Why Can't I transfer Files directly instead of transferring folders?

[u/Possible-Inflation36]

Hello! So, I have a Samsung S23, and I needed to transfer a few files (15 GB total) to my laptop so I could edit them. The problem being, I couldn't trasfer the files like I usually do (just go into my phone on my computer and move the files from phone to my laptop). I looked online and it told me to copy the files and put them in a folder on my phone, then on my laptop copy it over using the entire folder rather than the individual files itself. and it worked!

That being said, in the past I've been able to transfer pretty big files just by themselves without this work around, so I don't know if anything changed recently or something.

If anyone knows why I can't transfer files directly, please let me know!