Phone → PC · Step by step

How to transfer 4K and HDR video from a phone to a PC or laptop without losing quality

4K and HDR clips from a phone to a PC or laptop are the files that “sharing” quietly downgrades: a converted or recompressed copy is not the clip you shot. Here is a path that never touches the pixels.

Why this usually goes wrong

The path depends on the phone in your hand: an iPhone has no AirDrop for Windows and its cable import may convert HEIC and HEVC; on Android, Quick Share needs a PC with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on, Phone Link’s drag and drop works only on some brands (and File Explorer only on Windows 11), and users report the cable (MTP) skipping files in big folders. Both end up in WhatsApp, which recompresses everything sent as media.

Modern phones record HDR (Dolby Vision or HDR10+), 10-bit and 4K at 60 fps; iPhones add ProRes and Log. Share pipelines built for compatibility may convert these on the fly — Apple documents HEVC becoming H.264 when the receiving device does not support it, and messaging apps recompress video sent as media — and the file that arrives is smaller than the one that left. A minute of ProRes 4K is around 6 GB; most paths refuse it outright.

If the copy is smaller than the original, something re-encoded it. A transfer that keeps the size and passes a hash check kept the pixels.

How to do it with ZiggSend

  1. Install ZiggSend on the PC or laptop from ziggsend.com/windows. It sits in the tray next to the clock.
  2. Install ZiggSend for Android from Google Play (free).
  3. Install ZiggSend for iPhone from the App Store (free).
  4. On the phone, open ZiggSend and tap Connect to a computer. Tap your PC under Devices nearby (same Wi-Fi), check that the safety code matches on both screens and click Allow on the PC. If the PC does not show up, tap Scan the QR code and point it at the code the PC shows under Connect a phone or computer. On Windows the transfer runs over Wi-Fi.
  5. Choose what to send. Files land in a folder on the PC exactly as they were on the phone, each one verified byte for byte.

It works in both directions: the same pairing sends from the computer back to the phone.

Measured, not promised. 22 GB in 184 files with 0 failures from an Android to a Mac over a USB 2 cable (about 28 MB/s); an 806 MB video over home Wi-Fi in 46 s; up to 49.7 MB/s over Wi-Fi from a Mac to an iPhone. Every file is checked against the original on arrival. How we measure.

Other ways, and what each one costs you

MethodOriginal qualitySize limitThe catch
WhatsApp to yourselfNo — recompressed as media2 GB as a documentGoes through their servers; originals only as “document”
USB cable (MTP on Android, Photos import on iPhone)UsuallyNoneUsers report skipped files in big folders (Android); may convert HEIC/HEVC unless “Keep Originals” is on (iPhone)
BluetoothYesNoneA fraction of a megabyte per second: about an hour for one video; iPhone cannot send files to Windows this way
Google Drive / iCloudYes15 GB / 5 GB freeUpload, then download; slow on home upload speeds

What people ask before they trust a transfer app

“I don’t trust my private photos to a site I don’t know.”

Neither do we. ZiggSend has no site in the middle: the file goes from one device to the other over your home Wi-Fi (or, from Android to a Mac, a cable), and no file is stored anywhere else. The computer app only contacts ZiggSend to check for updates, to register a random install ID when it opens and, if you go Pro, to activate the license and check its status once a day; the privacy policy lists exactly what goes out.

“Mine fails at 64% every time.”

A transfer that breaks resumes where it stopped. Every file is written as a temporary part and only gets its final name after the SHA-256 check passes — you never end up with a half file that looks whole.

“I’m out of space and need to empty the phone.”

Move everything to the computer first: only files that pass the SHA-256 check get their final name, and History shows each fingerprint (today’s on Free, all of them on Pro). Then delete on the phone. Originals, no size limit.

Free forever with 1 phone. Pro when you need it.

The phone apps are free. So is the computer app, with one paired phone. Pro — several phones, full history, automatic folders, up to 3 computers — is $39 a year, or $19 once for the first 1,000 founders.

Get ZiggSend for Windows

Questions people actually ask

Does it matter if my phone is Android or iPhone?

Hardly at all. The computer app is the same, the phone app exists for both, and on Windows both go over your Wi-Fi. On iPhone, keep the app open and the screen on until a big transfer finishes (an iOS rule).

Does it work on a laptop with only Wi-Fi?

Yes. The laptop and the phone need to be on the same Wi-Fi network; no cable, no internet, no account.

Does HDR stay HDR?

Yes. ZiggSend moves the container and streams exactly as recorded — Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 10-bit, ProRes, Log. Nothing is tone-mapped because nothing is decoded.

How long does a 6 GB ProRes clip take?

Over home Wi-Fi, at the 17.5 to 49.7 MB/s we measured, about 2 to 6 minutes. From Android to a Mac over a USB 2 charging cable, at the ~28 MB/s we measured, about 4 minutes. Either way in one piece and verified.

Related guides

Photos from a phone to a PC or laptop in original qualityVideos from a phone to a PC or laptop without compressionLarge files from a phone to a PC or laptop, no size limitTransfer documents and PDFs from a phone to a PC or laptop

Compared with

ZiggSend vs WhatsAppZiggSend vs Phone Link