Transfer files seamlessly with Android Nearby Share for Windows, now in beta

Google’s Nearby Share feature was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show last year, and since then, it has made its way to Android and Chromebooks. Now, Google is expanding this feature to Windows PCs through a beta release of an official app.

To download the app, you need to have Windows 10 or 11, as ARM devices are not supported. Once you have installed the app, you can sign into your Google account, and it will start looking for nearby devices that are within 16 feet of your PC. Of course, both devices will need to have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled.

The app allows you to “quickly transfer photos, videos, documents, audio files, or entire folders between your Android device and Windows PCs”. According to Google, this feature aims to make it easy to gain access to bigger files for video and photo editing without having to go through Google Photos or another cloud service to upload and download them.

The app does not need to remain open, as it sits in your Windows system tray and can still send and receive files this way. It features a material design UI, which is consistent with most of Google’s other services, and the transfer process is super fast, depending on the size of the file.

Additionally, all files transferred through Nearby Share Beta are end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that your files are secure. Between this and Messages for the web, I’m glad to finally see Google offering more support for its stuff on Microsoft’s devices.

Nearby Share Beta for Windows is currently rolling out in the United States and selected regions globally. Users who have already downloaded the app have reported that it works great. If you’re excited to finally have this feature, let us know in the comments!