What Is Nearby Sharing and How to Enable It on Windows 11?

Oct. 13, 2021

Nearby Sharing is a nifty little Windows feature that lets you easily share documents, photos, and other content with nearby devices using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. However, it is turned off by default inWindows 11. So today, we will show you how to enable Nearby Sharing on your Windows 11 PC. We will also show you how you can use this feature to share files with nearby Windows devices.

Nearby sharing is a handy feature in Windows 10 and 11 that enables users to share documents, photos, links to websites, and any other content with other Windows devices close by over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The feature works similarly to AirDrop, which is widely used by Apple users for transfer content between MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads.

However, there’s a reason why the Windows feature hasn’t seen as much success as its Mac counterpart. As of now, Nearby Sharing only works between two Windows PCs (whether it’s running Windows 10 or Windows 11) that have the feature enabled. It doesn’t allow you to share content with or from smartphones, tablets, or other devices running non-Windows operating systems.

Not all Windows computers support Nearby Sharing. Here are the minimum requirements for Nearby Sharing support on Windows PCs:

As mentioned above, Nearby Sharing can help you quickly share files over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi between two Windows 11/ 10 devices in the vicinity. Follow the steps below to turn on Nearby Sharing on your Windows 11 computer:

Note: By default, shared files are saved in the ‘Downloads’ folder. However, you can click the ‘Change’ button next to the ‘Save files I receive to’ option on the Nearby Settings page to specify where you want to save the received files.

First off, to share documents or images between two devices via Nearby Sharing, you must enable the feature on both Windows 10 or 11 computers. After that, follow the guide below to proceed further.

Note: On the receiving PC, select either ‘Save‘ or ‘Save & open‘ to save the incoming file.

You can also share links to any website or web page using Nearby Sharing in Microsoft Edge if both computers are running Windows 10 or Windows 11. Once you have ensured that, follow the guide below to share links to web pages via Nearby Sharing on Windows 11.

Once you no longer have anything to share, it’s best to keep the Nearby Sharing feature disabled. Here’s how you do that:

That’s it! You have successfully disabled Nearby Sharing on your Windows 11 PC.

Easily Share Content Between Windows PCs With Nearby Sharing

As you can see, it is easy to enable Nearby Sharing on your Windows 11 computer. Now that you know how to do that, check out how you can easilyenable Nearby Share on your Android device. If you use an Apple Watch, you might also be interested in knowing how toshare photos via Messages and Mail on Apple Watch.Finally, Chromebook users need not worry, as you can alsoenable Android’s Nearby Share function on your Chromebookto share files with other devices.

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