Google, in an effort to rival Apple’s AirDrop, brought Nearby Share. This is the technology that lets you easily share files between Android phones and Chromebooks. Well, according to Google, Nearby Share is now available for Windows.
Nearby Share has come a long way since it was introduced in Android 9 Pie. At first, it was only available for phones. Also, when you send a file to another phone, you’d have to accept that file on the other device. That’s a nice security feature so that just anyone can’t send you a file. However, that made it inconvenient for people who are just trying to share files between their devices.
Over the years, Google added Nearby Share capabilities to Chromebooks. Also, if you’re logged into two devices with the same Google account, you can send files without needing to accept them on the receiving device.
Now, Nearby Share is available for Windows
We know that the company was working on making this happen for a few months. People were able to test this out by joining the early access program. Now, this feature is available to the public. You can download the .exe file here.
While this is available, it’s still in the beta stage. This means that it might not be completely stable. Just expect some jankiness while using it.
When you start up the application, you’ll be able to choose who can send files to your computer. The options are the same as the ones on your phone. You can choose to receive files from everyone, no one, your contacts, and devices that you’re signed into. Just like using it with your phone, you’ll want to sign into your Google account in order to automatically send and receive files.
After you choose the setting, then you’ll want to name your device. This is the name you’ll see when you open Nearby Share on another device. Be sure to pick a name that’s short and sweet. Longer names will be cut off in the selection screen.
After that, it’s as easy as sending and receiving files from your Windows computer.