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Computer to computer
Send a file from one computer to another, no install needed
Updated 2026-08-08 · 6 min read
Short answer
Open sendxa.app on both computers. Drag the file onto the page on the sending computer, then enter the 8-character code on the receiving computer. Or open the link. The file transfers directly between the two machines, up to 32.0 GB per file, with no account and nothing installed. On Chrome and Edge the incoming file is written straight to disk as it arrives, so file size is limited by your free space, not your memory.
Two computers, one file, and none of the usual routes work. The machines are not on the same domain. One is a macOS machine and one is Windows, so there is no shared file sharing to fall back on. The file is 4 GB, so email is out. And you are not about to install remote-access software on a company laptop just to move a video.
The browser is already on both machines, and it can do this.
How to do it
On the sending device, open sendxa.app and drop the file onto the page. Several files at once is fine.
The page shows an 8-character code. There is also a QR code and a Copy link button if the other person is not in the room with you.
On the receiving device, open the same address, type the 8-character code into the box and hit Receive. Or just open the link and skip the typing.
The file list appears. Hit Download on the file you want, or Download all.
Keep the sending page open until the transfer finishes. That is the one rule; everything else takes care of itself.
One page, open on both devices. The sender picks the files and gets an 8-character code; the receiver types that code and hits Receive. With the link there is nothing to type at all.
If both machines are yours and sitting next to each other, skip the typing entirely: press Copy link on the sending machine and paste the link into the other browser. The link carries the code after the hash, so the person you send it to lands straight in the session without typing anything.
Where the file lands, and why the browser matters here
This is the one place where the choice of browser has a real effect on a computer.
| Receiving browser | How the file is saved |
|---|
| Chrome, Edge | You pick the destination first, and the file is written to disk as it arrives. Size is limited only by free space. |
| Safari, Firefox, file up to 512 MB | The file is assembled in memory, then saved, with a progress bar throughout. |
| Safari, Firefox, file over 512 MB | Falls back to a normal browser download. It still arrives; you lose the in-page progress bar and the pause button. |
So if you are about to receive something enormous on a computer, do it in Chrome or Edge. On the sending side the browser makes no difference at all.
Both computers on the same network? It goes local
The two browsers try to reach each other directly before falling back to the server, and on the same Wi-Fi or the same office LAN they will succeed. The file then never leaves the building. On a measured 6 MB test the direct route finished in 3.6 seconds against 42.2 seconds relayed. Nearly twelve times faster, and the gap grows with the file.
Both bars are drawn to the times actually measured on this service. The direct route is nearly twelve times faster, and the gap widens as files get bigger.
You can tell which route you got: the page says so during the transfer. If it went direct, it tells you the data is not passing through the server.
Big files, unreliable connections
A 20 GB transfer between two computers will get interrupted. That is planned for rather than hoped against.
- A dropped connection resumes from the byte it stopped at, not from zero.
- The page reconnects on its own, up to 30 times, backing off from 2 seconds to 20 between attempts.
- Stop is a pause. What has arrived stays on disk and the button becomes Resume.
- The sender can add more files mid-session without the ID or code changing, and can pull a file back out of the list, even one that is currently transferring.
A drop never sends you back to zero. The receiving side remembers how many bytes it holds and asks only for what is missing; the page reconnects up to 30 times, backing off from 2 to 20 seconds.
Compared to the other ways of moving a file between two computers
| Method | Setup needed | Practical ceiling | Cross-platform |
|---|
| USB stick | Find it, format it right | Stick size | Yes, if the format is readable on both |
| Network file sharing (SMB) | Same network, credentials, discovery working | Large | Fiddly between macOS and Windows |
| Cloud drive | Account on both machines, full upload first | Storage quota | Yes |
| Email | Nothing | 25 MB | Yes |
| Browser transfer | Nothing | 32.0 GB per file | Yes |
Network file sharing is genuinely better when both machines are permanently on the same network and you move files constantly. Set it up once, use it forever. Everything else on that list is worse than opening a page and reading out an 8-character code.
Questions people actually ask
Does this work between Windows and macOS?
Yes, in either direction, and Linux too. Nothing about the transfer depends on the operating system, only on there being a browser.
Do both computers need to be on at the same time?
Yes. The file is only sent when the receiving side asks for it, so both pages must be open together.
Can I send a whole folder?
Yes. Drag the folder onto the page and the tree survives, so the receiving side sees the same structure. Up to 500 files in one session and 6 levels deep.
Will it work from behind a corporate firewall?
It uses port 443, the same port as every HTTPS website, so it normally passes straight through. Strict networks may block the direct device-to-device connection, in which case it falls back to relaying through the server. Slower, but it still works.
Is there a limit on how often I can send?
No. There is no daily quota, no counter and no account to attach one to.
What if the receiving computer restarts halfway?
Open the page again, enter the same code, and press Download on the same file. It picks up from the bytes already saved rather than starting over.
Try it with the file you are stuck on right now
Open the page on both devices, pick the file, read out the 8-character code. Nothing to install, no account, and the file never rests on our server.
Send a file now →