Transfer files from phone to PC over Wi-Fi: free, unlimited, no account
The cloud sends your file to a data centre and back. Your local network carries it straight from the phone to the computer through the router. The difference shows on the first one-gigabyte video.
6 minUpdated
Local Wi-Fi transfer means the phone and the computer talk directly, through the router in your home. The file never goes up to the internet, so it does not depend on your connection’s upload speed — which is almost always the slow part.
Why it is faster than the cloud
When you send a photo through Google Drive it goes up from the phone to Google, then down from Google to the computer. That is two trips, and the first one runs at your upload speed. Over local Wi-Fi there is one trip, at the speed of your home network — usually several times faster.
For a few megabytes it makes no difference. For a 4 GB video shot on the phone, it is the difference between a few minutes and well over an hour.
How it works, step by step
- 1The computer starts a local transfer page, visible only inside your network.
- 2The app shows two QR codes: one for phone → computer, one for computer → phone.
- 3Scan the code with the phone camera. The browser opens straight onto the transfer page.
- 4Pick the files and send. Progress and speed are live on both screens.
- 5Received files land in the folder you chose on the computer.
The one requirement
Phone and computer must be on the same Wi-Fi network. If the phone is on mobile data, or the router has client isolation (often called AP isolation) switched on, the page will not open.
Who else can reach my files
Nobody outside your network. The transfer page is served by your own computer and exists only while the session lasts. Its address carries a random code, so even someone on the same network will not stumble onto it — they would have to have scanned the QR.
There is no account, no password to create, and nothing left behind on any server, for the simple reason that no server is involved.
What can go wrong, and the fix
| Symptom | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The page will not open on the phone | The phone is on mobile data, not Wi-Fi | Turn mobile data off and join the same network |
| The code scans but the page stays blank | The router isolates clients from each other | Turn off AP isolation in the router settings |
| Windows asks for confirmation at start | The local-network firewall rule | Allow it for private networks — the transfer needs it |
| Transfer is slow | The phone is on the 2.4 GHz band | Join the 5 GHz network instead, if the router has one |
Other tools that do the same thing
We are not the only option. LocalSend is free software with apps for both phone and computer, and it is a good fit if installing something on the phone does not bother you. Snapdrop and its variants run entirely in the browser with nothing installed anywhere, but they rely on a signalling server for the devices to find each other.
EZconnect sits between them: nothing to install on the phone, nothing routed through a server, but it does need Windows on the computer — and it adds iPhone contacts, messages and notifications on top.
One file to install, on the computer only. The phone side is handled by its camera.
Frequently asked questions
The app imposes no size or file-count limit. The practical limit is free space on the computer’s drive.
Not for the transfer. The phone and computer only need to be on the same Wi-Fi network — which can be a network with no internet access at all.
Yes, for file transfer: the page opens in any modern browser. Contacts, messages and notifications are built for iPhone.
Nothing. The app is free, has no paid tier and asks for no account.
Try the Wi-Fi route
EZconnect is free, installs on the computer only, and asks for no account.