AirDrop for Windows, Linux and Android

Last updated: 2026-08-07

AirDrop only exists inside Apple's world, which leaves everyone else — Windows, Linux, Android, and any household with a mix of devices — without a built-in equivalent. This guide shows the closest thing to AirDrop for non-Apple devices: open a web page on both ends and the file just moves.

It works the same way regardless of platform, so it also covers the case AirDrop never handles well: a Windows laptop, a Linux desktop and an Android phone all in the same room, or all three plus an iPhone thrown in.

The AirDrop-like flow: same Wi-Fi, in the browser

What you need

A current browser on each device — Chrome or Edge on Windows, Firefox or Chrome on Linux, Chrome on Android. Nothing from a store, nothing to install.
Both devices on the same Wi-Fi. Unlike AirDrop, being next to each other is not the criterion: discovery groups devices by the public IP they connect from, so a phone still on mobile data will not appear even sitting on the same desk.
Working internet access on both, with the page open over https://relayium.com/. AirDrop needs no internet at all; these browsers do need to reach the rendezvous to find each other, so an isolated LAN calls for a self-hosted instance instead.
No account and no pairing code for the same-network case — that is the part this flow shares with AirDrop.

This is the everyday case AirDrop is built for, and Relayium matches it without needing an app from any store.

On each device, open the transfer page in the browser.
```
https://relayium.com/
```
Compare the public IP in the status pill on both. One shared address is what makes the two devices visible to each other, and it is the fastest way to catch the phone that never left mobile data.
```
Connected · this device ThinkPad · public IP 203.0.113.9
```
On the sending device, find the other one under “Nearby devices”, choose its card and press “Open workspace”. On a current browser that is the single action a card offers, because files, folders and messages then all travel over the one encrypted connection it opens. A room can list several devices; opening a workspace is how you pick the one recipient this transfer goes to, and you open another one when the next person's turn comes.
The workspace replaces that card. Send from the controls under its header: “Send files” for a batch of up to 1,000, “Send a folder” for a whole tree where the browser offers folder picking, or type into the message box — “Enter for a new line · ⌘/Ctrl+Enter to send” — and press “Send”. On the receiving device, read the line under the request before you accept — it says whether the browser will ask where to save or write to its own Downloads — then press “Accept”. To compare a verification code (SAS) first, turn on “Advanced verification” on both devices before you start.

What a working transfer looks like

The other device's card is gone by then — the workspace took its place — so read the state off the workspace header: the device you are connected to, a link state of “Connected”, and one path badge reading “LAN direct”. The file counter runs to the last file of the batch on both screens.

How a folder lands depends on the receiving browser, so check the result rather than assuming it: desktop Chrome and Edge write the tree into the directory you picked, while Firefox, Safari and every phone browser hand you one .zip that unpacks to the same structure. That browser's own downloads list is where you confirm it — chrome://downloads in Chrome, edge://downloads in Edge, about:downloads in Firefox.

Connected to Pixel · Connected · LAN direct
File 8/8

When the other device doesn't appear

Start where this flow differs from AirDrop: what makes two devices visible to each other is the network they connect from, not how close they are. The checks below are the common first ones rather than an exhaustive list, and each reads its answer off the page instead of guessing.

Symptom, check, fix

The other device is right next to you and still does not show up under “Nearby devices”.

https://relayium.com/   # compare the public IP in the status pill on both devices

Two different public IP addresses mean two rooms, and proximity does nothing for it. Put both devices on the same Wi-Fi and switch mobile data off on the phone. A VPN or iCloud Private Relay on either side is another common reason for two addresses; if you are willing to change them, switch the VPN off or turn Private Relay off for that one network and reload https://relayium.com/ there. If you would rather leave them on, a pairing code on https://relayium.com/cross-network reaches the other device without touching either setting.

Both devices show the same public IP and neither card appears.

https://relayium.com/   # the hint under the device list names the router setting

The router is separating its own clients. Turn off “AP isolation / client isolation” in its Wi-Fi settings, or use a pairing code on https://relayium.com/cross-network when the router is not yours to change.

The page itself does not load on a network with no internet access.

https://relayium.com/   # if this never loads, the network has no route to the rendezvous

This is the real gap against AirDrop, which needs no internet at all. Two browsers still need to reach the rendezvous to introduce themselves, so on an air-gapped LAN run your own instance on that network — Relayium is AGPL-3.0 at github.com/relayium/relayium — or fall back to a USB stick.

The receiving side warns, before you accept, that the batch has to be held in memory.

chrome://downloads   # in Chrome; Edge has edge://downloads and Firefox about:downloads

Firefox, Safari and every phone browser lack the File System Access API, so they assemble the batch in memory and Relayium warns past roughly 256 MiB. Receive it in Chrome or Edge on a computer, or send fewer files at a time, then check each arrival in that browser's own downloads list rather than assuming it saved — chrome://downloads in Chrome, edge://downloads in Edge, about:downloads in Firefox.

A folder arrived as a single .zip instead of a folder.

chrome://downloads   # in Chrome; the entry is one .zip when the browser had no directory picker

That is the expected result in a browser without the directory picker, and the archive unpacks to the same structure with the relative paths intact. Unzip it, or receive the same folder in desktop Chrome or Edge, which asks for a target directory and writes the tree into it in place.

On different networks: pairing and relay

The server generates exactly six decimal digits (0–9, including a leading zero). The sender signs in to create the code, while the person joining by code, link or QR never needs an account. It accepts new joins for five minutes; an already connected transfer is not cut off when that countdown ends.

Across networks, browsers use an encrypted TURN relay by design rather than trying a direct path first. The key stays on the two devices, so the relay forwards only end-to-end-encrypted ciphertext, cannot read the files and keeps no realtime content copy or history.

What's actually protecting the file

Both modes above are realtime transfers, and both use the same encryption: an X25519 key exchange derives a key used for per-chunk AES-256-GCM, negotiated only between the two devices. Turn on advanced verification (off by default) and both sides display the same 6-digit verification code (a Short Authentication String) so you can verify that the derived key was not replaced: the signalling server or a TURN relay has not impersonated either endpoint or terminated the application-layer end-to-end encryption. On cross-network transfers, TURN still remains in the data path, but it carries only ciphertext and is not an encryption endpoint. Each file is checked end-to-end with a SHA-256 hash.

Nothing is stored on a server in this mode — it exists only for the duration of the transfer. Relayium is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license at github.com/relayium/relayium, so the mechanics are auditable rather than a black box.

The practical limits, honestly

Because the file never lands on a server, there's no upload quota — the real limit is which browser is receiving. A desktop browser with the File System Access API (Chrome or Edge on Windows or Linux) streams incoming data straight to disk, so multi-gigabyte files are fine. Firefox, Safari and every phone browser — Chrome on Android included — don't have that API, so there the batch is assembled in memory instead, and Relayium warns the receiver before they accept once it passes roughly 256 MB. Read that as a deliberately cautious estimate rather than a hard ceiling: where it actually gives out depends on the device's memory, its OS and how many tabs are open.

Folders work too: pick a folder on desktop (not iOS) and relative paths are preserved. If the receiving browser can write straight to a chosen directory (desktop Chrome or Edge) files land in place; otherwise (Firefox, Safari, any phone browser) the whole folder arrives as one .zip that unpacks to the same structure.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official AirDrop app for Windows or Android?

No — AirDrop is exclusive to Apple devices and Apple has never shipped a Windows or Android client. Relayium is a browser-based equivalent: open relayium.com on both devices and it works the same way regardless of platform, including mixed Apple/non-Apple pairs.

Do I need an account?

Not for the same-Wi-Fi flow — open the page on both devices and they discover each other, no sign-in at all. Sending across different networks with a pairing code requires the sender to sign in; the person receiving never needs an account, on either network mode.

Do I need to install anything?

No. It's a web page on every platform — Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS — so there's nothing to download from a store and nothing to keep updated.

How is this different from the Relayium vs AirDrop comparison?

That article is a head-to-head look at where AirDrop is genuinely better (pure-Apple households) and where it falls short. This guide is the how-to for actually getting the AirDrop-like experience when at least one device isn't an Apple one.

Can it send to a group, like AirDrop can?

Not in one shot. The local room isn't limited to two devices, so every nearby device that opened the page is listed at once — but a transfer is one-to-one: you open a workspace with one recipient, and that is who those files go to. Sharing the same batch with several people in the room means opening a workspace with each of them in turn. The pairing-code mode for across-the-internet sending joins exactly two devices, over an encrypted relay.

Open Relayium on your Windows, Linux or Android device and the one you're sending to — no account needed on the same network.

Try Relayium now