Quick Share for Mac? Here's what works in 2026

There's no Quick Share for Mac from Google: Quick Share runs on Android, Chromebooks and Windows PCs, and Google's old Android File Transfer download page now redirects to Quick Share for Windows. You still have decent options. Android phones on Google's AirDrop list can send straight to a Mac, third-party apps such as NearDrop and QuickDrop add Quick Share to macOS over the same Wi-Fi, and a browser beam works for any Android phone and any Mac with a modern browser, in either direction, on any network.

Is there an official Quick Share app for Mac?

No. Google's help page lists where Quick Share runs: Android 6 and later, Chromebooks, and select Windows PCs through the Quick Share for Windows app. Google's Quick Share site has pages for sharing with Android, iPhone and Windows PCs, but not Macs, and requests like Droid Life's 2024 “Google, please release a Quick Share app for macOS” are still waiting.

Similar names don't help. The Chrome Web Store's “Quick Share for Mac” is an unrelated extension that opens the Mac's share menu for the web page you're on. And Nearby Share for Mac leads to the same place, because Nearby Share was Google's old name: Google and Samsung announced its merger into Quick Share in January 2024.

Google's Android File Transfer app, the old cable route for Macs, isn't offered any more either. Its download page at android.com/filetransfer now redirects to Quick Share for Windows (checked 31 October 2026).

What did change is that, since November 2025, Quick Share on some Android phones can talk to the AirDrop already built into your Mac (Android Authority).

AirDrop from Android to Mac: the phones that can do it

Google's AirDrop bridge works with iPhone, iPad and macOS devices, per its Quick Share help. These are the phones on Google's official list as of 31 October 2026 (the model-by-model table is on our Quick Share for iPhone page):

• Google Pixel: Pixel 10 series (including 10a), Pixel 9 series (including 9a) and Pixel 8a
• Samsung Galaxy: S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra; S25, S25+, S25 Ultra and S25 Edge; S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra; Z Flip7, Z Fold7, Z Flip6, Z Fold6 (including Special Edition) and Z TriFold
• OPPO: Find X9, X9 Pro, X9 Ultra and X9s, and Find N6
• Also: OnePlus 15, Xiaomi 17T Pro, HONOR Magic V6 and vivo X300 Ultra
• Coming soon, per Google: Motorola razr fold 2026, OPPO Find X8 series, HONOR Magic8 Pro, and vivo X300 and X300 Pro
• Not listed, but updated: the Galaxy S25 FE got it with One UI 9, Android Authority reported in October 2026, so check Quick Share settings for Share with Apple devices on other Galaxy phones too.

A Mac's AirDrop choices are Contacts Only and Everyone, not the iPhone's Everyone for 10 Minutes (Apple), so switch back to Contacts Only when you're done. Google doesn't state a minimum Mac; Samsung lists MacBooks from 2020 or later. Phones that aren't listed can still send to a Mac with Google's QR-code option, but that uploads files to Google's servers for 24 hours and needs internet on both devices.

Android to Mac

1. On the Mac, click Control Centre in the menu bar, click the arrow next to AirDrop (or click and hold the AirDrop button) and choose Everyone. AirDrop is on when its icon is blue.
2. Keep the phone near the Mac with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on for both. Apple's AirDrop guide says within 10 metres.
3. On a Galaxy phone, turn on Share with Apple devices in Quick Share settings.
4. On the phone, open the file, tap Share, then Quick Share, and pick the Mac.
5. Click Accept on the Mac's AirDrop notification. Some items go straight to Downloads; for others, macOS lets you choose where to save.

Mac to Android

This direction needs the phone in Quick Share's Receive mode. Google's iPhone page describes it for listed phones, but its help page names only the Pixel 9 and later, excluding the 9a, for receiving from Apple devices, so Pixel 8a and 9a owners should try a test file first.

1. On the phone, open Quick Share and tap Receive (on a Pixel 9 or later, except the 9a, Everyone for 10 minutes visibility also works). On a Galaxy, turn on Share with Apple devices. Keep the screen on and unlocked.
2. On the Mac, open the file, click the Share button, then AirDrop, or drag the file onto the phone in Finder's AirDrop window.
3. Tap Accept on the phone. Google says files land in the Files app under Downloads > Quick Share.

Third-party Quick Share apps for Mac: NearDrop and QuickDrop

If your phone isn't on the list, Mac apps such as NearDrop and QuickDrop speak Google's Quick Share protocol themselves, so any Android phone with Quick Share can use them. Neither is made by Google, and both work with the phone and the Mac on the same Wi-Fi network.

NearDrop: free and open source

NearDrop is a free, partial implementation of Quick Share for macOS by an independent developer, released under the Unlicense. It sits in the menu bar and saves incoming files to Downloads, and it can send too: right-click a file in Finder, choose Share, then NearDrop.

The catches, from its own README: it's Wi-Fi LAN only, and coffee-shop or hotel networks may block it. To send from the Mac, the phone has to scan a QR code that NearDrop shows, because macOS doesn't let apps send the Bluetooth signal Android listens for. It's visible to everyone on your network while it runs. And it isn't notarised or in the App Store, so macOS warns about an unidentified developer the first time you open it.

QuickDrop: polished, with a paid upgrade

QuickDrop is an App Store app from independent developer Leon Boettger; its listing calls it an improved version of NearDrop. It needs macOS 12 or later, also runs on iPhone and iPad, and sends and receives over Quick Share on the same Wi-Fi network.

Sending and receiving are free. QuickDrop+ adds unrestricted transfer speeds, as a subscription or a one-time purchase (US$3.99 a month, US$9.99 a year or US$12.99 once in the US App Store, October 2026). An optional QuickDrop Android app adds transfers without a shared Wi-Fi network. It isn't affiliated with Google or Samsung.

A Quick Share alternative for Mac that works with any Android phone

Beamaroo runs in the browser at both ends, so it doesn't matter which Android phone you have, as long as it has a modern browser, or whether the phone and the Mac share a network. It's also the easy way to send to someone else's Mac without asking them to change AirDrop settings or install anything.

Files go straight between the two devices, encrypted end to end, and are never uploaded or stored. If a network blocks a direct link, an encrypted relay passes along bytes it can't read and keeps nothing. How Beamaroo works has the detail.

1. Open beamaroo.com on the phone and on the Mac, in any modern browser: Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox.
2. On whichever device has the files, choose them and tap Get a code.
3. On the other device, tap Receive and type the code (it looks like beam-7-otter-quartz). If the Mac is sending, the phone can scan its QR code instead.
4. Check the file count and total size, tap Accept, and the files stream across. The sender sees Delivered ✔ — verified on their device once every file passes its integrity check.
5. On the Mac, files save like any browser download, to Downloads unless you've changed it. If several arrive, use Save all.

The honest limits

• Both devices online at once. It's a live transfer, not a link that works tomorrow.
• Size. The receiving browser holds files in memory before saving, so a Mac is comfortable up to about 1–2 GB and a phone up to a few hundred MB. Multi-gigabyte transfers can fail; see how to send large files for other routes.
• Keep the screen on. Locking the phone or switching apps can stall a transfer, and there's no resume.
• No folders yet. Zip the folder first, or select the files inside it.

Beamaroo vs AirDrop from Android, NearDrop, QuickDrop and a cable

Each option wins somewhere. Here's how they compare on the things that usually decide it.

When a cable or another tool is the better choice

Beamaroo isn't the right tool for every job. Pick by the job:

• A whole photo library or multi-gigabyte videos: use a USB cable. OpenMTP is free and open source (MIT licence), needs macOS 10.14 or later, and has no browser memory limit or screen to keep awake. Our Android to Mac file transfer guide covers the cable route and other apps in detail.
• Your own phone and Mac, every day, at home: NearDrop or QuickDrop. Install once, then send from the phone's Quick Share menu whenever you're on the home Wi-Fi.
• A listed phone, standing at the Mac: AirDrop via Quick Share. Nothing to install, no internet needed.
• Apps on both devices are fine and you're on one network: LocalSend is free and open source, runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, and uses local Wi-Fi without internet. Here's how LocalSend compares.
• Someone will collect it later: a cloud drive. Beamaroo needs both devices online at the same moment.
• A phone that isn't on the list, different networks, someone else's Mac, or you'd rather nothing was uploaded: Beamaroo.