Google Pixel 8’s new setup process is easy, but doesn’t always let you use a cable

With the new Pixel 8 series, Google is adding a Fast Pair-integrated setup process that’s super quick and super easy, but there is one downside: it doesn’t let you use a cable, at least not easily.

The new process is, really, just wildly simple. On first boot, users are greeted with the option to transfer data from a Pixel, an Android device, or an iPhone (or just skip copying entirely). If you select an Android device, you’ll scan a QR code with the other device, often with a Fast Pair prompt appearing to help speed the process along even further.

Once copying has started, your Pixel will automatically copy over Wi-Fi information, verify your PIN, and let you pick what data moves over as per usual. But this time around, it really is just faster and much simpler than it was in years past. For example, the setup will now let you adopt the PIN from your old device on the new one.

However, there is one really big downside.

In this new process, Google doesn’t readily offer up the option to copy data over with a cable. The previous process would let you choose between Wi-Fi-based or cable-based data transfer, with the latter generally being a bit faster. But now, that option isn’t appearing, at least not for a lot of folks. When I set up my Pixel 8 Pro early on in October, I was offered the option to use a USB-C cable. The Pixel 8 I set up for my wife this week, though, offered no such option through the setup process.

The lack of a cable-based transfer seems to be the going trend, as users have largely found that their new Pixel 8 devices weren’t offering cable transfer either.

On a support page, Google reveals that the USB transfer option is actually hidden (and buried quite deeply).

To initiate a wired transfer, you have to tap five times on the image on the “copy apps & data” screen. The image in question was highlighted by a user on Reddit, and it really isn’t obvious at all. Google clearly wants folks using the wireless option going forward, which does make sense – it’s pretty darn seamless at this point.

If you want to transfer data with a USB cable instead of Wi-Fi, tap 5 times on the image on the “Copy apps & data” screen. You can do this even if you have not yet paired your phones.

So, why did my Pixel 8 Pro offer a USB-C transfer option?

When I set up the phone, I was doing so on a mobile hotspot that was coming from the Pixel Fold that I was transferring over from. My wife’s Pixel 8, meanwhile, was on our home network, as I’d bet most other users’ phones also are. And, as Android’s Paul Dunlop confirmed on Twitter/X, cable setup appears automatically when network conditions aren’t ideal for wireless setup.

Presumably, this same setup process will also make its way to future Pixel phones but is currently only on the Pixel 8 series. Samsung also uses Fast Pair to help speed up setup on the Galaxy S23 series, Fold 5, and Flip 5.

More on Pixel 8:

• Google Pixel 8 Pro Initial Review: It’s all coming together
• You missed your shot: Google Store & Best Buy trade-in values toward Pixel 8 plummet
• At a Glance rolling out ‘At a store’ for Google Pay cards, unified settings on Pixel 8

Updated to clarify when cable setup appears automatically.