Moving data from one gadget on your home network to another seems like it should be pretty simple to do.
But think about it, you've probably had to use a flash drive,
fiddle with a messy cord if you're connecting a phone, or set up a Windows local network,
which can be tricky for a novice to configure. Well, there's actually a cool feature
in recent versions of Windows called nearby sharing,
which is supposed to be closer to a solution that just works without having
to go through a bunch of extra steps. There are requirements you'll have to meet
for nearby sharing to work, but they aren't onerous. You'll need to either be on Windows 11
or Windows 10 version 18.03 or later, so if you're still rocking Windows 10,
which is statistically most of you, you might need to run a Windows update cycle first.
You'll also need Bluetooth 4.0 or later with low energy support.
If you aren't sure if your system supports low energy, you can go to Device Manager,
find your Bluetooth adapter, and find this listing under Details.
If it says true, you're ready to go. Of course, Bluetooth isn't as fast as Wi-Fi
for data transfer, so nearby sharing will still use Wi-Fi
if the devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. But keep in mind,
you still have to have Bluetooth for wireless device discovery to work.
Additionally, the Wi-Fi network needs to be set to private in Windows settings,
but an upcoming Windows update will remove this requirement. Now, as far as using nearby sharing
over a wired Ethernet connection goes, Microsoft tells us this should work
as long as the PCs are on the same network. But once you've confirmed
that your PCs support nearby sharing, how do you actually use it?
On Windows 11, you'll see an option for nearby sharing as soon as you open up the Settings app.
Once you open it up, select either My Devices Only
if you wanna share with a PC logged into the same Microsoft account,
or Everyone Nearby to share with any Windows PC
that nearby sharing can detect, and make sure you do the same on the receiving computer.
In Windows 10, just open up Action Center where you can enable nearby sharing on both PCs.
To actually share something, just right-click on the file you want, hit Share,
then just select the PC you wanna send the file to. A notification will pop up on the receiving PC,
which will allow you to accept the incoming file. That's it.
You can also share web links from Microsoft Edge by clicking the Settings and More menu,
going to More Tools, and clicking Share, then Windows Sharing Options.
And for photos, you can share those directly from the Windows Photos app by clicking on Share.
But what if you're trying to use nearby sharing to connect a Windows PC and an Android device?
Well, the built-in nearby sharing feature in Windows
only works with other Windows PCs. There is an entirely different app
called Nearby Share for Windows that isn't made by Microsoft.
Yes, it's confusing, which you can find on the official Android website.
Microsoft is working on their own solution for this, but don't expect it before May 2024 at the earliest.
The requirements for Google's Nearby Share are similar to those of the Windows Nearby Share Ring.
You'll need a 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC using an x86 processor, not an ARM one.
And after running the app, just choose whether you want sharing enabled for everyone,
your contacts, or just your own devices, and you're ready to go.
All modern Android devices with Bluetooth support Nearby Share.
Just open your list of files, tap the three dots next to the file you want,
hit Share, and then Nearby.
Remember, sharing is caring. Just make sure your friends are on board
before you plop something unsolicited under their devices.
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