Editing Media Transfer Protocol (section)

==== Support by software ====
Windows does not assign [[drive letter assignment|drive letters]] or [[Universal Naming Convention|UNC]] pathnames to devices connected via MTP; instead, they only appear as named devices in MTP-aware applications such as [[Windows Explorer]]. Compared to devices that implement USB mass storage, such devices cannot be accessed programmatically by scripts or normal Windows programs that depend on drive letters or UNC paths. Instead, files must be manipulated using Windows Explorer or applications with specially written MTP support.

Under Windows, MTP-compatible devices support a feature called Auto Sync, which lets users configure Windows Media Player to automatically transfer all copied or newly acquired content to devices whenever they are connected - provided that content is compatible with Windows Media Player. Auto Sync is customizable so that the player will transfer only content that meets certain criteria (songs rated four stars or higher, for instance). Changes made to file properties (such as a user rating and file playback counts) on a device can be propagated back to the computer when the device is reconnected.

Copies of files accessed over MTP may remain on the host computer even after reboot,{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}} where they will be accessible to the user account which accessed them, as well as any other user accounts able to read that user account's files, including any administrative users. Windows 7's sensor platform supports sensors built into MTP-compatible devices.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wpdblog/2009/12/17/sensors-and-windows/|title=Sensors and Windows|website=Windows Portable Devices Team Blog|date=December 17, 2009|access-date=October 18, 2019|archive-date=October 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018185134/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/wpdblog/2009/12/17/sensors-and-windows/|url-status=live}}</ref>

For Linux, the <code>mtp-tools</code> package contains tools to interact with MTP devices through a [[command-line interface]].<ref>[https://manpages.debian.org/buster/mtp-tools/ Manpages of mtp-tools in Debian buster — Debian Manpages]</ref> Some graphical file managers like [[Nemo (file manager)|Nemo]] can also browse and change files on MTP devices.