WEBVTT

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Moving data from one gadget on your home network to another seems like it should be pretty simple to do.

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But think about it, you've probably had to use a flash drive,

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fiddle with a messy cord if you're connecting a phone, or set up a Windows local network,

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which can be tricky for a novice to configure. Well, there's actually a cool feature

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in recent versions of Windows called nearby sharing,

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which is supposed to be closer to a solution that just works without having

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to go through a bunch of extra steps. There are requirements you'll have to meet

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for nearby sharing to work, but they aren't onerous. You'll need to either be on Windows 11

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or Windows 10 version 18.03 or later, so if you're still rocking Windows 10,

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which is statistically most of you, you might need to run a Windows update cycle first.

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You'll also need Bluetooth 4.0 or later with low energy support.

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If you aren't sure if your system supports low energy, you can go to Device Manager,

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find your Bluetooth adapter, and find this listing under Details.

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If it says true, you're ready to go. Of course, Bluetooth isn't as fast as Wi-Fi

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for data transfer, so nearby sharing will still use Wi-Fi

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if the devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. But keep in mind,

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you still have to have Bluetooth for wireless device discovery to work.

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Additionally, the Wi-Fi network needs to be set to private in Windows settings,

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but an upcoming Windows update will remove this requirement. Now, as far as using nearby sharing

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over a wired Ethernet connection goes, Microsoft tells us this should work

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as long as the PCs are on the same network. But once you've confirmed

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that your PCs support nearby sharing, how do you actually use it?

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On Windows 11, you'll see an option for nearby sharing as soon as you open up the Settings app.

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Once you open it up, select either My Devices Only

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if you wanna share with a PC logged into the same Microsoft account,

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or Everyone Nearby to share with any Windows PC

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that nearby sharing can detect, and make sure you do the same on the receiving computer.

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In Windows 10, just open up Action Center where you can enable nearby sharing on both PCs.

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To actually share something, just right-click on the file you want, hit Share,

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then just select the PC you wanna send the file to. A notification will pop up on the receiving PC,

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which will allow you to accept the incoming file. That's it.

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You can also share web links from Microsoft Edge by clicking the Settings and More menu,

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going to More Tools, and clicking Share, then Windows Sharing Options.

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And for photos, you can share those directly from the Windows Photos app by clicking on Share.

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But what if you're trying to use nearby sharing to connect a Windows PC and an Android device?

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Well, the built-in nearby sharing feature in Windows

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only works with other Windows PCs. There is an entirely different app

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called Nearby Share for Windows that isn't made by Microsoft.

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Yes, it's confusing, which you can find on the official Android website.

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Microsoft is working on their own solution for this, but don't expect it before May 2024 at the earliest.

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The requirements for Google's Nearby Share are similar to those of the Windows Nearby Share Ring.

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You'll need a 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC using an x86 processor, not an ARM one.

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And after running the app, just choose whether you want sharing enabled for everyone,

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your contacts, or just your own devices, and you're ready to go.

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All modern Android devices with Bluetooth support Nearby Share.

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Just open your list of files, tap the three dots next to the file you want,

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hit Share, and then Nearby.

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Remember, sharing is caring. Just make sure your friends are on board

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before you plop something unsolicited under their devices.

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Thanks for watching. Like, dislike, check out our other videos, comment with video suggestions.

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