ChromeOS 136 release notes are here: how to enable the latest Quick Share features

ChromeOS 136 started making its way to Chromebooks yesterday, and as is often the case, the official release notes from Google took a little bit longer to show up. The good news? They’ve now landed, and they confirm the key UI enhancements we had pieced together yesterday – particularly focusing on Quick Share. Google’s official announcement for ChromeOS M136 is pretty brief, and goes a little something like this:

As early as ChromeOS 136, Quick Share extends Visible to everyone mode duration to a maximum of 10 minutes from 5. This feature allows your device to share files with and receive files from Android devices and other Chromebooks. Users can set device visibility, enter Visible to everyone mode, toggle Quick Share, and go to the Quick Share settings page, all from quick settings.

Chromebook Help Forum

Get the new Quick Share UI right now via a feature flag

This lines up with what we were anticipating and is a welcome tweak for those who use Quick Share frequently (like me). The extended 10-minute duration for “Visible to everyone” mode is a nice quality-of-life improvement, but the most helpful addition is Quick Settings section that now allow you to control you Quick Share settings with ease. Well, it will soon, anyway.

While the official release notes mention the new Quick Share feature in Quick Settings, it isn’t there out of the box just yet and will likely show up as a server side change in the coming weeks.

However, if you’re eager to get this more streamlined Quick Share experience right away, there’s a flag for that! I enabled chrome://flags/#quick-share-v2 on a device running ChromeOS 136, and it lights up these new integrated controls. This makes managing your Quick Share visibility and settings much more accessible without diving deep into the main settings app. It’s a slicker implementation, and while it will likely become the default behavior soon, the flag gets you there now. To try it yourself:

1. Open your Chrome browser on your Chromebook.
2. Type chrome://flags into the address bar and hit Enter.
3. In the search bar on the flags page, type #quick-share-v2.
4. Select “Enabled” from the dropdown next to the flag.
5. Click the “Restart” button at the bottom of the screen.

As Google always reminds us, this update and its features “will be progressively rolling out over the coming days,” so your device might not see it immediately. You can always check by heading to Settings > About ChromeOS > Check for updates. It’s good to see the official confirmation land for ChromeOS 136 and these new Quick Share improvements are definitely welcome.