How to send links to connected devices from Chrome

Sharing links between devices isn’t always easy. The only exception is if you’re using an iPhone and a Mac that have a shared clipboard. If you’re on a different desktop OS such as Linux or Windows 10, your ability to share links to another device runs into platform restrictions. Chrome has added a new feature to its stable release that lets you push links to other connected devices. The browser is easily one of the most popular browsers on the desktop and it has mobile versions for both Android and iOS. It’s a great way to share links between the various devices that you own. Here’s how the feature works.

Chrome connected devices

This feature relies on Chrome sync to work. A connected Chrome device is any device that has the Chrome browser installed and that has Chrome sync enabled. All devices must be using the same Google ID to sync data. Chrome sync is available on all versions of Chrome desktop and mobile.

Send links to connected devices – Chrome desktop

Open the link that you want to send in Chrome and right-click in the URL bar. From the context menu, select Send to your devices. Select a device from the sub-menu and then open Chrome on the device.

You will see a notification telling you that you’ve received a new tab. Tap it, and the link will open. On mobile devices, these notifications only appear in Chrome and are not send through the mobile OS’ notification system.

Send links to connected devices – Chrome mobile

On your mobile device, whether it’s Android or iOS, open the link you want to send to a device and tap the share button. A menu will open listing various options once of which will be ‘Send to your devices’. Tap it and then select the device you want to send the link to.

Go to the device that you sent the link to, and you will see an alert/notification (depending on the platform) telling you a link has been sent. If you tap it, it will open the link in a new tab.

If you’re sending links to a desktop via Chrome, the browser must be allowed to send notifications. Unlike its mobile version, the notifications on the desktop are delivered via the desktop OS’ notification system.

Adding new devices is pretty easy; all you have to do is install Chrome on the device and then sign in and enable sync via the same Google ID.