Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10  

    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10

    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10

    How to Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10
    Published by Category: Network & Sharing
    08 Nov 2021
    Designer Media Ltd

    How to Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10


    Microsoft introduced a new Near Share feature starting with Windows 10 build 17035.

    Near Share was renamed to Nearby sharing in Windows 10 April 2018 Update version 1803.

    Nearby Sharing lets you instantly share your videos, photos, documents, and websites with people and devices near you over Bluetooth (4.0 or later) or Wi-Fi. Say you’re in a meeting with your boss and need to quickly send them the report or PowerPoint presentation you’re looking at on your screen, Nearby Sharing helps you do this quickly and easily. Here’s what you can do with Nearby Sharing.

    • Share quickly - Send any video, photo, document, or webpage viewed on Microsoft Edge to people nearby by clicking on the share charm in the app or right-clicking to get the share menu. You can share a report with a colleague in your meeting room or a vacation photo with your best friend in the library.3
    • Take the quickest path - Your computer automatically picks the fastest way to share your file or webpage, either over Bluetooth or Wifi.
    • See who’s available - Bluetooth allows you to quickly discover potential devices with which you could share.

    See also:

    This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Nearby sharing for your account in Windows 10.


    Contents




    EXAMPLE: Nearby Sharing feature in Share UI
    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10-near_share.jpg






    OPTION ONE

    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Action Center


    1 Open the Action Center (Win+A).

    2 Click/tap on the Nearby sharing quick action button in the Action Center to toggle it on or off (default) for what you want. (see screenshots below)

    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10-turn_on_nearby_sharing_action_center.jpg Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10-turn_off_nearby_sharing_action_center.jpg






    OPTION TWO

    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Settings


    1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the System icon.

    2 Do step 3 (on) or step 4 (off) below for what you would like to do.


     3. To Turn On Nearby Sharing

    A) Click/tap on Shared experiences on the left side, and turn on Nearby sharing on the right side. (see screenshot below)

    B) Select to share or receive content from Everyone nearby or My devices only for what you want.

    C) If you like, you can change the default downloads folder for Near Share.

    D) Go to step 5 below.

    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10-turn_on_near_share.jpg


     4. To Turn Off Nearby Sharing

    This is the default setting.

    A) Click/tap on Shared experiences on the left side, turn off Nearby sharing on the right side, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)

    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing in Windows 10-turn_off_near_share.jpg

    5 You can now close Settings if you like.






    OPTION THREE

    Turn On or Off Nearby Sharing using a BAT file


    The downloadable .bat files below will modify the DWORD values in the registry keys below.

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CDP

    NearShareChannelUserAuthzPolicy DWORD
    0 = Off
    1 = On - My devices only
    2 = On - Everyone nearby

    CdpSessionUserAuthzPolicy DWORD
    1 = On or Off

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CDP\SettingsPage

    NearShareChannelUserAuthzPolicy DWORD
    1 = On - My devices only
    2 = On - Everyone nearby

    BluetoothLastDisabledNearShare DWORD
    0 = Off


    1 Do step 2 (on - Everyone nearby), step 3 (on - My devices only), or step 4 (off) below for what you would like to do.


     2. To Turn On Nearby Sharing for "Everyone nearby"

    A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the BAT file below, and go to step 5 below.

    Turn_ON_Near_Share_from_Everyone_nearby.bat

    Download


     3. To Turn On Nearby Sharing for "My devices only"

    A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the BAT file below, and go to step 5 below.

    Turn_ON_Near_Share_from_My_devices_only.bat

    Download


     4. To Turn Off Nearby Sharing

    This is the default setting.

    A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the BAT file below, and go to step 5 below.

    Turn_OFF_Near_Share.bat

    Download

    5 Save the .bat file to your desktop.

    6 Unblock the .bat file.

    7 Run the .bat file.

    8 You will now notice your screen flicker and a command prompt quickly opens and closes as explorer is restarted to apply the registry changes.

    9 When finished, you can delete the downloaded .bat file if you like.


    That's it,
    Shawn Brink


    Related Tutorials



  1. Windows 11 Tutorials



  2. maamiradina
    Posts : 45
    Windows 10 PRO
       New #1

    WE Haven't Near Share in Windows 10
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  4. Brink
    Posts : 68,995
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       New #2

    Hello Muhammad Aamir, :)

    It's only available starting with build 17035.
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  5. briseven
    Posts : 3
    windows 10 pro
       New #3

    Hi Brink,


    I use Windows 10 Pro 1909. In Settings-> System-> Shared Experiences the "Nearby Sharing" option does not appear.

    At the beginning of the tutorial I understood that "Nearby Sharing" can be used with a Wi-Fi connection. But based on the Microsoft article you quote, it appears that both PCs or devices need to have Bluetooth.

    Is it possible to use "Nearby Sharing" only with Wi-Fi?

    Thank you very much for your tutorials. They are excellent.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  6. Brink
    Posts : 68,995
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    Hello @briseven,

    I'm afraid both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is required for Nearby Sharing.

    You can't turn off one without the other also getting turned off.
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

 

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