Media Transfer Protocol
communications protocol allowing files to be transferred to or from USB-attached devices such as cameras and smartphones
The Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) is an extension to the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) communications protocol that allows media files to be transferred automatically to and from portable devices. Whereas PTP was designed for downloading photographs from digital cameras, Media Transfer Protocol allows the transfer of music files on digital audio players and media files on portable media players, as well as personal information on personal digital assistants. In 2011, MTP became the standard method to transfer files to and from Android.
The USB Implementers Forum device working group standardized MTP as a full-fledged Universal Serial Bus (USB) device class in May 2008. Since then, MTP is an official extension to PTP and shares the same class code.
Overview
MTP is a high level file transfer protocol, as opposed to a general storage protocol like USB mass storage. That means that the MTP client (computer) does not see an array of byte blocks that makes up a data structure that makes up a file system, but instead speaks in terms of files and folders to the MTP device. This lets the MTP device take part in the high level operations (such as updating its metadata indexes) while keeping the integrity of its file system in its own hands. In particular, dropped transfers (such as by unplugging the USB cable too soon) do not corrupt the device file system. The non-generality of MTP has consequences for how a computer operating system can present the MTP device, both to other programs and to the user.
The public source identifies “Media Transfer Protocol” as communications protocol allowing files to be transferred to or from USB-attached devices such as cameras and smartphones. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Media, Transfer and Protocol.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1154459. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2011 and 2008.
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This entry incorporates text from “Media Transfer Protocol” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.