The electrostatics of charged particles are utilized for various applications. This paper presents an analysis of the electric field and electrostatic adhesive force on a charged dielectric particle lying on a conducting plane under an externally applied electric field. The purpose of the analysis is to quantitatively investigate the force variation when there is charge transfer between the particle and the conducting plane. We treat the distribution of charges as either uniform on the particle or partially on the lower half. The transferred charge density is assumed to be dependent on the applied electric field. The results show that the electric field is very strong near the contact point, where the charge transfer may occur. Without the charge transfer, the electrostatic adhesive force on a negatively charged particle increases when the applied field is in the upward direction from the plane. However, in the presence of charge transfer, the force may vary only slightly with the applied field or even show a reverse tendency if the transfer charge density depends significantly on the applied field. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.