How to Turn ON Nearby Share to send files?

Transferring files between Android devices is going to be very easy, You no more need apps like ShareIt or Xander to transfer files between android devices. Google announced Nearby Share which is just like airdrop on iOS. In this post, I’ll walk you through, How to Turn ON Nearby Share on your Android Mobile. Day by day Android mobiles are getting stronger with better applications for Video Editing, AR, Google Lens and many, Now Google came up with Nearby Share comes, which comes with your Google Play services, that helps you to share files like Videos, Images, Documents, and more without the use of any third-party application. And now Nearby Search is called Airdrop for Android. Below are the steps to find Nearby share on your Android Device.

How to Find Nearby Share on Android

1. Google just announced Nearby Share Beta, You should have an Android 6+ device and you have to opt-in for Play services beta, follow this link and join Google Play Services Beta.
   
   
   
2. Once you become a Beta tester for Google Play services, Go to Android settings and search for Nearby Search. You should get that in the search results, just click on that.
   
   
3. You can also find Nearby Share on your Notification Tray. But you have to enable that by editing the Tray icons and making Nearby share available to use. I’m explaining that in the below section.
   

How to Turn ON Android Nearby Share

When you are trying to recieve a file from another Android device, Your phone will automatically pop’s out saying, A device near is trying to send a file, when you click on the Pop-up, your Nearby Share will get turned ON. But, If you want to send a file to some on, you can either click on Share option on the file and share through Nearby or choose the Nearby Share icon (thread symbol) on your notification tray, below are the steps to bring Nearby share to notification tray and Turning it On to share a file.

1. Swipe down your Android mobile notification tray by swiping the notification bar down and search for nearby share from the list, if you couldn’t find, click on the edit icon to see all hidden icons.
2. From the list of hidden icons, you can easily find Nearby Share icon, Click and drag that to the above section to add that tile icon to make visible for use.
3. Now click on the Nearby Share icon to turn it ON.
4. You’ll get a pop-up saying “Can’t access Nearby Share, To share with devices nearby, turn on Bluetooth, Location, and Wi-Fi”, Just click on the Turn ON, this will Turn on Nearby Share along with the Bluetooth, Location, and Wi-Fi.

How to Share a file using Nearby Share?

Now, having Nearby Share ready on your device, You can share a file from your Android device to another in seconds,

1. Open the file you want to share and click on the share icon and choose Nearby share from the list (thread icon).
2. Now Make another device ready, just like how you try to pair during a Bluetooth share, when the device pops up on your screen, click on it to pair.
3. Once the other device accepts the request, your file will be shared quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Can I share files from my Android Device to the iPhone using Nearby share?
   Since Nearby share is a dedicated functionality for Android devices, you can’t share files to cross-platform devices like iOS and Windows. You can check my previous post on Transfering files from One Phone to Another.
   
2. Can I share files from my Android phone to Chromebook using Nearby Share?
   Yes, Now you can share files from Android to Chrome OS too. follow this link for more.