We all think of Airdrop when sharing data with nearby devices, but did you know the same thing is available for Android too? Regardless of the name, Google calls it Nearby Share. Many of you have heard of Airdrop but not Nearby Share. This is because Google launched the Nearby Share feature in stages, whereas Airdrop was launched all at once in support of an event.
Despite this, numerous smartphone companies have taken the initiative to achieve the same result. You may be surprised to learn that you may not be aware of whether you are using Android phones, Windows, Linux, or another platform. But now I see that people are aware of it but do not know how to use it. On that note, we came here to address some key points.
How do I enable Nearby Sharing on Chrome for Desktop? Windows, Linux, and more.
Many of you have tried to allow the sharing feature but haven’t received any responses. This is because it varies by device, as does their navigation and settings. To address this concern, we studied how to implement nearby sharing and were able to do so successfully. However, we all know that Google has rolled out this feature, even though several devices require it. So, below are the steps for each device to enable nearby sharing.
For smartphones,
Several smartphones feature Nearby Share functionality. However, Google’s standard parameters indicate that few smartphone companies are left. So, let’s take a look at the steps below to enable nearby sharing on an Android phone or tablet.
- Open Settings on your phone.
- Scroll down and tap on Connected Devices.
- Under Connection Preferences, select Nearby Share.
- Now enable the toggle for nearby sharing.
- Next, choose your device visibility settings, such as Hidden, Contacts, or Everyone.
- That’s it; you are ready to use Nearby Share.
For Windows:
Whenever Microsoft finds a helpful resource, they adapts it almost immediately. Maybe nearby sharing is one of the things that Windows has adopted so that you get more personalization with nearby phones and other PCs. Now let’s discuss the steps to enable it.
- On your PC, navigate to the Settings menu.
- Under Settings, look for Settings.
- System Settings can be found by clicking on Settings.
- Now you will see the “Nearby Sharing” option.
- Click on it and enable the toggle for it.
- Next, choose the visibility settings as we did above for smartphones.
- That’s it, Nearby Share is enabled on your PC.
Alternatively, you can do the same thing in Google Chrome. Linux users may have difficulty getting Nearby Share to work on their devices. For them, Chrome is the only tool that helps them. Navigate to the Chrome flag website, search for “nearby share,” click it, and enable the toggle. Now, you can do it through Chrome whenever you want to share.
You have now enabled Nearby Share on all your devices. The next question is how to make use of this feature. Without use, such enabling is just a waste. As a result, we have reviewed different sharing cases and prepared a set of steps you can use on any device to share.
Note: While sending the file to your nearby device, ensure they have opened the same screen and accepted the send request.
- Choose the content you want to share.
- Then click on the “Share” option there.
- Under the “Share” menu, you will see the “Nearby” share option.
- Click on the “Nearby” option.
- Following this, a new screen appears, showing nearby devices.
- Select the device on which you want to share the file.
- As a result, in a moment, sharing will start and end.
- That’s it; you can now use Nearby Share.
Conclusively, Nearby Share is the most valuable innovation that Google came up with. However, there need to be a few improvements made. We all know, however, that Google takes care of everyone and will fix the problem soon. After reading this guide, have you learned how to enable and use Nearby Share? If you have questions, please feel free to reach out below.