Move files between PC and phone – without the cloud
Do you message yourself on WhatsApp just to get a link from your PC to your phone? Scan a QR code, and text, photos and files go straight over your Wi-Fi — no app on the phone, no account, no detour through someone else’s servers.
Text transfer is free
Windows 10 and later · No app on the phone · No account
Halfway round the internet
A file sits on your PC. It needs to get to the phone lying a metre away.
The usual route: upload it to a service, wait, download it again on the phone. Two transfers across the internet to cover one metre — and in between, the file sits on a stranger’s server.
For a single file that is not worth it. So people message themselves.
Scan a QR code, no account
Enable it once in the settings. Celerando then shows a QR code with your PC’s address on the local network.
The camera opens the QuickShare page in the browser. No app, no account, no pairing — on an iPhone just as on Android.
From the phone: paste text; photos and files need Pro. From the PC: Share Clipboard in the QuickShare menu. New items appear on every connected device at once.
What you can transfer
Text works in every edition, up to 100 KB per item — enough for links, addresses, notes and long paragraphs. Images and files come with Pro, up to 10 MB per file; in Business and Team up to 200 MB.
The clipboard gets to your phone in one click: “Share Clipboard” sends whatever you just copied on the PC — text or, from Pro, an image — and on the phone the copy icon puts it on the phone’s clipboard. The other way round, paste text into the QuickShare page and it is waiting on the PC.
A screen region is captured with “Capture & Share” in the QuickShare menu. Celerando then shows a notification; “Edit” opens the editor, where you mark up or annotate the region — and with Pro, “Share via QuickShare” sends it to your phone.
- Links
- Notes
- Addresses
- Photos
- Screenshots
- PDFs
- Office documents
- ZIP archives
Browsers only let a page copy images straight to the phone’s clipboard over an encrypted connection. For that, QuickShare can be switched to HTTPS — what that means and why the browser then warns once.
Which network is enough
PC and phone have to be on the same local network: your Wi-Fi at home, the office network — or your phone’s hotspot, if the PC joins it. The transfer itself does not need an internet connection.
When the PC changes networks, say after standby or at a docking station, Celerando updates the address and QR code on its own.
If the phone cannot find the PC, Windows is almost always the reason: the firewall rule for QuickShare only applies on networks classified as private or as a company domain, and Windows often classifies new networks as public. The diagnostics in QuickShare check the port, network profile, firewall rule and address, and fix the first two in one click — Windows asks for administrator rights once to do so.
Who can read along — and how to prevent it
Data goes directly from one device to the other. Shared items stay on your PC in your user profile until they expire — after 30 days, adjustable — or until you delete them. What the app contacts at all: the update check, and on the very first launch a single installation ping — a random installation ID, a truncated hash of the device fingerprint, and the app and Windows versions; no account, no name, no content. The IP address is not stored in plain text: a hash of it is deleted after 48 hours, while the approximate location derived from it (country, region, city) stays with the record for 24 months.
The QR code contains nothing but your PC’s address. Without a PIN, any device on the same network that knows this address can open the QuickShare page. At home that rarely matters; on a shared office or flat-share network it does: from Pro on, a PIN protects access, and the browser remembers it for 30 days.
By default the connection uses HTTP, so it is unencrypted within your network — that is what avoids the browser warning. HTTPS can be switched on in the settings.
What each edition includes
Text, with one connected device at a time.
Free with email registration: text to any number of devices at once.
Images and files up to 10 MB each, PIN protection and history: shared items survive a restart of Celerando.
Files up to 200 MB, 1,000 instead of 100 history entries, and access by computer name instead of IP address.
Same as Business — on up to 3 workstations with one code.
Celerando, LocalSend and messaging yourself compared
LocalSend also transfers directly over the local network, free and open source. The difference is not the route the data takes, it is what has to be installed on the phone.
| Celerando | LocalSend | Messaging yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Route of the data | Directly on the local network | Directly on the local network | Via the provider’s servers |
| On the phone | Just the browser | App, receiving also by link | Messenger or mail app |
| Account | No | No | Yes |
| Internet needed | No | No | Yes |
| Encryption | HTTPS can be enabled | On by default | Depends on the service |
| File size | Pro 10 MB, Business 200 MB | No fixed limit | Limited by the service |
| Price | Text free, files from Pro | Free, open source | Free |
As of September 2026. For large files between devices that already have LocalSend installed, LocalSend is the obvious choice. Celerando saves you the app on the phone — and is already there if you use it for dictation, translation or text recognition.
A metre apart, a metre of transfer
No relay server, no account, no app on the phone.
Text is free in every edition — images and files are included from Pro.
QuickShare FAQ
Do I need an app on my phone?
No. The QR code opens the QuickShare page in the phone’s browser, on an iPhone just as on Android. A second PC or laptop can open the page too and send files by drag and drop.
Does it work without internet?
Yes. PC and phone only have to be on the same local network — Wi-Fi, the office network or the phone’s hotspot. Celerando goes online only for the update check and the one-time ping on first launch, not for the transfer.
Why can’t my phone find the PC?
Usually Windows has classified the network as public, and the firewall rule for QuickShare only applies on private networks and company domains. The diagnostics in QuickShare show this and switch it in one click. The second common cause is guest Wi-Fi that deliberately isolates devices from each other — the only fix there is another network, such as the phone’s hotspot.
Can others on the Wi-Fi read along?
Without a PIN, any device on the same network that knows your PC’s address can open the QuickShare page. From Pro on, a PIN protects access. By default the connection uses HTTP, so it is unencrypted on the local network; with HTTPS it is encrypted. On networks Windows classifies as public — hotel, café — the firewall blocks QuickShare anyway.
What is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?
HTTP is the default and comes without a browser warning. HTTPS encrypts the connection and lets you copy images — from Pro — to the phone’s clipboard with one tap; because the certificate comes from Celerando itself, every browser shows a security notice once per device. The explainer on QuickShare over HTTPS walks you through confirming it step by step.
How large can files be?
Text up to 100 KB per item, in every edition. Images and files from Pro up to 10 MB per file and 100 MB in total; in Business and Team up to 200 MB per file and 2 GB in total.
Can I share the clipboard between PC and phone?
Yes, with a click: in the QuickShare menu, “Share Clipboard” sends the current content — text or, from Pro, an image — to the phone, where the copy icon puts it on the phone’s clipboard. The other way round, paste text into the QuickShare page. There is no automatic sync in the background.
How long do shared files stay?
30 days by default, adjustable; you can delete any item at any time. They are stored on your PC in your user profile, not on a server. From Pro on they also survive a restart of Celerando — the history keeps 100 items, 1,000 in Business and Team.
How many devices can be connected at once?
One in the free version. With the equally free email registration (Free+), any number — handy when a phone and a tablet or a second computer should be connected at the same time.
How is QuickShare different from LocalSend?
Both transfer directly over the local network. LocalSend is free, open source, has no size limit and needs the app on both devices to send. QuickShare only needs the browser on the phone and is part of Celerando — if you already use it for dictation or translation, there is nothing else to install.
Do I need administrator rights?
Not for the installation. For the phone to reach the PC, Windows has to allow incoming connections on the QuickShare port. The diagnostics in QuickShare create that rule in one click; Windows asks for administrator rights once to do so.
What does QuickShare cost?
Text transfer is free in every edition. Images, files, PIN protection and history are part of Celerando Pro — €29.99 once, no subscription.