Features

Everything MediaShoot does, what each part is for and how to use it. MediaShoot copies your phone's photos straight to your own PC over your Wi-Fi.

Get it from the Microsoft Store

Free Windows app from the Microsoft Store. You also need the MediaShoot Android app on your phone.

On this page

Pair with a QR code
Automatic upload
Offline queue
Free up space: delete policies
Folders and Sync past photos
Pause sync for now
Battery tip card
Reconnect when your PC's address changes
Remote access (optional)
The app window and Settings on the PC
Privacy model
Status
Coming soon
Videos (planned)

Pair with a QR code

The PC app shows a QR code and your phone scans it once. There is no address or code to type, and the PC's network address is not shown in either app.

How to use it

On the PC, right-click the MediaShoot tray icon and choose Pair new phone. The window also opens by itself the first time you start MediaShoot.
In the Android app tap Scan QR to pair and scan the code.

Tip: The code is single use and valid for 5 minutes. If it expires, open the pairing window again for a new one. Each paired phone gets its own access token, and your phone remembers your PC's certificate when it scans the code.

Automatic upload

Photos you take after pairing are sent to your PC without you doing anything, whenever your PC is reachable on the same Wi-Fi. They are saved in a normal Windows folder, by default Pictures\PhotosUploader, organised by year and month, with their original names and dates.

How to use it

Pair once, then leave the app alone. The main screen shows the current state and how many photos are waiting.

Tip: The PC checks every file's size and checksum when it arrives, and a photo that already exists on the PC is not uploaded twice.

Offline queue

If your PC is off, asleep, or you are away from home, new photos wait in a queue on your phone and upload on their own when the PC is reachable again.

How to use it

Nothing to do. The status text says when your PC is not reachable and how many photos are waiting.

Tip: MediaShoot must be running on the PC (it lives in the system tray). Turn on Start with Windows in Settings so you never forget.

Free up space: delete policies

After a photo is safely on your PC, MediaShoot can offer to remove it from your phone. You choose the policy: Never (the default), Immediately, or After N hours (the list offers 24 hours, or enter your own number of hours).

How to use it

In the Android app tap Delete from phone and pick a policy.
When photos are due, a notification and a card on the main screen say how many uploaded photos can be deleted. Open the review, untick anything you want to keep, and confirm with Android's own prompt.

Tip: A photo is offered for deletion only after your PC has confirmed it has an identical copy (verified deletion). Android asks you to confirm each batch. Photos you untick are kept and never offered again. Deleting needs Android 11 or later.

Folders and Sync past photos

Folders lets you decide, for each phone folder (for example Camera, Screenshots or WhatsApp), how it is backed up: Auto (backed up as soon as photos appear; the default for every folder), Manual (only synced when you run Sync past photos) or Never (not backed up at all). Sync past photos uploads photos you already had.

How to use it

Tap Folders on the main screen and set each folder.
Tap Sync past photos, choose a quick range (last 30 days, last 6 months, last year or everything) or a custom date range, and check how many photos match.
Optional checkboxes: Exclude synced items and Do not delete (keeps those photos out of the delete offer).

Tip: Photos added to a folder while it was not Auto do not sync by themselves if you switch it back to Auto; use Sync past photos for those. Only photos that Android shows in your Gallery can be backed up: if a WhatsApp photo is missing from your Gallery, check WhatsApp's Media visibility setting. After your first pairing the app also offers to sync past photos once.

Pause sync for now

A temporary pause. While paused nothing is uploaded and nothing is offered for deletion, but new photos are still noticed and wait in the queue, so nothing is lost.

How to use it

Tap Pause sync for now on the main screen and choose For 1 hour, Until tomorrow morning (7:00 local time) or Until I resume.
Tap Resume, or let the timer end, and the queue uploads.

Tip: The pause survives closing the app and restarting the phone, and pairing again clears it. Sync past photos is refused while paused, so tap Resume first. This is different from Stop, which also halts scanning for new photos.

Battery tip card

Some phones stop background apps to save battery, which can delay backups. When that looks likely, a card on the main screen, "Keep backups reliable", gives you a shortcut to the right Android settings.

How to use it

Tap Open settings on the card and allow MediaShoot to run in the background (choose Unrestricted). Tap Not now to dismiss it.

Tip: The card appears only when you are paired and the app is still battery-restricted, after a few days or when photos are waiting. Xiaomi, Huawei, OnePlus and Samsung have extra settings of their own; see Troubleshooting.

Reconnect when your PC's address changes

Routers sometimes give your PC a new address. The PC announces itself on your Wi-Fi by name (mDNS). When the saved addresses stop working, your phone looks for it, checks it is really your PC using the pinned certificate and your token, and carries on. No new pairing is needed.

How to use it

Nothing to do. Keep the phone and PC on the same Wi-Fi.

Tip: This works only if your router lets devices on the Wi-Fi see each other. If it does not reconnect, pair again with a new QR code.

Remote access (optional)

Lets your phone upload when you are away from home, through your own router. It is off by default. Photos still go straight to your PC.

How to use it

Tick the checkbox in the pairing window, or turn it on or off in Settings on the PC.

Tip: Without it, photos taken away from home wait in the queue until you are back on your home Wi-Fi.

The app window and Settings on the PC

Left-click the MediaShoot tray icon, or choose Open MediaShoot in the tray menu, to open the app window. It shows the status, your paired phones and pairing, Settings and About. The tray menu is still there (right-click the icon).

How to use it

Photos folder: change where photos are saved. New photos go to the new folder right away; photos already saved are not moved.
Start with Windows: start MediaShoot when you sign in. In the Microsoft Store version this is a link to Windows Settings, Startup apps.
Remote access: the optional setting above.
Phones: remove a phone and it can no longer upload. You can pair it again at any time.

Tip: Remove a phone in Phones if you lose or sell it. The tray menu also has Open photos folder, Pair new phone and Settings.

Privacy model

Your photos go directly from your phone to your own PC. There is no cloud and we do not run servers that receive, store or see your photos.

How to use it

Uploads use HTTPS with a certificate your phone pins when you scan the QR code, and each phone has its own access token that you can revoke.

Tip: Read the full privacy policy.

Status

MediaShoot is available on Google Play and the Microsoft Store. The Mac app is an unsigned build and the iPhone app is an early sideload; features are still being added. Please report problems to support@mediashoot.net.

Tip: See what changed in each version in the release notes.

Coming soon

These are planned for a coming version. They may still change before release.

Upload conditions: upload on Wi-Fi only, while charging only, and set quiet hours. Photos wait and upload when the conditions are met.
Kept photos: see the photos you chose to keep and undo that choice.
Diagnostics: a screen with recent sync events to help when something goes wrong. It stays on your phone.
Power plan: choose Instant, Balanced or Scheduled only, and how often to check.
Camera photos only: photos taken with the camera back up automatically. Other folders, such as WhatsApp, screenshots and downloads, are Manual unless you set them to Auto.
Similar copies: look-alike photos from the same burst are held before syncing. The best one syncs and you choose what happens to the copies.
Photos settings: back up, upload conditions and delete from phone in one place.
My settings on every computer: your phone chooses the folder layout and restore for its own photos on each computer it syncs to. Needs the computer's Phone settings option.
Deleted on the phone: the PC gallery can show which backed-up photos you deleted from the phone.
Device and album: each photo tells your PC which phone and album it came from, for the PC's folder layouts.
On this PC: settings stored on the PC, such as the duplicate finder and an extra copy.
Several PCs: back up to more than one PC at once.
Restore: copy photos from your PC to a new phone.

Videos (planned)

Videos are planned.

Get started

Get it from the Microsoft Store

Step-by-step setup is in Help.