How to Enable Nearby Share on Samsung Galaxy Note 20

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra are the new premium flagships that are arriving with several features to make the most of the stellar hardware. On top of that, the One UI optimized for the Galaxy Note series comes with a lot of new and exciting features, such as S Pen gestures, Periscope camera, and Pro Video mode. Another new feature to join this range is close sharing.

Nearby Sharing is a sharing platform for Android phones, and the Samsung Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra and the Google Pixel are two of the first phones to benefit from this feature.

If you’ve been a smartphone user for a long time, you should already know that it’s about time the Android ecosystem had a ubiquitous sharing system, regardless of phone brand or OS.

Luckily, the time is right, and functionality has finally made its way to your Galaxy Note 20 and other Samsung phones like the Galaxy S20 (check out Galaxy S20 tips and tricks), Galaxy S10 Lite, among others.

Let’s see how to activate it.

What’s nearby Share

As stated before, this is a sharing platform that allows you to share files, links, map locations, documents, photos from an Android phone (in this case your Galaxy Note 20) to a other. It is similar to Apple’s AirDrop, which makes file sharing easy and effortless.

It works either via Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, WebRTC or peer-to-peer Wi-Fi and works even when you are cut off from the internet. The good thing is that it’s much faster than regular Bluetooth transfers, and it doesn’t have the difficulty of opening sharing apps.

Once enabled, you can see all the devices (based on the device’s privacy settings) around you.

Nearby Sharing is similar to Apple’s AirDrop and makes file sharing easy and effortless

And since it’s a native feature, you don’t need to download any additional apps. It just requires a one-time setup and that’s about it.

Now that’s it, let’s take a quick look at the to set it up on your Galaxy Note 20.

How to set up and share a nearby share on the Samsung Galaxy Note 20

Step 1: Pull down the Quick settings menu and short press the nearby Share button to access the settings. Once inside, press the Activate button for well, activate it.

Note to turn on or turn on Wi-Fi, location, or Bluetooth on your phone.

2nd step: Once activated, you can change the device name. This is usually the name of your Google Account (see Top Security Tips for Your Google Account).

After setting it up, sending and sharing files is easy. To share, open the gallery to share an image file.

From the Share menu, tap Nearby Sharing and wait for the device to start searching.

Step 3: On the recipient’s phone, activate nearby sharing and leave the phone unlocked.

If the two phones are close, you will see a notification window for nearby sharing.

Tap to activate.

Step 4: As soon as the recipient taps the prompt, you’ll see their Google avatar in the share bar. Since both of my phones were signed in with the same ID, the recipient and sender avatar looks similar.

Tap the avatar to start the transfer.

Step 5: Like any other transfer procedure, the recipient must press the Accept button for the transfer to start. Once complete, the sharing process is completed in seconds.

The process may seem overwhelming when you do it for the first time, but let me assure you that it is simple and easy. Well, it’s super fast, and that’s the best thing about it.

We uploaded around 30 weird photos and it didn’t take more than 5-10 seconds. The same was true for a 2 minute 8K video shot on the Galaxy Note 20.

Privacy settings

So who can share content with you? Can anyone transfer random content to your phone? Yes and no.

If you leave the Sharing Nearby privacy settings like this, almost anyone with an open Share Nearby connection will be able to discover your device, just like Bluetooth.

You can now choose between Everyone in your contact list and some selected contacts in your contact list. Or, you can just choose to be hidden. This way, no one will be able to see your device to send items. However, you will be able to send them links, photos, files, and even a location from Google Maps.

To change this setting, open nearby sharing settings and select Device visibility and you will see all of the device visibility options. Simple, see.

Nearby Sharing also works well on Chromebooks, although we haven’t tested one yet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with Macs, Apple iPhones, or even Windows machines.

Bonus Trick: Link to Windows

If you have a Windows 10 machine, you’ll be happy to know that your Samsung Galaxy Note 20 will be able to connect wirelessly to your Windows laptop or desktop.

So what’s the point of making a connection? For starters, you can view your phone’s incoming messages and photos right from the comfort of your laptop / PC. And that too wireless!

This feature can be distracting, but the good news is that you will have easy access to certain information on your phone. Obviously, you’ll need to sign in using your Microsoft account on your PC and phone. Additionally, you will need to install the Microsoft Your Phone app on your PC.

To configure it, go to your phone’s quick settings and press the Link to Windows button. Turn it on and hit the Add Device button and your phone will walk you through the rest.

Don’t worry, it’s an easy process and doesn’t take a long time to set it up.

Sharing is loving

This is how you can share contacts, files and photos with your contacts, family and friends via the near sharing function of your Samsung Galaxy Note 20.

Which feature of the Galaxy Note 20 do you find most useful? I would go with the new S Pen gestures and improved handwriting recognition when taking handwritten notes in the Samsung Notes app. And you?