In the last half-year, around the end of 2021, Microsoft released their latest operating system, Windows 11. It has been billed as an OS geared towards hybrid working, and one which will compliment the needs of businesses and professionals.
Microsoft’s products have consistently been a top choice for many businesses all around the world. For example, the
IT support services London provider TechQuarters specializes in is reliant on a Microsoft 365 and Azure-based infrastructure. TechQuarters themselves are Microsoft partners and have so far enjoyed Windows 11. One of their favorite features in the OS is the Nearby Sharing function.
Nearby Sharing
File sharing is a big industry. There are plenty of services on the internet that enable users to share files remotely – services such as WeTransfer, that use the Cloud, so that you can upload files, email a link to their location in the Cloud, so that the recipient can download them. There are also other, more decentralized forms of file sharing, such as torrents.
But if you’re just looking to share files with a colleague, or someone in your physical location, these solutions are a bit overkill – especially when Nearby Sharing is an available solution.
Nearby Sharing works by using a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to transfer files – such as pictures, videos, audio files, documents, etc. – to another device. For Nearby Sharing on Windows to work, the two devices need to be near enough to each other for Bluetooth to work, and they need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
How to Setup Nearby Sharing
To start with, you will need to enable Nearby Sharing on your Windows 11 PC. The steps for doing this are very simple:
1. Open your Settings
2. Click on ‘System’
3. Click on the Nearby Sharing tab
4. You will see 3 options:
• Off
• My devices only
• Everyone nearby
5. Select either ‘My devices only’ or ‘Everyone nearby’ – depending on what device you’re sharing to.
Once you have done this, your PC will be ready to transfer files to other devices on the Wi-Fi network, who are within range of Bluetooth.
How to Send Files using Nearby Sharing
The processing of sharing files with Nearby Sharing is actually very straightforward. What is more, you also have options as to how you would like to share content to other devices. Firstly, you can simply share files directly. If you want to share a webpage, you can also share links using Nearby Sharing.
File Sharing
Nearby sharing is designed specifically for local files. For this reason, you will not be able to share OneDrive files with this technique – instead, OneDrive has its own sharing technology. For sharing local files with other devices via Nearby Sharing, do the following:
1. Open the File Explorer app
2. Follow the file path to the file you want to share
3. Select the File and click ‘Share’ from the ribbon in File Explorer.
4. Alternatively, you can right-click (or select and press Shift+F10) and select ‘Share’ from the options menu.
5. The Sharing dialog will now open. From this area, go to the Nearby Sharing section.
6. Select the nearby device that you want to share to.
7. On the destination device, a notification will appear that a file is being shared to it. If you do not see the notification, you can view all notifications by pressing Windows + N.
8. On the notification, the options will be to Save & open, or simply Save.
The default path for saving files on the destination device will be the Downloads folder. However, you can change the default file path in your settings.
