SendXa / Articles
Nothing to install
Share files without installing an app or signing up
Updated 2026-08-22 · 5 minutes read
Short answer
Open sendxa.app on both devices in whatever browser is already installed. Pick the file on the sending side, type the 8-character code on the receiving side. No app to install, no account to create, no email to verify, and nothing left running once you close the tab. It works on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone and iPad, up to 32.0 GB per file.
Installing an app to send one file sounds like a small thing, right up until it isn't.
- The work laptop blocks installs. Getting IT to approve one takes two days for a job that takes two minutes.
- The phone has 400 MB free. Installing a 90 MB app to send a 2 GB video is backwards.
- You are on someone else's computer. Install an app, sign into your account on it, and now you have to remember to undo both.
- The app wants access to all your photos and your contacts, to send one file.
- The person receiving has to install the same app. This is where it fails most often: you finish installing and then find out they will not.
A browser is already on every machine, and both sides already have it.
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.
What you do not have to do
| The usual step | Here |
|---|
| Download an app from a store | No |
| Create an account and a password | No |
| Verify an email or phone number | No |
| Grant access to photos, contacts, location | No |
| Get the other person to install it too | No |
| Remember to uninstall afterwards | No, closing the tab is the whole cleanup |
No account also means there is no profile of you here, and nothing to come back and delete later.
Where it runs
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone and iPad, in Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox. Any pairing works: iPhone to Windows, Android to macOS, Linux to iPad.
Everything goes over port 443, the same port as every HTTPS site, so it usually passes a corporate firewall without anyone having to open anything.
What you give up
A web page cannot do a few things an installed app can, and knowing them in advance saves the annoyance.
- The sending page has to stay open until the other side finishes. Closing the tab ends the transfer. That is the price of the file never being stored anywhere.
- Nothing runs in the background. When a phone locks its screen the transfer pauses, and unlocking resumes it.
- Both devices have to have the page open at the same time, because the file only moves when the other side asks for it.
The server only ever receives the list of names and sizes — just enough to introduce the two sides to each other. The file itself goes straight from one browser to the other; when the network blocks that, it passes through the server without being written to disk.
No limits in the places that usually stop you
- Up to 32.0 GB per file.
- Up to 500 files in one session, and you can add more mid-session without the ID or code changing.
- No daily quota, no counter running down, no paid tier that unlocks more.
- No advert counting down before it lets you download.
Questions people actually ask
Really nothing to install?
Correct. This is a web page. Open it in the browser already on the machine.
Does the person receiving have to install anything?
No. They open the same page, or the link you send them.
Do I have to create an account?
No. No sign-up, no email verification, no login.
Is anything left running on my machine?
No. Closing the tab stops everything; no process stays behind.
Will it work on a locked-down work machine?
Yes. Nothing gets installed, so no admin rights are needed, and it goes over port 443 like any HTTPS site.
Is there a limit on how often I can send?
No. There is no daily quota, and no account for a quota to hang off.
Why does the page have to stay open?
Because the file is never uploaded anywhere. It stays on your machine until the other side hits Download, then it goes straight across.
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 →