Have you ever wanted to transfer or share files from one PC to another PC? Then there are various ways to do so, but what better way but sharing without any cables. Although this method does require WIFI but does not require the internet to transfer files. This will save your internet bandwidth and will also transfer files without using any cables over WI-Fi from one PC to another PC.
This method is recommended when both your PCs or Laptop are in a nearby range. So that they can be connected to the same Wi-Fi. The biggest perk of this method is, even if your systems are some distance apart you don’t need to run a cable and don’t even need to move your PCs.
How to setup Wi-Fi file transfer from PC to PC
First, you need to connect both of your PC’s to the same Wi-Fi network. Then locate and select a folder(suppose on machine 1) that you want to share over your Wi-Fi network. This folder should have files that you want to transfer to the other PC(suppose machine 2).
In machine 1, right-click on the folder and in Give access to section select Specific People. This will open a menu, in that click on the down arrow beside Add. Then click on Everyone and click in Add. Then click on Share, this will start sharing all the contents of the folder over your Wi-Fi network. If you want you can change the access from Read to Read and Write, or leave it as it is and click on Done.
Now on your other PC(machine 2) open My Computer or This PC. Then in the left sidebar click on Network, inside that you should see the other PC’s(machine 1) name. Now double click on the PC’s name and enter the username and password of your account of that PC(machine 1).
Now you should be able to copy files from machine 1 to machine 2. If you also want to share files from machine 2 to machine 1 then here is how to do it.
How to share from both the Machines
To share files from both the machines, follow these instructions.
- First, open the shared folder on the machine on which you have created it in the first place(machine 1 in this case).
- Then again right-click on the shared folder, in Give access to section click on click on Specific People.
- Then click on Everyone and click on the drop-down menu and select, Read/Write.
- Now copy any of the files on this shared folder on machine 2 you should see that files on machine 1 also.
- Once you are done sharing files right-click again on share folder and click on Remove access in Give access to the section.
This Read/Write enables copying files from both the sides to the shared folder. So that any files in this shared can be seen on both the PCs.
Not only folders but you can also share whole drives. And the process is similar just right click and share it with everyone.
How to transfer without username and password
You might not want to enter username and password every time you want to share files from one machine to another. So here is how to stop asking of username and password every time.
- Search for sharing in search pannel in task manager. Click on the first search result.
- It will open the Advanced sharing center, then click on All Networks.
- In password-protected sharing section click on Turn off password protected sharing.
- Then click on save changes at the bottom.
This will allow you to do a file transfer on your Wi-Fi network from PC to PC without entering username and password every time.
What are the advantages of Transferring files using Wi-fi?
The biggest advantage of using Wi-fi is it’s free and will not consume your internet for transferring files. Other than that these are other advantages of using wifi for file transfer.
- It doesn’t require you to run a cable between PC’s, which makes it very convenient.
- You don’t need to set up it again and again, once you have set it sharing can be used forever(theoretically).
- You don’t need to copy files into a removable drive then again copy that files into another PC, it saves a lot of work. As you can directly share the required folder and directly copy files from it to another PC.
- There is no limit to the size of files, which is generally present over cloud storage.
These are some of the advantages of using Wi-Fi for files transfer from PC to PC, but there are also some disadvantages of doing so. Now let’s see that.
Disadvantages of transferring files from Wi-Fi
- The file transferring speed that you can achieve is not very high. On average which is around 4-5 MBPS. Although with the latest routers this speed can be increased. Look here for the speed of various routers and different Wi-Fi standards.
- If a secured password is not used for the Wi-Fi connection can be hacked easily. Although it will still require your PC’s username and password to access the data (If it’s not disabled).
- The range of Wi-Fi networks is limited, it will be even more affected if the machines are situated inside separate rooms.
- You need to keep both the machines turned on till you want to transfer files. If the sharing machine is in sleep mode data transferring will get stopped.
These are some of the disadvantages of using Wi-Fi to transfer files from PC to PC.
I hope it helps you to do file transfer easily from PC to another PC easily.