QR Send Setup Guide

This guide walks you through everything from installing the Chrome extension to sending your first URL from your phone. The whole setup takes about five minutes, and you only do it once.

What you need

A PC (Windows, Mac, Linux, or ChromeOS) with Google Chrome
An iPhone or Android phone with a camera

No account, no email address, and no app-store installs are required.

Step 1: Install the Chrome extension on your PC

On your PC

Open the QR Send page on the Chrome Web Store.
Click Add to Chrome, then Add extension in the confirmation dialog.
Click the puzzle-piece icon in the Chrome toolbar and pin QR Send so it's always visible.

Step 2: Pair your phone by scanning the QR code

PC → Phone

Click the QR Send icon in the Chrome toolbar and open the QR tab. A QR code appears.
Point your phone's camera at the QR code and open the link. The QR Send sender page opens in your phone's browser.

The QR code contains a random channel ID that links your phone to this specific PC. Anyone without the QR code cannot send to — or read from — your channel.

Step 3: Add the sender page to your home screen

iPhone (Safari)

With the sender page open, tap the Share button (the square with an arrow).
Choose Add to Home Screen, then Add.

Android (Chrome)

With the sender page open, tap the ⋮ menu in the top-right corner.
Choose Add to Home screen, then Add.

From now on, the sender launches like a regular app from your home screen — you never need to scan the QR code again on this phone.

Step 4: Send your first URL

On your phone

In any app or browser, copy the URL you want to open on your PC.
Open the QR Send icon on your home screen. The copied URL is picked up automatically (or paste it manually).
Tap Open in Chrome. The page opens on your PC within a second or two.

Your PC's Chrome must be running for the page to open instantly. If Chrome is closed, the URL waits on the relay for up to 24 hours and is delivered the next time Chrome starts.

Troubleshooting

The URL doesn't arrive on my PC

Make sure Chrome is running on the PC and the QR Send extension is enabled.
Check that you scanned the QR code of this PC — each PC has its own channel.
If you reset the channel ID in the extension's options, the old home-screen icon stops working. Scan the new QR code and add it again.

The sender page shows no "Open in Chrome" button

Open the page from the home-screen icon, not from your browser history — the icon preserves the channel parameter.

Multiple PCs

Install the extension on each PC using Chrome signed in to the same Google account, then turn on Chrome sync in the extension's settings. The PCs join the same sending circle automatically — your phone keeps working with the same QR code as before. QR Send never touches your Google account data; it only uses Chrome's own sync feature.

Sending from your PC (v1.1+)

Click the QR Send icon in Chrome's toolbar. On the Timeline tab, type a URL or any text and press Send — it goes to all of your paired devices. URLs open automatically on the receiving devices; plain text appears in the timeline (click to copy). The timeline is stored only on each device (up to 500 items) and nothing is kept on QR Send's side.

Uninstalling

Remove the extension from chrome://extensions and delete the home-screen icon on your phone. There is no account, so there is nothing else to cancel.

Get QR Send for Chrome — Free