music on your phone that may not within your Windows music library, you'll want to begin with by transferring those stuff from your phone to Windows. To do this, select your device from the list in the left panel choose Music, and then highlight and drag the entire files into the box marked 'Drag items here'. Click Start sync to transfer them.

After you've moved your music files through the phone to the PC, set up the sync relationship by right-clicking the drop-down menu under the Sync tab on the right side of the window and clicking Set up sync. This command will open a new window, where you may be prompted to select how Windows Media Player should cope with the data already on your device. To avoid Media Player from wiping anything off your phone's data card, select the choice to leave the information in your device. On the following screen, you'll be asked to name your device; it should already have a name, but you can change it should you prefer. Click Finish to start the sync, which will mirror the media collection on your phone to match your library (as much as your phone's storage capacity will allow).

That's all. From now on, if you connect your android phone to your PC, Windows Media Player will search for changes between the library in your phone and its own existing collection, and update as needed.