Probably everyone sometimes wanted to share photos from the phone in real-time on a large screen, so as not to transfer a bunch of files for two hours. Some TVs allow you to do this via Bluetooth, but what if the TV isn’t around, but only a PC or laptop? In this case, the Bluetooth method will not work and you need to think of something else. Fortunately, there is an alternative. And, although it may seem a bit complicated, still, if you carefully follow step by step, everything will be quite fast.
How to turn your Android device to Developer mode
This step is very important because, without it, the following steps will not be available. You should prepare your phone in a special mode in order to perform the following operation. This way you will understand what to expect and what the plan will be.
Enable Android’s Developer mode
Here is how you can turn your Android to Developer Mode:
- Open Settings on your Android device
- Scroll to the bottom and tap About phone
- Tap on Build number five times in a row. You might have to confirm this action by entering your preferred security method. That can be a PIN, pattern, or fingerprint scan
- You will see the notification that you have successfully enabled the Developer Mode on your device
Enable USB Debugging
To make a USB debugging use these instructions:
- Open Settings on your Android device
- Tap on System & updates
- Scroll all the way to the bottom and select Developer options
- Scroll down to the Debugging section and toggle USB debugging or Wireless debugging (if you plat to do Wi-Fi Connection, there is no big difference) on
- Android will now ask if you’re sure you want to allow USB debugging. Confirm by tapping OK
Once you’re has done with the steps above, your smartphone is ready to set up the mirroring feature for your computer.
Since Android is versatile enough for different functions, there are still some moments when something can go wrong. If you have Windows 10, even though there are many apps that can help you mirror the Android screen on your PC or laptop, some Android devices may not be compatible with this operating system.
What is Scrcpy and how it can help to mirror Android to a Windows PC
If you want to find the easiest way to mirror the screen on your PC or laptop, Scrcpy is the easiest way to do it. You will not find this app on the Play Store, but it is available on GitHub. The latter is a kind of big platform and forum for developers. Don’t forget to allow the app to be downloaded from sources other than the Play Store.
It will take some time to install this app. Be prepared for this and read the instructions below carefully:
- Open your browser on computer, then go to the scrcpy page
- Scroll down to the Get the app tab
- In the Windows tab, choose the link for the .zip archive. It should look like: scrcpy-win64-v1.21.zip. The last few numbers may differ due to the regular updates of the app
- Click the link to download the .zip file
- Once the file downloads, it is time to extract it. Open the folder where you have downloaded the scrcpy .zip file
- Right-click the file, then choose Extract files…
- The “Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders” window appears. Click on Browse to choose the destination for the extracted files. After you have choosen the location, it’s up to you whether to tick the Show extracted files when complete checkbox. Click on OK to extract the files
- Next, you can go to the location where the extracted files appear
- Double-click the adb.exe file to install Android ADB Tools. You will unfortunately not see any notification when the installation is complete, so it usually takes Windows about a second or two to complete this action
- Once your Android device ready for mirroring and you have installed scrcpy to your PC, it is time to connect the two. Connect your Android device and computer using a USB cable, or for Wi-Fi setup, skip to Step 15
- Double-click the csrcpy.exe file from the scrcpy folder to start it
- Depending on your security settings, Windows might notify you that you’re about to run an unrecognized app. To continue, first click More info, and then choose Run anyway
- If your mobile device asks you whether you should allow USB debugging, tap Allow. To prevent this pop-up from appearing in the future, you can also tap Always allow from this computer
- That’s it! The scrcpy window appears, showing the screen of your Android device using USB. For a Wi-Fi connection, read on
- For Wi-Fi connections, ensure that your Android device has Developer Mode activated and USB debugging on (see instructions at the beginning of this article.). Wireless Debugging (not USB) also needs to be turned on
- Connect Android and your PC or laptop to the same Wi-Fi network.
- On PC, open the scrcpy unzipped folder and launch adb.exe
- Connect your Android device to your PC via USB so you can enter commands
- On Android, obtain your IP Address by going to Settings – About Phone or “… – About Phone – Status and look for the IP address section, or just type the following in the command line:
adb shell ip route | awk '{print $9}' - On PC, enable adb over TCP/IP by typing the following in the command line:
adb tcpip 5555 - Disconnect the USB from the device and the PC
- On the PC, connect wirelessly to your device by typing the code below into the command line:
adb connect DEVICE_IP_HERE:5555(replaceDEVICE_IPwith yours) - Launch scrcpy.exe from the unzipped folder on your PC, and voila, there is moment when you can mirror Android phone to your computer
How to mirror an Android device to a Mac
Scrcpy is also available on the Mac and the only difference in installation is that unlike Windows computers, where you download a .zip file and unpack it, the Mac does it differently. To use Scrcpy, you will have to install the Homebrew app first.
- Open Finder on your Mac
- Click Applications from the menu to the left. If this option isn’t visible, just press Command + A on your keyboard
- From the Applications list, open Utilities
- After that, start the Terminal app
- Next, highlight the entire command line below and copy/paste it into the Terminal, then press Enter to execute it
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)" - Give 10 to 15 minutes for Homebrew to install
- After the installation is complete, it’s time to install Android ADB tools. To do so, type in or copy/paste the following command below into the Terminal, then press Enter to execute
brew cask install android-platform-tools - Finally, it is time to install the “scrcpy” app. Copy the code below and paste it into the Terminal, then press Enter
brew install scrcpy - Give it some time to install
- In order to set a connection between Android and Mac OS, connect your Android device using a USB cable
- The USB Debugging notification will pop-up on Android’s screen. Tap on Allow to continue. However, it is recommended to tap Always allow from this computer to prevent the notification from appearing every time you connect
- Via the Mac Terminal, type scrcpy to launch the app
And that is how you can mirror an Android phone to a PC or laptop.
