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    5 min read 7 stepsMay 15, 2026Verified May 2026

    Samsung Quick Share — Send Photos Between Galaxy Phones in Seconds

    Quick Share is the Samsung answer to AirDrop. Here is how to use it to send photos, videos, and files between Galaxy phones with no Wi-Fi or text needed.

    At a Glance

    Category
    Phone & Tablet
    Difficulty
    Beginner
    Read Time
    5 min read
    Steps
    7
    Topics covered
    samsung
    galaxy
    quick share
    android
    photo sharing
    file transfer

    In this guide (7 steps):

    1. 1.Turn on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on both phones
    2. 2.Open the photo you want to send
    3. 3.Tap Share, then Quick Share
    4. 4.On the receiving phone — accept the share
    5. 5.Set who can send to you (important privacy setting)
    6. 6.Send to a non-Samsung phone (Pixel, Chromebook, Windows)
    7. 7.Use Quick Share for files other than photos
    1

    Turn on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on both phones

    ~25s
    Quick Share uses Bluetooth to find nearby phones, then switches to Wi-Fi for the actual transfer (much faster than Bluetooth alone). Both phones need both turned on. Pull down from the top of the screen with two fingers to open Quick Settings. Make sure the Bluetooth tile and Wi-Fi tile are both highlighted. You do not need to be on the same Wi-Fi network — the phones make a direct connection between themselves.
    2

    Open the photo you want to send

    ~21s
    Open the Gallery app (or Samsung Photos, or Google Photos — any photo app works). Tap a photo to open it full-screen. To send more than one, look for a "Select" button — tap it, then tap each photo you want to include. The corner of each tapped photo gets a checkmark. You can pick a few photos or 50 at once.
    3

    Tap Share, then Quick Share

    ~20s
    Tap the Share icon (looks like an arrow pointing up out of a box, or three connected dots in older versions). A sheet slides up showing different ways to send the photos. Tap "Quick Share." Your phone starts scanning for nearby devices. If you see the recipient name on a circle or tile, tap it. That is the send.
    4

    On the receiving phone — accept the share

    ~33s
    The person receiving the photos will see a notification at the top of their screen: "[Your name] wants to share." They tap "Accept." The photos download in seconds and appear in their Gallery app under a folder called "Quick Share." That is the entire receiving side — no app to open, no link to tap, no signup.

    Quick Tip

    Quick Tip: Tell the recipient ahead of time to "watch for the notification." First-time users sometimes miss it because the notification only stays on screen for a few seconds. They can also pull down from the top to see it again.

    5

    Set who can send to you (important privacy setting)

    ~40s
    By default, Quick Share is set to "Contacts only" — meaning random strangers cannot beam things to you. To check, pull down Quick Settings, long-press the Quick Share tile. And you will see three options: (1) No one — Quick Share is off for incoming. (2) Contacts only — only people you have saved in Contacts can send. (3) Everyone — anyone nearby for the next 10 minutes. Leave it on Contacts only for daily use. Switch to Everyone temporarily when you are meeting someone new who needs to send you photos.

    Warning

    Never leave Quick Share on "Everyone" permanently in public — at airports and concerts, strangers can spam you with photos. Always switch back to Contacts only when you are done.

    6

    Send to a non-Samsung phone (Pixel, Chromebook, Windows)

    ~31s
    Since 2024, Quick Share also works between Galaxy phones and Pixel phones (which call it the same thing) and Chromebooks. On the receiving Pixel, make sure Quick Share is on: SettingsConnected devicesConnection preferencesQuick Share → turn on. Then the steps are identical — your Galaxy will see the Pixel as a nearby device. For Windows, install the free "Quick Share from Google" app on the laptop, sign in with the same Google account on your phone, and the laptop shows up in the Quick Share list.
    7

    Use Quick Share for files other than photos

    ~43s
    Quick Share is not just for photos. Open any file — a PDF, a Word document, a song, a video, even a contact card — tap Share, then Quick Share. The recipient gets the file in their Downloads folder (or Gallery, for media). Real uses: sharing a grocery list with your spouse, sending your insurance card photo to a family member, beaming a recipe video to grandma. No data plan needed, no text size limits, no quality loss.

    Quick Tip

    Quick Tip: You can also Quick Share to yourself between your own devices. If you have both a Galaxy phone and a Galaxy tablet, sign in to Samsung Account on both — your other device shows up as "Your devices" at the top of the share list, and the transfer is automatic with no accept needed.

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    If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone and so does someone you want to send photos to — a grandchild, a friend, anyone in the room — you do not need text messaging, email, or Wi-Fi. Samsung built a free system called Quick Share that beams files between phones directly. It is fast (a 20-photo album moves in about 10 seconds), free, and quality stays full. Texting photos shrinks them. Quick Share does not.

    Quick Share works between any two Samsung Galaxy phones from 2021 and later. As of 2024, Samsung and Google merged their sharing systems, so Quick Share now also works with Google Pixel phones, Chromebooks, and some Windows laptops. The interface looks the same as Google's old Nearby Share.

    This guide walks through sending photos, accepting photos coming in, and the one setting that matters: who is allowed to send to your phone.

    (Sources: Samsung Support — Quick Share, samsung.com/us/support; Google Support — Quick Share, support.google.com/android)

    Watch a walkthrough: search YouTube for "Samsung Quick Share tutorial" — the official Samsung US channel has a current video.

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    samsung
    galaxy
    quick share
    android
    photo sharing
    file transfer

    Official Resources

    Apple Support — iPhoneGoogle Help — AndroidSamsung Support

    Sources used to create and verify this guide. View all sources →

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