How to Enable Nearby Sharing in Chromebook

Google’s AirDrop alternative, Nearby Share has been available on Android devices for quite some time. However, it was missing on Chromebooks until now. Fortunately, the company has tested this feature, and it’s already available to test in Chrome OS 87. If you want to use AirDrop on Chromebook, this is the closest you’ll get, and here’s how to enable Nearby Sharing in Chrome OS .

How to Enable Nearby Sharing in Chromebook

As I mentioned above, Nearby Share in Chrome OS isn’t ready for prime time just yet. When this is the case, it should be enabled by default. However, if you can’t wait or just want to test it out to see how well it works, you can enable Nearby Sharing on your Chromebook right now.

Enable nearby sharing

There are just a few steps you will need to follow.

• Go to chrome://flags on your Chromebook and search for “Nearby” in the search box.

• Turn on the flag that says “Nearby Sharing”. Do not restart your Chromebook yet.

• Now search for “Sharesheet” and enable this flag as well.

• Restart your Chromebook.

Use Nearby Share in Chrome OS

Now that the feature is enabled on your Chromebook, here’s how to use it. You can use Nearby Share to share any file from your Chromebook.

• Open the Files app and select the file you want to share. You’ll see a new “Share” icon at the top of the screen.

• Click on it and you will see Nearby Share in the options.

• Click it and your Chromebook will search and show other devices with Nearby Sharing enabled. 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. This list is not exhaustive and is here only as an example.

Brand	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 C423NA Chromebook
	ASUS Chromebook C523NA
	ASUS Chromebook C223NA
	ASUS Chromebook Flip C101PA
google	Google Pixelbook Go GA00521-US
	Google Pixelbook Go GA00519-US
	Google Pixelbook Go GA00526-US
	Google Pixelbook Go GA00124-US
	Google Pixelbook Go GA00519-EN
	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 – 14a touch optional
	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 Edition PC
	HP Chromebook 14A G5
	HP Chromebook 11A G8 Education Edition
	HP Chromebook x360 11 G3 EE
	HP Chromebook Pro c640
	HP Chromebook 11A G8 Education Edition
	HP Chromebook 14A G5 Laptop
	HP Chromebook Pro c640
	HP Elite c1030 Chromebook
	HP Pro c640 Chromebook Enterprise
	HP Elite c1030 Chromebook Laptop
	HP Chromebook Pro c645
	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 1NW60UT Laptop
	HP Chromebook – 14-ca020nr
	HP Chromebook 11 G6 Education Edition 3PD94UT
	HP Chromebook x360 11 G1 EE – Customizable
Lenovo	Chromebook Duo (10.1″) 2 in 1
	Lenovo 10e Chromebook Tablet
	Chromebook 500e 2nd Gen (11.6″) Intel
	Chromebook 300e 2nd Gen (11.6″)
	Chromebook 100e 2nd Gen (11.6″)
	Chromebook 14e (14″)
	Chromebook C340 (11″)
	Chromebook C330 (11.6″)
	Chromebook Yoga (15.6″)
	Chromebook 3 (14″)
	Lenovo Chromebook S345 (14″)
	Chromebook Flex 3i (11″)
	Chromebook Flex 5 (13″)
	AMD Chromebook 100e 2nd Gen (11.6-inch)
	AMD Chromebook 300e 2nd Gen (11.6″)
Samsung	Samsung Galaxy Chromebooks
	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

Nearby Sharing is a great feature to have on your Chromebook. It lets you share files at a faster speed than Bluetooth, and you don’t have to constantly email files to yourself. If you haven’t used Nearby Share before, you should definitely give it a try now that you know how to enable and use it on your Chrome OS device.

So, are you going to try Nearby Share? Or do you use other Chrome OS apps to share files? Let us know in the comments.

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