Google has quietly fixed the biggest problem with Quick Share for Windows

One of the best tools to transfer files between your Android phone and your Windows PC is Quick Share. It’s easy to set up, easy to use and transfers files very quickly. However, a major problem with the Quick Share for Windows client is that it transfers files very slowly if your Windows PC is not connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Android phone. At least, that’s how it used to be, as Google quietly resolved this issue some time ago.

When Google launched Quick Share for Windows in 2023, it emphasized that both your Android phone and your Windows PC should be connected to the same network to get the best file transfer speeds. If not, Quick Share would transfer files over a Bluetooth connection, which is significantly slower than a Wi-Fi connection. For example, when I tried to transfer a 5.4 GB file from my Android phone to my Windows PC over a Bluetooth connection, the transfer speed hovered around 60 KB/s, meaning it would take almost a day to complete the transfer.

In contrast, when I tried to transfer the same file over a Wi-Fi connection, the transfer speed shot up at the low end to around 30 MB/s, reducing the transfer time to just a few minutes.

In the screenshot I posted above, you’ll notice that my Windows PC isn’t connected to a Wi-Fi network at all, but is still receiving a file at a speed of ~30 MB/s. I found that strange, since Google’s own support page and the Quick Share for Windows app itself still say that your Windows and Android devices should be on the same network to get the best transfer speeds, but that’s clearly not the case anymore . I’m not sure exactly when this changed (version 1.0.1724.0 is the oldest I’ve tested), but I recently noticed that Quick Share for Windows can receive and send files at pretty decent speeds, as long as your Windows PC has Wi-Fi has. Fi is enabled. In fact, your Windows PC doesn’t even have to be connected to a Wi-Fi network at all.

While transferring files from two of my phones (a Xiaomi 14T Pro and a OnePlus 12) to two of my Windows PCs, I noticed that my phones started the transfer over Bluetooth before switching to Wi-Fi after a few seconds connection. I knew this because the transfer speed was initially 60-80 KB/s, but then accelerated to 30-40 MB/s after my phones disconnected themselves from my home Wi-Fi network and created a Wi-Fi hotspot. The hotspot my phones created was called something like ‘DIRECT-XXXXX’, suggesting the connection was via Wi-Fi Direct. However, I asked around and was told that the library nearby doesn’t yet support Wi-Fi Direct on Windows, so I’m not entirely sure what connection method is being used.

Regardless, this change fixes one of the biggest problems with Quick Share for Windows. When you’re on the go, connecting your Windows PC to the same Wi-Fi network as your Android phone can be a hassle, so eliminating Quick Share makes this requirement usable just about anywhere. How quickly files actually transfer for you depends on your exact environment and the quality of your devices’ Wi-Fi cards. A file transfer between my Xiaomi 14T Pro and my Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 reached a speed of 90-110 MB/s, although it usually hovered around the 30-40 MB/s I mentioned earlier.

Now that this limitation is gone, the only other major problem with Quick Share for Windows is its lack of ARM compatibility. Interestingly, the Quick Share app itself does work on ARM-based Copilot Plus PCs, but you currently have to manually transfer the installation files from an x64 PC because the installer crashes.