Share Text and Links Between Your Phone and Computer

Some of the most annoying transfers are the smallest ones. A long URL on your phone that you want to open on your laptop. A tracking number in an email on your PC that you need on your phone. An address, a Wi-Fi password, a code snippet. Retyping them is slow and error-prone, and messaging them to yourself clutters your chats.

Dropzy has a text box for exactly this. Paste on one device, copy on the other.

The fastest way

1. Open Dropzy on both devices. If they’re on the same Wi-Fi, the home page (Wi-Fi Share) is all you need.
2. On the device that has the text, paste or type it into the text box.
3. Press Ctrl+Enter (or ⌘+Enter on a Mac), or tap the share button on your phone.
4. On the other device, the text appears. Tap Copy and paste it wherever you need it.

Links turn into clickable links automatically, so you can often skip the copy step and just tap.

Shortcuts that save a few taps

Paste & send

Already copied something? Paste & send takes whatever is on your clipboard and shares it in one tap. It’s the quickest route from “I copied this on my phone” to “it’s on my computer”.

Copy latest

On the receiving side, Copy latest copies the most recent text item to your clipboard without scrolling or selecting. Handy when you’re sending several things in a row.

Show as QR code

For short text, you can display it as a QR code. Point the other device’s camera at the screen and it reads the text straight away. This is useful when you want to hand something to a person next to you without them opening any page first, or when the two devices simply won’t connect.

Screenshots

It’s not text, but it’s related: copy a screenshot and press Ctrl+V or ⌘+V on the page to send the image. Great for sharing an error message you’d rather not retype.

Which mode for text?

• Same network, your own devices: Wi-Fi Share. Items last 2 hours.
• Different networks, or something private like a password or account number: Private Share. It’s end-to-end encrypted and meant for you and one other person or your own devices. It lasts 2 hours and can be extended to 6.
• A group that needs the same links, notes or agenda: a Room. People join with a 6-digit code. It lasts 24 hours, extendable to 48, and anyone in it can add or remove items.

Real-world examples

• Opening a phone link on a big screen. Share the URL from your phone, click it on your computer.
• Sign-in codes. A one-time code arrives on your laptop and you need it on your phone, or the other way around.
• Addresses. Look up an address on your computer, send it to your phone, tap to open it in maps.
• Notes and drafts. Start a message on your phone, finish it with a real keyboard.
• Code and commands. Move a terminal command or config snippet without it getting mangled by autocorrect.

Troubleshooting

The other device doesn’t appear. A VPN, iCloud Private Relay, or a phone that’s switched to mobile data can hide devices from each other. Use the Connect a device card: scan its QR code, or enter the 6-digit pair code on Join.

You’re on café or campus Wi-Fi. On busy networks, Dropzy hides other people’s items. Look up your own by its 4-character code, or use Private Share instead.

The text is too long for a QR code. QR codes only work for short text. For longer notes, just send them normally and use Copy on the other side.

Copy doesn’t seem to work on a phone. Some browsers only allow clipboard access after a direct tap. Tap the Copy button itself rather than long-pressing, and make sure the page is in the foreground.

A word on sensitive text

For passwords, bank details and anything else you wouldn’t want seen, use Private Share. It’s end-to-end encrypted: the key is inside the link, so the server never sees what you sent. As with everything in Dropzy, there’s no account and no tracking cookies, and items delete themselves when they expire.

If you’d rather send files, see sending files from your phone to a PC. For the full picture, read How it works.