How to share files between nearby PCs or Laptops in Windows

You can easily share files between nearby PCs and Laptops over the network. By doing this, no need to waste your time by copying the content to a pen drive from one computer and pasting it to another.

This feature in Windows PC is extremely useful for small and large businesses alike.

share files between nearby PCs or Laptops in Windows
How to share files between nearby PCs or Laptops in Windows Computer

How to share files between nearby PCs or Laptops in Windows:

To share files between nearby Computers or Laptops in any Windows, do the following:
Click Control Panel to launch computer settings Window
On the Computer’s settings Window, select Network and Internet
Select Network and internet
Select Network and internet
Then choose Network and Sharing Center
Select Network and sharing centre
Select Network and sharing centre
On the right-hand side, select Change advanced sharing settings
Change advanced sharing settings
Change advanced sharing settings
Expand the “Private” option
Under “Network discovery”, Turn on network discovery
And also “Turn on automatic setup of network connected devices
If you want to share files and printers to access by people on the network, then also “Turn on file and printer sharing“.
Turn on or of Advanced sharing settings
Turn on or off Advanced sharing settings
Now expand “Guest or Public (current profile)
Then “Turn on network discovery
If you want to share files and printers to access by people on the network, then also “Turn on file and printer sharing“.
Turn on or of Guest or public profile
Turn on or off Guest or public profile
Now expand “All networks
Make sure to “Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can read and write files in the Public folders
Under File sharing connections, make sure “Use 128-bit encryption to help protect file sharing connections (Recommended)
Under password-protected sharing, you can turn on or off password-protected sharing.
And click “Save changes
Now close the “Advanced sharing settings” window.
Turn on or of Public folder sharing
Turn on or off Public folder sharing
Now select the folder you want to share on the second PC and press “Shift+F10“, or Right-click on Folder, then click to expand “Show more options“, then hover over “Give access to” and then select “Specific people
Select folder you want to share and press Shift+F10
Select the folder you want to share and press Shift+F10
Click the drop-down arrow to find someone to share with
Choose people to share with
Choose people to share with
Choose people and click “Add
Add people to share with
Add people to share with
If you are an administrator, add an administrator account and select the “Owner” under permission level regardless of permission levels.
If you choose family or another user’s account, select the permission level (Read/Write) to access your file on another computer or laptop.
Then click “Share
Choosing permission levels
Choosing permission levels
After clicking the “Share” as explained above in the last step, we will navigate to the following window. Keep these windows open to share the file path which is selected with the red rectangle to another PC or Laptop.
Enter the link in the other PC
Enter the link in the other PC to share files between nearby PCs

Start Transfering Files Between Laptop or Desktop PC:

Now open 2nd (another) PC or Laptop to share files between nearby PCs or Laptops in Windows, then press the Windows logo key + R
Enter the same file path as described in the above screenshot of the 1st PC in the following run command of the 2nd PC or laptop.
Then click “Ok”
Enter link in the Run command on the second PC
Enter the link in the Run command on the second PC
After clicking on “Ok“, the following file or folder of the 1st PC or laptop will open on the 2nd PC.
In the below screenshot, 1 to 3 represent the navigation menu, and the 4th are the items that are kept in the file or folder.
Access files from the second PC or Laptop (1)
Access files from the second PC or Laptop (1)

What is a file transferring between computers?

File sharing is a feature, used to transfer any kind of files from one nearby PC or Laptop to another over the network.

Does it require the network to share files between PCs?

Yes, a network connection is required to share files between PCs in Windows.

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