Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police
By
Conor Cawley
Published 1 minute ago
Conor has been staunchly in favor of Android since graduating to a smartphone from his hot pink Motorola RAZR. In fact, he'll gladly ruin a friendly dinner in service of lambasting Apple devices to those that use them, which he admits is one of his worst personality traits. After being talked out of sports writing by someone working for ESPN Chicago ("it's the same thing every year, it's like purgatory"), Conor decided that the ever-evolving world of tech would be a much more interesting topic to focus on. Now, more than half a decade later, he covers everything from new devices and big conferences to small startups and business trends. In addition to freelancing for Android Police, Conor is the Lead Writer for Tech.co, a tech publication focused on helping small businesses grow and succeed. He's worked with the likes of Forbes, WeWork, General Assembly, Chase Bank, Tech in Motion, and SXSW, among others, through Tech.co in service of making tech a bit more accessible. Conor also can't properly pronounce the word "colloquially," but honestly, who can?
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Android hasn't always been known as the seamless-connection operating system.
For years, its primary competitor and its many users were able to brag that AirDrop provided an infinitely more fluid interface when it came to sharing content between devices.
Those days are long behind us now, though, with Android very much catching up thanks to the Quick Share feature.
However, many Android users aren't as familiar with the exceptionally handy feature as they should be. That's why we put together this helpful guide that walks you through setting up your devices and using Quick Share.
How to get started with Quick Share
Your inter-device sharing adventure starts here!
You can't get started with Quick Share until you ensure that the devices you want to share between are actually set up for it. Luckily, this is pretty easy.
For starters, you'll need to access the Quick Share interface by clicking the icon in the Quick Settings panel or by searching for it in the Settings menu.
When you're there, visit the Quick Share settings, which you can open by either selecting your device name under the You'll appear as menu or by clicking the three-dot icon in the corner and clicking Settings.
Then, you want to access the Who can share with you menu and make sure that you toggle on the Visible to nearby devices option.
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Then, select whether you want to be visible to everyone, your contacts, or just devices that are logged in to your Google account.
After you've done that on all the devices you want to Quick Share between, you'll be ready to get started!
Actually using Quick Share
Send or receive, it's up to you
There are a few ways you can use Quick Share, and we're going to give you a brief explainer on all of them, so you can decide which one is the quickest way to share.
In our opinion, the easiest way to access Quick Share is with the Share button found throughout the Android interface.
You may have used it before to send pictures to friends or family on various apps, because it collects all the different platforms into a variety of tiles.
One of those tiles is the Quick Share logo, and if you click it, you'll be taken to the Quick Share interface to send the photo, video, or other type of file to another device.
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When you're in the interface, sharing between devices is easy. Just make sure one device is set to Receive and one device is set to Send.
On the Send device, click Select to find the files you want to share. After you've picked it, scroll down and select the device you want to share it with below. The file will then pop up on the Receive device, and you're all set.
You also have the option to Quick Share via QR code. After you've selected the file you want to share, scroll past the devices, and you'll find a Use QR code button. Click that, and you'll generate a QR code that can be scanned by the other device.
When they click the link, the file in question will be immediately sent to the Quick Share interface on their device.
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Where does Quick Share actually work?
Yes, it'll work with your PC after a few extra steps
Quick Share is an Android feature, which means that it works with all Android-enabled devices.
These screenshots, for example, were taken on a Google Pixel 10 Pro, and I was sharing images of a pretty handsome bird with my Pixel Tablet.
Both have the Quick Share icon available in the Quick Settings panel, so it was just a matter of making them both visible and getting started.
Yes, this will work for all Android devices, not just Google products.
If you can't find Quick Share in your Quick Settings panel, it's probably because you've relegated the tile to the reserves. All you have to do is click the pencil icon to edit your Quick Settings and scroll down until you find it in the System apps section.
Even better, you can make Quick Share work for you on your Windows PC or laptop as well. The Quick Share for Windows app is available from Android. It allows you to download a platform that operates just like the app on your Android devices.
You don't even have to set it to send or receive, either, as it will automatically be visible and accept files if you have it open.
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The Android ecosystem everybody
It's more connected than you think
Having launched in February 2024, Quick Share is still a relatively new-ish feature on Android, but it gives the operating system a serious boost when it comes to the interconnectedness of the ecosystem.
Yes, Google provides plenty of other services that make this kind of sharing possible, like Google Drive, but Quick Share boasts a bit more convenience for everyday users. And at the end of the day, even one or two fewer steps can make all the difference in the world.
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