You can transfer files from your smartphone to your PC in different ways. One of these methods is the USB cable. If you cannot transfer files from your smartphone to your PC due to the “Data supplied is of wrong type” error, the solutions provided in this article will help you. Some users also encountered this error message while opening a file (stored on their smartphones) on their PC by connecting their smartphones via the USB cable.
Data supplied is of wrong type error while transferring files from Phone to PC
Use the following solutions to fix the “Error Copying File or Folder, Data supplied is of wrong type” error while transferring files from a smartphone to a PC. Before proceeding, check for Windows Update manually. If an update is available, install it. We also suggest you avoid multiple clicks to open the same file after connecting your smartphone to your PC. Instead of doing this, disconnect your smartphone, wait for a few seconds, and then connect it again.
- Restart your smartphone and computer
- Check your cable or connect your smartphone to another USB port
- Change the USB file transfer settings
- Are you using a USB Hub?
- Check your drivers in the Device Manager
- Have you installed a file recovery app on your smartphone?
- Use another method to transfer files
Let’s see all these fixes in detail.
1] Restart your smartphone and computer
This is the first thing that you should do. Sometimes, problems occur due to a minor bug. Such minor issues can be fixed by restarting the device. Restart your smartphone and PC and then see if you can transfer files or not.
2] Check your cable or connect your smartphone to another USB port
The problem may also be associated with your USB cable. Connect your smartphone to your computer via another USB cable (if available). We also suggest you connect your smartphone to another USB port on your system. This method has worked for some users.
If this works, there may be some issue with that particular USB port. You can confirm this by connecting another USB device to that USB port.
3] Change the USB file transfer settings
If you want to transfer only images, you can change the USB file transfer settings. By default, the Transferring file option is enabled. Change it to Transferring images and see if it works. The following instructions will help you:
- Pull down notifications on your smartphone.
- Tap the “Charging this device via USB” or “USB for file transfer” notification.
- The USB settings page will open. Select the Transferring images option.
4] Are you using a USB Hub?
Are you using a USB hub? Windows 11/10 also provides us the facility to transfer files from our smartphone to an external USB storage device, like a Hard Disk or a pen drive. You have to connect both devices to your system and then transfer your files.
If you have connected your smartphone and the USB storage device via USB Hub, disconnect both of them and connect them directly to the USB ports of your system.
5] Check your drivers in the Device Manager
If the issue still persists, the problem might be associated with your device drivers. Open the Device Manager and see if your device driver is showing you a warning sign. Go through the following instructions:
- Open the Device Manager.
- Expand the Portable Devices and Universal Serial Bus controllers branches and see if your smartphone driver is showing a warning sign or not.
- If you see a warning sign, uninstall your smartphone driver and restart your computer.
In addition to this, we also suggest you uninstall the USB Root Hub driver and then restart your computer.
6] Have you installed a file recovery app on your smartphone?
File Recovery apps let you recover your deleted files. Google Play Store has a lot of such apps. If you have installed such an app on your smartphone, it might be interfering with the file transfer process due to which the “Data supplied is of wrong type” error is triggered on your system. Some users found the File Recovery app causing this issue.
To check this, you can uninstall the File Recovery app from your smartphone and then see if the issue persists.
7] Use another method to transfer files
There are multiple ways to transfer files from your smartphone to your computer without using a USB cable. If you are transferring fewer files, you can transfer them via Bluetooth. If you are transferring large files, you can try another method.
Related reads:
- Error Copying File or Folder, The requested resource is in use
- Error Copying File or Folder, Catastrophic failure
- Error copying file or folder, The requested value cannot be determined
Why can’t I transfer files from Android to PC?
There can be multiple reasons why you cannot transfer files from Android to PC. The most common cause is a faulty USB cable. Sometimes, USB connections break and reconnect automatically during the file transfer. This happens mostly with faulty USB cables. Sometimes, the USB ports become unresponsive. In such a case, disconnect your Android device, wait for a few seconds, and then reconnect it. Or, connect your Android device to another USB port.
How do I fix unexpected error in copying a file?
You may see the “An unexpected error is keeping you from copying the file” error message while copying files to the OneDrive directory. To fix this issue, unlink your Microsoft account from OneDrive and link it again.
I hope this helps.
Read next: Unspecified error when copying a file or folder in Windows.
