Send and receive with a network drive (SMB or WebDAV)

With PRO, Photo Transfer App can send photos and videos from your phone to a network drive — a NAS, a shared folder on a Windows PC or Mac, or a WebDAV server such as Nextcloud — and download them back to your phone. Files go directly between your phone and your server.

Before you begin

Photo Transfer App 10.5 or later on iPhone or iPad, or 10.4 or later on Android.
PRO. Network drives are a PRO feature, like cloud backup.
Your server's address (a name or IP address), and a username and password. Some SMB servers also allow guest access.
For a server on your home network, your phone must be on the same network. On Android 17 and later, allow local network access when asked (see Permissions the app requests and why).

Connect your drive

Open Photo Transfer App and tap Send or Receive, then Network drive.
Choose SMB for Windows, Mac and NAS shared folders, or WebDAV for Nextcloud, NAS and web servers.
Enter your server settings (below) and tap Connect.

Photo Transfer remembers one SMB connection and one WebDAV connection, so next time you go straight to your folders.

SMB settings

Server — the server's name or IP address, for example 192.168.1.20 or nas.local. Don't add smb://.
Port — usually 445.
Shared folder (optional) — leave it empty to choose from the server's shared folders.
Domain (optional) — only if your network uses one.
Username and password, or Guest access if your server allows it. Guest connections may be unsigned and unencrypted.
Require SMB3 encryption — turn this on to connect only with encryption.

Photo Transfer supports SMB 2 and SMB 3. SMB 1 isn't supported.

WebDAV settings

Server, Port and Folder (optional) — or paste your server's full WebDAV URL to fill them in.
Use SSL (HTTPS) — keep it on unless your server only offers plain HTTP.
Username and password.

If your server uses a self-signed certificate, Photo Transfer shows its SHA-256 fingerprint and asks whether to trust it. Compare the fingerprint with the one your server shows before you tap Trust certificate. If the certificate changes later, you'll be asked again.

Send photos to your drive

Tap Send → Network drive.
Select the photos and videos you want and choose the destination folder. You can create a new folder here.
Upload. Existing files are never overwritten: if a file with the same name is already there, the new copy gets a number, such as IMG_1234 (1).jpg.

You can also send to your drive from the Share menu in Photos, your gallery app, or any app that shares photos.

Download photos from your drive

Tap Receive → Network drive.
Browse your folders, select the photos and videos you want, and download them. They're saved to your Photos library on iPhone or iPad, or to your gallery on Android.

Good to know

Live Photos sent from an iPhone are uploaded as the still photo. Android Motion Photos keep their motion, because the video is stored inside the photo file.
Your server login is stored securely on your phone (in the iOS Keychain, or in encrypted storage on Android) and is sent only to your server.
Plain HTTP WebDAV and guest SMB connections aren't encrypted. For a server outside your home network, use HTTPS or SMB3 encryption.

If it won't connect

Check the server name or IP address, the port, and that the SMB or WebDAV service is turned on in your NAS or computer settings.
Make sure your phone is on the same network as the server (unless the server is reachable from the internet).
On Android 17 and later, check that local network access is allowed.
"Authentication failed" means the username or password was rejected, or the account can't open that folder.