All the Android phones I have had access to (ranging from Android 5.x to 8.x) all connected just fine through USB and appeared as drives in Windows explorer where I could copy stuff from and to the phone without any special software on the phone or Windows.
The folder structure in an Android phone takes a bit of getting used to, but isn't difficult. Those were phones from brands Huawei, Samsung, Kyocera and a vague Chinese brand name that I forgot.
So you do not need o get/install software on your phone or computer. I am sure that there are pieces of software that make it a bit easier, but you can easily do without. On a side note, I did activate developer mode (an Android feature) on each of the phones.
Any gathers a lot of garbage quickly when taking photos and doing a bit of WhatsApp. These folders are easy to find and their content is quickly transferred to your computer, where that data can be included in your backup routine. You could store those photos online and access these when you want to show them through your phone to someone.
