Google’s AirDrop alternative Nearby Share has been out on Android devices for a while now. However, it was missing when running on Chromebooks until now. Fortunately, the company is testing this feature and it’s already available for testing on Chrome OS 87. If you want to use AirDrop on a Chromebook, this is the closest you’ll get, and here’s how to enable Sharing with Nearby in Chrome OS.
Enabling Nearby Sharing on Chromebook
As I mentioned above, Nearby Share on Chrome OS is not ready for primetime yet. When it does, it should be enabled by default. However, if you can’t wait or want to test it out to see how well it works, you can enable Nearby Sharing on your Chromebook right now.
Turn On Nearby Sharing
There are only a few steps you need to follow.
- On your Chromebook, go to chrome://flags and search for ‘Coming soon’ in the search box.
- Enable the flag that says ‘Sharing Nearby’. Do not restart your Chromebook yet.
- Now, search for ‘Share Page’ and enable this flag as well.
- Restart your Chromebook.
Use Share with Nearby on Chrome OS
Now that this feature is enabled on your Chromebook, here’s how to use it. You can use Share with Nearby to share any file on your Chromebook.
- Open the Files app and select the file you want to share. You will see a new ‘Share’ icon at the top of the screen.
- Click that and you will see Share with Nearby in the options.
- Click on it and your Chromebook will search for and show other devices with Nearby Sharing turned on. You can then choose the device you want to share your file with and that’s it.
List of Popular Chromebooks
Our tutorial will work with all of the following Chromebooks. It is not an exhaustive list and is here as an example only.
| Brand name | Model name |
|---|---|
| acer | Acer Chromebook 315 |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-3H-C2C3 | |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-3HT-C296 | |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-3H-C4QE | |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-2HT-44MJ | |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-3HT-C3J0 | |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-3H-C5JS | |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-3HT-C6XF | |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-3H-C36A | |
| Acer Chromebook CB315-3HT-C16B | |
| Acer Chromebook 314 | |
| Acer Chromebook CB314-1H-C34N | |
| Acer Chromebook CB314-1H-C66Z | |
| Acer Chromebook CB314-1H-C02A | |
| Acer Chromebook 311 | |
| Acer Chromebook CB311-9HT-C4UM | |
| Acer Chromebook CB311-9H-C12A | |
| Acer Chromebook 311 – CP311-3H-K5GD | |
| Acer Chromebook CB311-9H-C7C8 | |
| Acer Chromebook Spin 713 – CP713-2W-79H3 | |
| Acer Chromebook 512 – C851-C1J7 | |
| Acer Chromebook 311 Touch – CB311-9HT-C4UM | |
| Acer Chromebook Spin 311 – CP311-3H-K5GD | |
| Acer Chromebox CXI3 – CXI3-I7V16GNKM4 | |
| Acer Chromebox CXI3 – CXI3-4GKM4 | |
| Acer Chromebox CXI3 – CXI3-4GNKM4 | |
| Acer Chromebook Spin 13 – CP713-1WN-51EA | |
| Acer Chromebook Spin 713 – CP713-2W-79H3 | |
| Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 13 – CP713-1WN-76M7 | |
| Chromebook Spin 13 – CP713-1WN-813G | |
| CB714-1W-32D4 | |
| CB714-1W-525Q | |
| Acer Chromebook Spin 514 | |
| Acer Chromebook 311 C733-C0FK | |
| Acer Chromebook CB314-1H-P7ZZ | |
| ASUS | ASUS Chromebook C204EE |
| ASUS Chromebook C403NA | |
| ASUS Chromebook Flip C214MA | |
| ASUS Chromebook C203XA | |
| ASUS Chromebook C202XA | |
| ASUS Chromebook 14 C425TA | |
| ASUS Chromebook Flip C434TA | |
| ASUS Chromebook Flip C433TA | |
| ASUS Chromebook Flip C302CA | |
| ASUS Chromebook Flip C436FA | |
| ASUS Chromebook C202SA | |
| ASUS Chromebook C423NA | |
| ASUS Chromebook C523NA | |
| ASUS Chromebook C223NA | |
| ASUS Chromebook Flip C101PA | |
| Google Pixelbook Go GA00521-US | |
| Google Pixelbook Go GA00519-US | |
| Google Pixelbook Go GA00526-US | |
| Google Pixelbook Go GA00124-EN | |
| Google Pixelbook Go GA00519-UK | |
| Google Pixelbook Go GA00523-US | |
| Google Pixel Slate C1A | |
| HP | HP Chromebook – 14a-na0003tu |
| HP Chromebook 11A G6 EE | |
| HP Chromebook x360 12b-ca0010TU | |
| HP Chromebook – 14a-na0002tu | |
| HP Chromebook – 11-v010nr | |
| HP Chromebook – 15-de0010nr | |
| HP Chromebook – 14-db0030nr | |
| HP Chromebook – 14-db0020nr | |
| HP Chromebook – 15-de0015nr | |
| HP Chromebook – 14a-na0097nr | |
| HP Chromebook – optional 14a touch | |
| HP Chromebook – 14-db0098nr | |
| HP Chromebook 11a-nb0047nr | |
| HP Chromebook 11a 11a-na0010nr | |
| HP Chromebook 11a 11a-na0060nr | |
| HP Chromebook 14A G5 | |
| HP Chromebook Enterprise 14A G5 | |
| HP Chromebook 11A G6 Education PC | |
| HP Chromebook 14A G5 | |
| HP Chromebook 11A G8 Education Edition | |
| HP Chromebook x360 11 G3 EE | |
| HP Pro c640 Chromebook | |
| HP Chromebook 11A G8 Education Edition | |
| HP Chromebook 14A G5 Notebook PC | |
| HP Pro c640 Chromebook | |
| HP Elite c1030 Chromebook | |
| HP Pro c640 Chromebook Enterprise | |
| HP Elite c1030 Chromebook Notebook PC | |
| HP Pro c645 Chromebook | |
| HP Chromebook x360 12b-ca0010nr | |
| HP Chromebook x360 – 14c-ca0065nr | |
| HP Chromebook x360 – 14b-ca0010nr | |
| HP Chromebook x360 14a-ca0097nr | |
| HP Chromebook x360 14c-ca0085nr | |
| HP Chromebook x360 – 14ct-ca000 | |
| HP Chromebook 11 G1 Notebook PC 1NW60UT | |
| HP Chromebook – 14-ca020nr | |
| HP Chromebook 11 G6 Education Edition 3PD94UT | |
| HP Chromebook x360 11 G1 EE – Customizable | |
| Lenovo | Chromebook Duet (10.1″) 2-in-1 |
| Lenovo 10e Chromebook Tablet | |
| 500e Chromebook 2nd Gen (11.6″) Intel | |
| 300e Chromebook 2nd Gen (11.6″) | |
| 100e Chromebook 2nd Gen (11.6″) | |
| 14e Chromebook (14″) | |
| Chromebook C340 (11″) | |
| Chromebook C330 (11.6″) | |
| Yoga Chromebook (15.6″) | |
| Chromebook 3 (14″) | |
| Lenovo Chromebook S345 (14”) | |
| Chromebook Flex 3i (11″) | |
| Chromebook Flex 5 (13″) | |
| 100e Chromebook 2nd Gen (11.6″) AMD | |
| 300e Chromebook 2nd Gen (11.6″) AMD | |
| SAMSUNG | Samsung Galaxy Chromebook |
| Samsung Chromebook Plus (LTE) | |
| Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 | |
| Samsung Chromebook 4+ | |
| Samsung Chromebook 4 | |
| Samsung Chromebook Plus (V2) | |
| Samsung Chromebook 3 | |
| Samsung Chromebook Plus |
Easily Share Chromebook Files Wirelessly
Share with Nearby is a great feature to have on your Chromebook. It lets you share files faster than Bluetooth and you don’t have to constantly email files to yourself. If you haven’t used Nearby Sharing yet, now that you know how to enable it and use it on your Chrome OS device, you should definitely give it a try.
So, will you give Share With Nearby a try? Or are you using other Chrome OS apps to share files? Let us know in the comments.
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