Can You Use AirDrop on a Windows PC or Android Phone?

Share
  • August 16, 2019

Aleksey Khilko/Shutterstock.com

Apple’s AirDrop is a convenient way to send photos, files, links, and other data between devices. AirDrop only works on Macs, iPhones, and iPads, but similar solutions are available for Windows PCs and Android devices.

Windows 10: Nearby Sharing

If you’re just moving photos or files between two nearby Windows 10 PCs, you don’t need anything extra. Windows 10’s “Nearby Sharing” feature was added back in the April 2018 Update. This feature works a lot like AirDrop for Windows. With this feature enabled on two PCs near each other, you can quickly send anything—even files, by using the Share feature built into Windows 10’s File Explorer. The files are transferred over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

To set this up, visit Settings > System > Shared Experiences and enable “Nearby sharing.” You can choose who can send you content, but you’ll still have to agree every time someone wants to send you something.

Receiving a file sent with Nearby Sharing on Windows 10

RELATED: How to Use Nearby Sharing on Windows 10

Android: Files by Google (and Fast Share)

On the Android front, Google is working on a “Fast Share” feature that works like AirDrop and Nearby Sharing. Via a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, it will let you share files, photos, and even snippets of text with other people nearby.

This feature isn’t out yet—9to5Google discovered a work-in-progress version in June 2019. It may take a while.

Until this feature goes live, you might want to try the official Files by Google app. It includes an “offline sharing” feature that uses peer-to-peer file sharing to send files to someone else with the Files by Google app nearby. In other words, it works a lot like AirDrop—two people with Files by Google installed can use the app to send files back and forth using Bluetooth.

AirDrop-style file sharing for Android in Files by Google

Cross-Platform Alternatives to AirDrop

Read the remaining 12 paragraphs

Source : Can You Use AirDrop on a Windows PC or Android Phone?