PSA: Android Nearby Share lets you transfer entire folders full of content over the air

There’s an interesting feature in Android’s Nearby Share that was first pointed out by Nail Sadykov and later mentioned by Mishaal Rahman. It turns out that you can share more than just individual files over the air, you can share entire folders full of content! Oh, and it works both directions between Android, Windows, and ChromeOS.

All you need to do is press and hold any folder in your phone’s files app and then tap on the Nearby Share option. You’ll see the list of your “recipient” devices around you like you usually do. Just tap one of them and off it goes!

Interestingly, this doesn’t seem to be a new feature of Nearby Share and has likely been there since it launched. Like Mishaal, I was taken aback when I learned about this. Because we’ve had years of conditioning on phones to transfer one file or image at a time, most people probably never even tried to transfer a folder. You’ll have to let me know in the comments if you knew about this!

One important note though: A user on the X post pointed out that the “Files by Google” app maintains the original structure of sent folders, just as you’d expect. However, the Samsung Files app just sends the files loose! You’ve been warned. Now, go enjoy pushing a ton of folders across the air without needing cloud storage, just realize that a larger folder will mean longer transfer times.