PairOnce

YOUR DEVICE → SOMEONE ELSE’S

Send files to a friend’s or colleague’s device without swapping contacts

Ask the other person to open paironce.com, scan the QR code on their screen with your phone, and check that both screens show the same safety code before they click Approve device.

Then tap Choose files; they click Accept or Decline for each file, so nothing lands on their device unasked.

No numbers, emails or accounts change hands; when you are done, both of you remove the other device under Your devices.

Step by step

  1. They open PairOnce. On their phone or computer, paironce.com shows a QR code and a six-digit code.
  2. You connect. Scan their QR code, or type the six-digit code at paironce.com. Not in the same room? They tap Copy invite link and send it to you any way they like. A page opened from a QR code or link asks you to confirm first: tap Connect.
  3. Compare the safety code. Both screens show the same safety code; they click Approve device only if it matches. This makes sure you are connected to each other and nobody in between.
  4. Send. Tap Choose files or Message or link. They accept or decline each file and save what they want.
  5. Clean up. Under Your devices, each of you removes the other with Remove, so neither browser can reconnect later.

What the other person learns

Only your device’s name, such as “Android · Chrome”, and the files you send. No phone number, email, account or contact list. The transfer is encrypted between the two browsers.

Limits, and when this is not the right tool

  • A file can be up to 2 GB over a direct connection when the receiving browser saves straight to disk (Chrome or Edge on a computer or Android, Firefox on a computer, Safari on iOS 26 or later). Other browsers take up to 50 MB per file and hold 100 MB of received files at a time.
  • Files over 2 GB need PairOnce Pro on one of the two devices. Then a file can be up to 10 GB, received the same way, and the relay carries 5 GB a month.
  • When the two devices cannot reach each other directly, an encrypted relay carries the data. Each device can send and receive 200 MB a month that way, counted together; a direct connection has no monthly limit.
  • Both pages must stay open until everything has arrived: keep the phone’s screen on and the browser in front.
  • PairOnce moves things between two devices that are open at the same time. It is not cloud storage: nothing waits on a server for later.

Other ways to do it

  • AirDrop. Great between Apple devices with Receiving set to Everyone for 10 minutes; does not reach Android or Windows.
  • Quick Share. Works between Android phones and Windows PCs; not with iPhones.
  • WhatsApp or email. Needs you to swap a phone number or address, and photos are often compressed.
  • A cloud link (Google Drive, WeTransfer). Good for someone far away; the file is uploaded and stays online until it expires or you delete it.

Common questions

Can they send me things I did not ask for?

No. Every incoming file waits for Accept on your side, and you can Decline it. The only exception is if you tick “Accept everything from … until we disconnect”, which is off by default and ends with that connection.

Can they connect again later?

Only while each browser still has the other listed under Your devices. Remove it there and a new pairing is needed.

Does it work between an iPhone and an Android phone?

Yes. Any two browsers work, including iPhone to Android and phone to someone’s laptop.