Make Windows 11 PC auto accept bluetooth transfers?

Lamberto Vitali · Jan 3, 2023

Since Windows 8, the ability to auto receive files over bluetooth has gone. Any way to fix this?

Now before someone says "that would be insecure", I am not asking for it to just accept therm. But at the moment it doesn't even prompt me! My Android 11 phone, if a bluetooth file is sent to it, it asks if I want to receive it. Windows just remains silent, I have to actually tell it to be ready to receive a file every time.

cereberus · Jan 3, 2023

What you are asking is no longer possible. There are many wifi syncing systems that do what you want.

The easiest way is to use a cloud service like onedrive - then files can be sent either way automatically. Obviously onedrive needs to be running on both devices.

Fabler2 · Jan 3, 2023

Not auto but right clicking the BT icon in sys tray and selecting Receive a File is a quick way. Apologise if already known.

Dru2 · Jan 3, 2023

cereberus said:
What you are asking is no longer possible. There are many wifi syncing systems that do what you want.

Yeah, it's definitely possible to transfer file BT between phone and PC, it's just clunky, but it works using Fabler2's suggestion

I just did it myself, both ways. and it works.

Fabler2 · Jan 3, 2023

A few setting you could change is in settings -Bluetooth and devices -click on devices (not add a device) and scroll down to more Bluetooth settings.

Lamberto Vitali · Jan 3, 2023

cereberus said:
What you are asking is no longer possible. There are many wifi syncing systems that do what you want.

The easiest way is to use a cloud service like onedrive - then files can be sent either way automatically. Obviously onedrive needs to be running on both devices.

Onedrive?! No thanks. Why would I want to send it there and back again? I'm sending from something on my desk to something on my desk. It's illogical to send it to anohter country.

I've been suggested a program called KDE Connect, over on the Android forum. Apparently that will do it, will try when I have time.

Fabler2 said:
Not auto but right clicking the BT icon in sys tray and selecting Receive a File is a quick way. Apologise if already known.

View attachment 49039

That is not a quick way, I have to tell the computer to receive, then tell the phone to transfer. Twice as long as sending to the phone, which auto acknowledges it.

Fabler2 said:
A few setting you could change is in settings -Bluetooth and devices -click on devices (not add a device) and scroll down to more Bluetooth settings.

View attachment 49042

Those are all ticked for me, none of those options allows it to detect a file is incoming.

Dru2 · Jan 3, 2023

Lamberto Vitali said:
Onedrive?! No thanks. Why would I want to send it there and back again? I'm sending from something on my desk to something on my desk. It's illogical to send it to anohter country.

I think you're overreacting. And OneDrive is far more efficient than BT Transfers.

And with OneDrive every PC running the app has access to the file. I use both my laptop and desktop a lot and I simply drop a file from my laptop into the OneDrive folder it's immediately available on my desktop or Android device.

Stop listening to the internet FUD, OneDrive isn't the boogeyman some would make it to be

Lamberto Vitali · Jan 3, 2023

I'm not talking about privacy, I'm talking about sending a file 1000 miles instead of 2 feet. Illogical and I refuse. And I don't want the complication of it being all over the place, I want to know where the file is. Everything is becoming so vague nowadays with computers. You click something and it'll think about it or do what it thinks is best. Synching things you don't know what's going where. People find out the synch wasn't synching and they lose billons of files. It happened to my Aunt. And what if you do that to your phone and then oops there's no signal? You don't have access to what you needed when on the train. The internet is not a magical thing that's always there, it's a piece of equipment subject to failure. And I've no idea what a FUD is, please speak in English.

To summarize, I want that file over there. Nothing more, no complications of setting up synchs or clouds or anything, just put that there. If I tell you to place this can of coke on the table, I suppose you'd hire a committee.

Anyway I'm off to enjoy the properly written 3rd party software we all have to use nowadays to fix the broken interface.

Dru2 · Jan 3, 2023

Lamberto Vitali said:
I'm not talking about privacy, I'm talking about sending a file 1000 miles instead of 2 feet. Illogical and I refuse.

I got you.

cereberus · Jan 3, 2023

Lamberto Vitali said:
I'm not talking about privacy, I'm talking about sending a file 1000 miles instead of 2 feet. Illogical and I refuse. And I don't want the complication of it being all over the place, I want to know where the file is. Everything is becoming so vague nowadays with computers. You click something and it'll think about it or do what it thinks is best. Synching things you don't know what's going where. People find out the synch wasn't synching and they lose billons of files. It happened to my Aunt. And what if you do that to your phone and then oops there's no signal? You don't have access to what you needed when on the train. The internet is not a magical thing that's always there, it's a piece of equipment subject to failure. And I've no idea what a FUD is, please speak in English.

To summarize, I want that file over there. Nothing more, no complications of setting up synchs or clouds or anything, just put that there. If I tell you to place this can of coke on the table, I suppose you'd hire a committee.

Anyway I'm off to enjoy the properly written 3rd party software we all have to use nowadays to fix the broken interface.

For crying out loud - bluetooth is so slow, I just sent a 100 MB file to onedrive and synced it back to other pc in a fraction of the time it took bluetooth.

FUD - Fear, uncertainty & Doubt! - rather applies to your comments!

Also, arguing about not being able to access file on a train is complete bollix. Just connect phone to pc using a usb cable which you can easily carry in your laptop case.

If you want to live in the dark ages, go ahead.

Lamberto Vitali · Jan 3, 2023

It shouldn't be slow. From bluetooth 3, it piggybacks onto wifi and goes 25 or 50Mbit, so almost as fast as the internet. In fact faster than my uplink internet speed of 7Mbit. And yes I have fibre, they concentrate on download speed which is irritating when sending data to the LHC in Switzerland.

And I use bluetooth for videoclips, photos, and apps. The kinda small things that sit on phones.

I don't fear anything mentioned in this thread, I'm just complaining it's more difficult to use than it should be. How it should work is like between phones. Imagine I just took a photo, and you missed the shot. I want to send you the photo. We're both out in the middle of nowhere and don't even know each other. Easiest way is I click the photo, send via bluetooth, then select your phone. Your phone says do you want this file and you say yes. Done. Don't need to both sign up to the same cloud service, don't need to remember our passwords, don't need to have a signal.

I don't carry my laptop everywhere. In fact I don't even have one. I have a desktop and a phone. The phone is used whenever I'm not at home, as it goes in my pocket and can be used as a satnav, phone, email, word processor, camera, video camera, anything. A laptop is too big and a hassle.

The dark ages are what's coming right now. New silly ways to do something in 50 billion different complicated incompatible ways. In fact Apple don't even use the same standards, their bluetooth doesn't work with Android!

garlin · Jan 3, 2023

Google is your friend.
[FIX] Bluetooth Missing Options To Transfer Files In Windows 10/8.1/8/7

Fabler2 · Jan 4, 2023

garlin said:
Google is your friend.
[FIX] Bluetooth Missing Options To Transfer Files In Windows 10/8.1/8/7

That's not the issue. OP wants auto accept Bluetooth transfers.

Lamberto Vitali · Jan 4, 2023

Fabler2 said:
That's not the issue. OP wants auto accept Bluetooth transfers.

Or at last acknowledge they exist. Requiring me to accept is a security thing, but not noticing I'm sending one is a bug.

cereberus · Jan 4, 2023

Lamberto Vitali said:
It shouldn't be slow. From bluetooth 3, it piggybacks onto wifi and goes 25 or 50Mbit, so almost as fast as the internet. In fact faster than my uplink internet speed of 7Mbit. And yes I have fibre, they concentrate on download speed which is irritating when sending data to the LHC in Switzerland.

And I use bluetooth for videoclips, photos, and apps. The kinda small things that sit on phones.

I don't fear anything mentioned in this thread, I'm just complaining it's more difficult to use than it should be. How it should work is like between phones. Imagine I just took a photo, and you missed the shot. I want to send you the photo. We're both out in the middle of nowhere and don't even know each other. Easiest way is I click the photo, send via bluetooth, then select your phone. Your phone says do you want this file and you say yes. Done. Don't need to both sign up to the same cloud service, don't need to remember our passwords, don't need to have a signal.

I don't carry my laptop everywhere. In fact I don't even have one. I have a desktop and a phone. The phone is used whenever I'm not at home, as it goes in my pocket and can be used as a satnav, phone, email, word processor, camera, video camera, anything. A laptop is too big and a hassle.

The dark ages are what's coming right now. New silly ways to do something in 50 billion different complicated incompatible ways. In fact Apple don't even use the same standards, their bluetooth doesn't work with Android!

Then what is point about talking of using bluetooth on trains then. I rest my case.