Fix MTP Not Working on Windows 10 and 11 for Android Devices

MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) failures on Windows are a distinct category of problem from ADB or Fastboot driver issues. When MTP breaks, the phone appears in Device Manager but shows no files in File Explorer, returns "Device not recognized" despite the driver being installed, or stops working after a Windows Update. The root cause is almost always in the WPD (Windows Portable Devices) driver stack or a missing Windows Media Player dependency — not in any Android-specific driver. This guide diagnoses and fixes each failure mode systematically.

MTP Failure vs. ADB Driver Failure

Before diving into fixes, confirm you are dealing with an MTP problem and not an ADB driver problem. These are separate driver stacks in Windows:

• MTP failure: The phone appears in File Explorer as a portable device (camera icon or phone icon) but browsing fails, returns empty storage, or Windows reports "This device cannot start (Code 10)." ADB may or may not work independently.
• ADB driver failure: The phone does not appear in Device Manager under Android Phone or appears with a yellow warning icon. adb devices returns nothing. File transfer via the MTP interface may still work in this case.

If ADB is working fine (adb devices lists the device) but file browsing in File Explorer does not work, this is a pure MTP/WPD issue and this guide is the correct reference.

Step 1: Confirm the Phone's USB Mode

The most common cause of "MTP not working" is that the phone is not set to File Transfer mode. Android defaults to Charging Only on many devices. Pull down the notification shade on the phone and tap the USB connection notification. If it reads "Charging this device via USB" without an MTP option, tap it and select File Transfer or MTP.

Some Android skins (Samsung One UI, MIUI) remember the last-used USB mode. Others (OnePlus OxygenOS 14+) default to Charging Only every time you reconnect a cable. If MTP was working before and stopped, check whether the phone's USB mode reverted after a software update.

Step 2: Check Device Manager for WPD Driver Status

Open Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) with the phone connected in File Transfer mode. Expand Portable Devices. The phone should appear by its model name (e.g., "Pixel 9 Pro," "Galaxy S25") without a yellow warning icon.

If the phone appears with a warning icon, right-click and select Properties. Note the error code:

• Code 10 (Device cannot start): The WPD upper filter driver failed to load. See the filter driver fix below.
• Code 28 (Drivers not installed): The MTP/WPD driver is missing. Proceed to driver reinstallation.
• Code 43 (Device stopped working): Usually a transient USB communication error. Disconnect, restart the phone, and reconnect.
• Code 52 (Driver signing error): A WPD upper filter from a third-party app (e.g., an old iTunes install or media player) is not signed. Remove the offending filter driver entry from the registry.

Step 3: Reinstall the WPD Driver

Windows manages MTP through the Windows Portable Devices (WPD) driver framework. If Device Manager shows a missing or failed WPD driver, reinstall it:

1. In Device Manager, right-click the phone under Portable Devices (or under Other Devices if it misidentified).
2. Select Uninstall device. Tick the checkbox to delete the driver software if it appears, then click Uninstall.
3. Disconnect the USB cable, wait 10 seconds, then reconnect.
4. Windows automatically reinstalls the WPD driver from its built-in driver store. Wait for the device to reappear in Device Manager under Portable Devices.

If automatic reinstallation fails, right-click any entry in Device Manager and choose Scan for hardware changes to trigger detection again.

Step 4: Fix the Windows Media Player Dependency

Windows MTP implementation historically depended on Windows Media Player being installed and functional. On Windows 10 N and KN editions (sold in Europe and Korea) and on Windows 11 where Media Player was removed or disabled, MTP often fails because the Media Feature Pack is missing.

Check if Windows Media Player is present:

where wmplayer.exe

If the command returns nothing, Windows Media Player is not installed. On Windows 10/11 N editions, install the Media Feature Pack:

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Optional Features.
2. Click Add a feature and search for Media Feature Pack.
3. Install it and restart Windows.

After the restart, reconnect the phone in File Transfer mode. The WPD/MTP stack should now function correctly because the required WMDRM and media libraries are present.

Step 5: Fix WPD Upper Filter Driver Corruption

Third-party applications (iTunes, old Nokia Suite, Samsung Kies, BlackBerry Desktop) install upper filter drivers into the WPD device class. If these applications were uninstalled improperly, orphaned filter driver entries remain in the registry and prevent WPD from loading, causing Code 10 or Code 52 errors.

To inspect and clean WPD filter drivers, open Registry Editor (regedit.exe) as administrator and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{EEC5AD98-8080-425F-922A-DABF3DE3F69A}

This GUID identifies the WPD device class. Look for two values: UpperFilters and LowerFilters. These should be empty or contain only Microsoft-provided entries such as WpdUpFltr. If you see entries like GEARAspiWDM, iKernel, SamsungMTPFilter, or any entry from an application you previously uninstalled:

1. Double-click UpperFilters to open the multi-string editor.
2. Delete the lines containing the orphaned driver name(s), leaving only WpdUpFltr if it is present, or leaving the value empty.
3. Close Registry Editor and restart Windows.
4. Reconnect the phone in File Transfer mode.

MTP vs. USB Mass Storage: A Note on Mode Selection

Older Android devices (pre-Android 4.0) used USB Mass Storage (UMS) mode, which mounted internal storage as a removable disk in Windows — exactly like a USB flash drive. Modern Android uses MTP exclusively because UMS requires exclusive access to the storage filesystem, which cannot coexist with Android running on the device simultaneously. If you are working with an old device and expecting UMS behavior, you will not find it on Android 4.0 and later — MTP is the only file transfer protocol available.

The confusion sometimes arises because some Android phones offer a USB Drive or PTP mode alongside MTP. USB Drive mode (when available) exposes only the SD card as a mass storage device, not internal storage. PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) exposes only the DCIM photo folders and is used for camera import workflows.

Last Resort: Fresh Driver via INF

If all above steps fail, force a fresh WPD driver installation using the built-in INF file:

pnputil /add-driver C:\Windows\INF\wpdmtp.inf /install

Run this in an elevated Command Prompt (right-click Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator"). pnputil re-registers the WPD MTP driver from the Windows INF store. After the command completes, disconnect and reconnect the phone. This forces Windows to bind the correct, unmodified driver to the MTP interface without any remnants from previous installations.