LocalSend on both devices is something I’ve used
post
KDE Connect
Localsend
On the same network with device discovery localsend can be a good alternative.
It works on most devices, even IOS IIRC
- syncthing (file synchronization)
- kdeconnect (file transfers, clipboard sharing, presentation remote)
- deskflow (keyboard and mouse sharing)
- warpinator (one off file sharing)
- rsync / scp (one off file copies / backups)
For sending files between a phone and a PC, I use KDE Connect.
For sending files between PCs, I use SSH.
Both are really simple and lightweight tools that normally come preinstalled, and you can use them with no configuration.
Adding to this, there's a gnome extension so you can use KDE connect without KDE DE.
You can use KDE Connect itself without KDE.
But GSConnect shows up in the equivalent of your task bar
So does KDE Connect. It's a standalone program that happens to also be integrated into the KDE DE.
No, not on GNOME Desktops, that's the reason you need to install GSConnect on GNOME. If you install just KDE Connect on a GNOME system, you will not have it integrated.
Everyone else mentioned most of what I would suggest.
One is missing for your original problem. Localsend. Think airdrop but cross platform. Super useful if you have a mix of devices (iOS, android, windows, etc…)
There's PairDrop, you can self host it but iirc it transfer via webrtc so as long as the devices 'see' one another there's no mitm.
This is based on Snapdrop. If the current developer hasn’t gone crazy with the fork, you can read the entire source code over a cup of coffee. The server used to just handle discovery/handshake of devices on the same network, with file transfer peer to peer using local addresses.
Edit: Looks like they’ve added transfer over WAN not just local. Privacy discussion here.
Syncthing for everything: file transfers, backing up phone photos, synced obsidian vaults, etc.
PC to phone:
- USB cable
- KDE Connect
- Nextcloud
- Syncthing
PC to PC:
- USB drive
- SFTP
- SSH
- Nextcloud
- Syncthing
Phone to PC:
- USB cable
- KDE Connect
- Nextcloud
- Syncthing
Depends on the scenario, but I'll use KDE Connect, NextCloud, VaultWarden send, or just go old scp.
For phone <-> PC I use localsend. If I do PC to PC, possibly even large amounts of files or large files in general I put them on a network drive specifically intended for that purpose
Honestly, syncthing, croc, vaultwarden send, Send (fork of firefox's send before they discontinued it, still works), Privatebin, etc.
Taildrop if you use Tailscale.
Surely I can use Syncthing inside Tailscale but 1. I have to depend on their public discoservers, or 2. I have to host and configure the discoserv myself for every client which is tedious to do
I either use KDE Connect or Pairdrop depending on which devices I am sharing befween
I use Bluetooth. Or if a device doesn't have it, I will drop it into my server with scp or filebrowser.
For files I use syncthing (also for music/photos/notes/etc... syncing files is IMHO the way to go wherever applicable).
For sending links to my PC (eg. articles linked from podcasts' notes) I used to rely on firefox sync, but I'm starting to distance myself from Mozilla so I am gonna experiment with wallabang.
For sending small notes to myself (stuff that I want to sort or act upon when I get to my PC), I'm using signal's "note to self" but I'm investigating alternatives because signal doesn't mark such messages as unread and so sometimes I forget I've sent some.
Yep. For folders where I want access quick access to everything in the folder, SyncThing is best.
Starting to dabble with KDE Connect for one-off file transfers where SyncThing is overkill
my boss just emails stuff to herself.. or just lets it sit in drafts (imap) with the attachment.
i use localsend, wormhole, or similar usually, especially if one or both the devices aren't "mine".. and if it's stuff i'm 'sending' to a handheld from a pc, i might instead drop them somewhere on one of our dietpi boxes and just use http
KDE connect, sftp, and dropping files on my NAS is pretty much all I do.
Work stuff uses work methods though, work devices are "on" my network but fully segregated, so its thumb drive and sneakernet or our internal storage instead.
I use a mix of few things
- kapus.app for starters where a device is completely new and I need to pass some secrets like login to Nextcloud to get keepass or something
- Nextcloud - documents that I rarely access. Some bigger files
- syncthing - for often access files like main keepass. Home server acts as a de-facto hub.
- quick share for an airdrop replacement
- if quick share is not working for some reason I also have a private channel on matrix where I can share some stuff quickly as-hoc
Most of the time I use Nextcloud. If I can't wait for the file to sync I'll use either email or a jump drive depending on which devices I'm moving data between. I
If I remember that I can, I'll occasionally use bluetooth to send from my phone to one of my computers.
Syncthing. I connect both devices to same Wi-Fi, copy a file to a shared directory, and wait a minute.
I use ghost commander on my phone to access my NAS on my home network.
I use KDE Connect. Works well with Tailscale when I'm outside my home network.
My dad found one solution that's specifically for the task (whose name eludes me at the moment), but for me, my nextcloud is a Swiss army knife.
USB Stick and USB wire?
no need to fiddle with an app, nothing to configure, no updates, works even with relatively big file sizes, surprisingly fast?
I have sftp setup on my 2 main PCs and a client on my phone (it's not a server). For the rest of the family who have dual Mint/Windows boots I also have warpinator installed on mine and theirs - it's point to point for the enrolled devices but is currently only setup to work within the LAN.
Primary filesharing is simply the NAS which is visible to all devices on the LAN (can be made available externally but I haven't). This is a recent addition and no one uses warpinator any more.
Edit to clarify I don't have sftp server on phone
Might want to boot up warpinator myself, but from their website:
#Winpinator for Windows PC
For Windows users, this software is readily available for the Windows platform, allowing easy installation of both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. It facilitates seamless file and folder sharing between Microsoft Windows and Linux via LAN.
It seems like there might be a slight error in your question. It’s possible that you’re referring to “WinZip” instead of “Winpinator.” WinZip is a popular file compression and archive utility for Windows. If you’re looking for information on WinZip, you can visit the official WinZip website to download and learn more about the application: WinZip Official Website.
???
I use bitwarden send, all my devices already have access to my password database and i can save and download files or text though it. You can also use the URL to let other devices access it if you want.
Samba drive + vpn tunnel. If I'm working on my PC and want to do something with my phone: plainapp
I know it's not a dedicated (or that good of a) solution but I just upload stuff to a private room on my Matrix server.
All my devices are on the same wirguard network. It allows me to use SFTP to mount the fileservers of the others very easily. Then copying files is as simple as copying from one folder to another.
Mostly nextcloud if it's between my own devices.
For getting a file to someone else I had good luck with sharry. https://github.com/eikek/sharry
@GonzakoFor files: #Nextclound #Syncthing #Samba #nfs (does #Signal selfmessage or Airdrop still counts as self-hosted solution? ;D)For messages/texts: #ElementX #joplin
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| NAS | Network-Attached Storage |
| SFTP | Secure File Transfer Protocol for encrypted file transfer, over SSH |
| SSH | Secure Shell for remote terminal access |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network |
4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 15 acronyms.
[Thread #335 for this comm, first seen 4th Jun 2026, 12:30] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
I just use SSH+Rsync for everything. I traded two-way sync for minimalism and reliability. I've had nothing but headaches with anything else, especially Syncthing.
My Computer and both Raspberry Pi servers both run Linux and I have Termux installed on my Android phone so OpenSSL and Rsync are easily available.
I made a script that runs Rsync commands from files containing all the information which easily swaps source/target files so I can easily transfer in both directions with a simple command line option. It's reliable and simple and I've had a lot less headaches troubleshooting the rarely occurring issues.
https://blip.net its as seamless as airdrop but works over the internet p2p
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| NAS | Network-Attached Storage |
| SMB | Server Message Block protocol for file and printer sharing; Windows-native |
| SSH | Secure Shell for remote terminal access |
3 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 10 acronyms.
[Thread #1 for this comm, first seen 5th Jun 2026, 07:30] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
How do we all feel about llm-crufted responses like this? Is it ok? The new normal? Costs of doing business? I can't tell if I should be mad or not...
Is this a casaOS fork you need to sign up for, to get it installed? ...Why?
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