Transfer files from phone to PC over WiFi, no cable, no cloud
The cable is in the other bag. The cloud wants to upload 4 GB to a data centre and download it again to a laptop sitting one metre away. Bluetooth would finish sometime tomorrow. Meanwhile both devices are on the same WiFi, which on a 5 GHz network moves 15–40 MB/s between them. Here are four ways to use that link, all with the same free app on the phone and nothing to install on the PC for three of them.
The setup, once
Install Shelf on the phone, allow All files access on the first-run sheet, open Network and tap Start sharing. The phone shows an address such as http://192.168.1.24:8080. That is all the setup there is; the four methods below are different doors into the same server.
1. Open the phone in the PC's browser (pull)
Best for: grabbing a few files or a whole folder, from any PC, Mac, tablet or TV, with nothing installed.
Type the address into Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox. You get the phone's file manager: Camera, Downloads, Documents, the Shelf folder, SD card. Click a file to preview or download it; select several and download them as one zip; drag files from the desktop into the page to upload. A 4 GB video downloads in two to four minutes on 5 GHz.
Uploads into the phone go in 8 MB chunks over four connections and resume if the WiFi hiccups, with a checksum check at the end. That makes the browser the best route for very large files in both directions.
2. Mount the phone as a drive (work in place)
Best for: editing files that stay on the phone, or copying a photo library with the desktop's own tools.
Finder → Connect to Server, or Explorer → Map network drive, with http://192.168.1.24:8080/dav/. The phone becomes a drive. Step-by-step for each desktop, including the one Windows registry value, is in the WebDAV and FTP guide. This needs Shelf Pro.
3. Send from the phone to a LocalSend app (push)
Best for: you are holding the phone, the PC already runs LocalSend, and you want to fire off a few files without touching the PC.
Shelf's Nearby tab finds LocalSend on the PC, you pick files, the PC accepts. If the PC does not have LocalSend, use the browser route instead; or select the files in Shelf and tap To browsers, which pushes them to every browser that currently has the phone open. See the LocalSend comparison.
4. Chrome extension (both directions, in the background)
Best for: a laptop that lives in Chrome and a phone you talk to many times a day.
Shelf Connect adds right-click → Send to Shelf for links, images and pages, a drop zone for files, and notifications when the phone pushes files to you. With auto-download on, files you send from the phone simply land in the laptop's Downloads folder. A dashboard shows every phone's files, transfers and chat.
Which one?
| Situation | Use | PC needs |
|---|---|---|
| A few photos to a friend's laptop | Browser link or QR | Nothing |
| A 4 GB video, reliably | Browser (resumable chunks) | Nothing |
| Edit documents that live on the phone | Mounted drive (WebDAV/FTP) | Nothing (built in) |
| Whole photo library once | Mounted drive or zip download | Nothing |
| Many small sends every day | Chrome extension | Shelf Connect |
| The other side already uses LocalSend | Nearby | LocalSend |
| No router, in a car or a field | Phone's private network + any of the above | Join the WiFi |
Speed, honestly
WiFi is the limit, not the phone. On 5 GHz with both devices in the same room expect 15–40 MB/s; on 2.4 GHz 4–10 MB/s; on a congested apartment-block channel less. The speed test on Shelf's Network page tells you what you have before you start a big move. A USB 3 cable is still faster (40+ MB/s) if you can find it; the point of WiFi is that you do not have to.
What never happens
Nothing is uploaded anywhere. Shelf has no account, no relay and no analytics; files move from the phone to the PC across your router and stop there. On a network you do not control, set a PIN first (Settings → Access) or turn on HTTPS, or let the phone create its own private network. Details in the privacy policy.