Tutorial: How to Transfer Files from One Computer to Another Remotely

Can I transfer files remotely from one computer to another?

“I have two computers at home, one in my bedroom and another in the study. Is there any way that would allow me to transfer files between the two computers freely?”

How to transfer files between computers via remote desktop software [three options]

The direct ways to transfer files between computers have convenience as their biggest advantage. But they also have certain shortcomings as we have clarified above. A safer way to transfer files, even large files, is to use remote desktop software. Here are three options on how to transfer files from one computer to another without USB and email.

Option 1. Remotely transfer files from Windows to Windows with AnyViewer [recommended]

The first option for you is to transfer files between Windows machines using the remote desktop freeware, AnyViewer. It is also a file transfer tool. It allows you to transfer a batch of files at a really fast speed. For example, it only costs about 20 seconds to transfer a 2 GB zip file from the local to the remote computer.

Step 1. Download, install, and launch AnyViewer on both Windows computers. 

Step 2. On the Controller computer, go to Log in, and then click Sign up. (If you already have signed up on its official website, you can log in directly.)

Step 3. Fill in the signup information.

Step 4. Then you can see you successfully logged in to AnyViewer. Your device will automatically be assigned to the account you’ve logged in to. 

Step 5. Choose your target computer, and then click File transfer.

Step 6. Then a File Transfer dialog box will appear. The path of the Controller computer is shown on the left of the box, and the path of the Recipient computer is shown on the right. You’re able to transfer files between devices freely by clicking the arrows after choosing the target files.

Step 7. You can see the transfer status at the bottom of the File Transfer dialog box. Right-click to pause or remove the transfer task. The dialog can be closed when the transfer is complete.

Note: The maximum size of a single file that can be transferred for the free account is 100 MB, and the maximum number of files that can be transferred per time is 100. If you want to transfer larger files in more quantity per time, please upgrade to a Professional or Enterprise plan. What can a professional or enterprise plan brings to you:

Faster transfer speed. Transfer speed for a free account is 500 KB/s, and for a paid account is up to 10 MB/s.

Increasing number of files transferred in bulk.

Larger size of a single file that can be transferred.

More devices can be assigned to the same account for unattended remote access.

More Currently connected devices are displayed for management.

Connect in privacy mode to protect privacy.

Option 2. Copy and paste files between computers using Windows Remote Desktop

The second option is to use the Windows Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) to copy and paste files between computers to achieve file transfer. This is the Windows built-in software, you don’t need to download it and can get started right away.

But according to user feedback, transferring files via RDP is quite slow. A user has reported that it has cost him 15 minutes to transfer a 1.4 GB zip file via RDP. Also, you’re only allowed to copy and paste files smaller than 2 GB. Still, the transfer speed can be affected by many factors. This may not happen to you if you have everything well settled. Here’s how to transfer files from one computer to another using Remote Desktop

Step 1. On the client computer, search for Remote Desktop Connection in the Search box. And then open it.

Step 2. On the main interface of Remote Desktop Connection, go to the Local Resources tab, and then check the Clipboard.

Step 3. Go back to the General tab. Enter the IP address and user name in the Remote Desktop Connection interface to achieve connection.

Step 4. On the remote desktop, choose the folder that you want to copy to your local computer with your mouse, press Ctrl + C to copy files.

Step 5. Go to your desktop or a folder of your local computer, and press Ctrl + V to paste the copied files. This is how to copy-paste from PC to remote desktop.

Option 3. Upload and download files with Chrome Remote Desktop

The final remote desktop software to be introduced is Chrome Remote Desktop. The way to transfer files with Google Chrome Remote Desktop is to upload files first and then download them. Here are the specific steps of performing CRD file transfer.

Step 1. On the host computer, open the Chrome Remote Desktop download page. Click Remote Support first and then click the blue download button.

Step 2. After automatically jumping to the chrome web store, click Add to Chrome to download Chrome Remote Desktop.

Step 3. Click Add extension to confirm the installation.

Step 4. Click on Accept & Install to install it.

Step 5. Enter a name for your computer and then click Next.

Step 6. Choose a PIN with at least 6 numbers, and then enter it twice to start the program. (In case you forgot Chrome Remote Desktop PIN)

Step 7. On the client computer, open the Chrome browser and navigate here. Then log in to the same Google account. Once logged in, you can see the available computers.

Step 8. Click on the computer set up previously, and enter its PIN. Then you could start your remote control.

Step 9. After successfully connecting, click the arrow icon on the right side to expand the sidebar. In the File Transfer column, you can find the options of Upload file and Download file, and then transfer the file according to your own needs. You can also use Google Remote Desktop copy-paste to transfer files if you open the shared clipboard.

Note: If you want to use Chrome Remote Desktop to transfer files, you need to ensure that both computers are Windows 10 or above.

How to directly transfer files from one computer to another remotely [two options]

Next, we are going to introduce the easiest and most direct approaches to how to transfer files from one computer to another remotely.

Option 1. How to transfer files with USB flash drives

One of the options on how to copy files from one remote desktop to another is to use a USB stick (or a USB external hard drive). You simply connect the USB drive to the computer and copy files to it, the same as you would copy them to any other folder. Then, you move the USB drive to the other computer and copy the files from the drive to the new computer itself.

This method is quite simple. It allows you to copy even a large amount of data, and fairly quickly. And also, USB drives are inexpensive. But there’s a fatal flaw in this method. Once you have lost your USB, all your files will be lost. The worse thing is that your files are put in great danger to be exposed if there are secrets or confidential information.

Option 2. How to transfer files through email

Email can be a relative securer option on how to transfer files from one computer to another remotely compared with USB flash drives. It’s also significantly more convenient as most people work with it every day. 

However, there are some drawbacks to using email to transfer files remotely. Aside from potential encryption troubles, the main drawback is that email file transfer has some restrictions when it comes to attachment size. Gmail, for example, allows messages to be up to 25 MB, including the message’s text and any files attached. Outlook.com allows only 10 MB.

How to transfer files between computers using cloud services

Another option for you to share files between computers is to use cloud services. Cloud storage is prevalent and has now been adopted by numerous businesses to make file access and sharing simpler and quicker. There are lots of cloud service providers at present. Here we’ll take Google Drive as an example.

Google Drive is a popular free cloud storage service. You can save various files to the cloud hard disk and access them from almost any device. Google Drive is powerful and easy to use. In case you don’t how to use it, we’ll offer you guidance. Before you get started, you need to register a Google account first.

Step 1. Open the main interface of Google Drive, find and click My Drive in the left sidebar, click My Drive again, and select Upload files or Upload folder in the expanded menu.

Step 2. For example, click Upload files, and a window will pop up automatically. Select the file you want to upload and click Open in the lower-right corner.

Step 3. You can see the file upload progress in the lower right corner. After the upload is completed, you can find the file in the main interface.

Step 4. Open Google Drive on the other computer and log in to the same Google account. Find the file you’ve transferred, right-click the file, and select Download in the expanded menu to realize remote file transfer between different computers.

How to copy a file from a remote computer with CMD

The final way to transfer files between computers is to use command lines. This method is a little bit tech-demanding. So basically, you are not recommended to use it when you’ve got so many other simpler choices.

Step 1. Run PowerShell as administrator on the local computer.

Step 2. You’ll need to establish a new remote session first. Enter the following command to create a remote session to the remote computer:

$MYSESSION = New-PSSession -ComputerName PC02.TECH.LOCAL

Step 3. Verify the properties of the remote session by entering the following command. Then you’ll get the command output as shown in the following picture.

Get-PSSession

Step 4. Copy a file to the remote computer using Powershell with Copy-Item cmdlet. You need to specify the FromSession parameter and a path on the local computer for the Destination parameter. In our example, we copied a text file named “test” from a remote computer using Powershell.

Copy-Item -FromSession $MYSESSION C:\test.txt -Destination C:\test.txt

Note: You’re also able to copy a local file to the remote computer by using ToSession parameter.

Copy-Item -Path "C:\test.txt" -Destination "C:\" -ToSession $MYSESSION

Step 5. Type the following command to verify if the file was copied.

Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\test.txt" } -Session $MYSESSION

Step 6. Here is the command output:

Step 7. After finishing, don’t forget to remove the session by using Remove-PSSession.

Remove-PSSession -Session $MYSESSION

Conclusion

This post primarily gives you multiple options on how to transfer files from one computer to another remotely, using USB flash drives, emails, remote desktop software, cloud services, and PowerShell. Each tool has its own special features. You can choose according to your own preference.