Top 12 Ways to Fix Nearby Sharing Not Working on Android

With Nearby Sharing, Android finally got a powerful file sharing functionality of its own. You can now share photos, videos, music, links, contacts, etc. between Android phones, without relying on any third-party tools or even Google’s Files app. You can transfer data such as However, the Nearby Sharing feature does not work for some Android users. If you are one of them, here are the best ways to fix Nearby Sharing not working on Android.

Solutions range from as simple as putting devices together to controlling specific settings. Before we go any further, we recommend reading our guide on how to use Nearby Sharing on Android. This will give you an idea of ​​what to expect.

Let’s start to fix Nearby Sharing not working on Android.

1. Reboot Phone

The first solution you should try is to restart your phone. Restarting has done wonders for many people. It can help you too.

2. Enable Airplane Mode

The next thing you need to do is to enable airplane mode on your Android phone. Turning on airplane mode disables all network connections on your phone. So, if the problem is network related, enabling airplane mode should fix it. Once enabled, wait a minute and then turn it off.

To enable Airplane mode, open the quick settings panel on your Android phone (one has shortcuts to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) and tap on Airplane mode. Tap on it again to disable it. Alternatively, go to Settings > Network & Internet. Enable the toggle next to airplane mode.

3. Check Supported Devices

Sharing with Nearby only works if both Android devices are running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and above. To check your Android version, go to Settings > About. Check the number below the Android version. Must be 6 or higher.

4. Bring Devices Closer

While Nearby Sharing doesn’t require the phones to touch each other, they should be kept close. Google recommends keeping them 1 foot (30 cm or 12 inches) apart.

5. Unlock Device

Your device will not be visible and you will not be able to use Nearby Sharing if your Android is screen locked. Unlock the screen of nearby devices to detect your phone.

6. Turn On Nearby Sharing

To use Nearby Sharing, you need to enable it on your phone. There are multiple ways to do this. You can enable it from the quick settings panel or Settings.

In Settings, go to Connected devices > Connection preferences. Tap on Share with Nearby and enable the toggle on the next screen.

Alternatively, go to Settings > Google > Device links > Share with Nearby. Turn on the toggle on the next screen.

7. Add Email Address

Sharing with Nearby requires an email address or phone number to work properly. Go to Nearby Sharing settings as shown above and add an email address. If an email address is already active and not the one you want to use, tap the email address to switch accounts. Alternatively, try removing the Google account from your phone. Learn how to remove Google account from Android phones and what happens by removing Google account.

8. Enable Bluetooth and Location Services

Usually, when you turn on Share with Nearby, you will be prompted to enable Bluetooth and Location on your phone. In case you turn them off or not, you can manually enable both from the quick settings panel. Tap the Bluetooth and Location buttons to enable them.

9. Check Device Visibility

Share with Nearby offers three privacy settings – All contacts, Selected contacts, and None. To make sure the Privacy setting doesn’t prevent Share with Nearby from working normally, switch to All contacts. To change the visibility settings, navigate to the Share with Nearby setting using any of the methods mentioned in the Turn On Nearby Sharing section.

10. Check Other Phones

Two phones can only be connected at the same time to share Data via Nearby Share. If one phone is sharing content with another phone, wait until both the sending and receiving phones are idle and ready to share.

11. Clear Cache for Play Services

You should also try clearing the cache and data for the Google Play Services app. Clearing the cache will not delete any files from your phone. See our explanation of what happens when you clear data on Android phones.

To clear the Play Services cache, go to Settings > Apps. Look for Google Play Services under all apps. Tap on it. Tap on Storage and then Clear cache. Restart the phone. If the problem persists, tap on Clear data or Clear storage depending on the option available.

Pro Tip: Try clearing the cache and data for the Google app as well.

12. Update Google Play Services

Usually, Google Play Services is updated automatically in the background. But sometimes, for some reason, it just doesn’t happen. You must manually update Google Play Services. If you are unable to do so, check various ways to fix Play Services not updating.

Try More Things

We hope one of the solutions above fixed the Nearby Sharing function not working on your Android phone. If the problem persists, reset the network settings. Know what it is and how to reset network settings.

Next: Did you know that you can use FTP server to transfer files between devices? Learn how to setup and use FTP server on Android from the next link.