LocalSend — The Complete Guide: Move Site Photos From Phone to PC With No Cloud or Cables
LocalSend is an open-source app for sending files and messages between devices on the same network — with no internet, no account and no external server. It solves an everyday problem: dozens of photos and videos from a site visit that sit on your phone and need to reach the office computer.
LocalSend
LocalSend
Send files between phone and computer over the local network, with no cloud or cables — e.g. site photos straight to the PC.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- No cloud — files go directly between the devices.
- Encrypted transfer — even within the local network.
- Local network speed — even heavy videos move quickly.
- No account — install it on both devices and send.
- Not just phones — also between a laptop and a desktop.
Why it matters in an engineering office
Sending site photos through messaging apps or email can compress them and sometimes strip the date and location data that matter for documentation. LocalSend transfers the file as it is, without passing through an outside service. The only limitation: both devices must be on the same network. For regular sync between offices or from home — Syncthing.
Related tools
For continuous folder sync between computers — Syncthing. To back up the photos to an external drive — FreeFileSync. For annotated screenshots — ShareX.
Syncthing
Syncthing Foundation
Sync files directly between computers, with no cloud — identical project folders at the office, at home and on site.
Get it from the vendorFreeFileSync
FreeFileSync
Folder sync and backup — compares folders and copies only what changed, for backing up projects to an external drive.
Get it from the vendorShareX
ShareX team
Screenshots and screen recording for Windows — annotate with arrows and labels, and extract text with OCR.
Get it from the vendor
rclone
rclone project
Sync and copy files to 70+ cloud storage services from the command line, and mount cloud drives as local disks.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
LocalSend is the simple way to move files from your phone to the office computer: free, private and at original quality.