Send files from your browser

Open floe.one in any modern browser, pick your files, and send someone the link. There is nothing to install and no account to make. Your files go straight to the other device; they never sit on a server.

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Add your files

Drop files onto the dashed area inside the card, or click it to open the file picker. You can add one file or many, of any type. Drop them on the card itself. Dropping a file anywhere else on the page makes your browser open that file and navigate away from Floe. Once something is queued, the large drop area shrinks to an Add more files strip above the list, and each row gets an X to remove it. Both disappear the moment you create the link, so settle on the list first. To change it afterwards, reload the page and start again. There is no size limit on a direct connection. See File size limits for when a cap applies and why. Folders are the one thing the browser cannot do. There is no folder picker. Dropping a folder does not send its contents either, and depending on the browser it may add an empty entry that fails when the transfer starts, so do not rely on it. Zip the folder first, or send it from Floe Desktop or the CLI, both of which walk the folder for you and rebuild it on the other side.

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Decide whether the relay is allowed

Once at least one file is queued, a Network relay fallback checkbox appears above the send button. Leave it on unless you have a specific reason not to. Unchecking it shows an amber warning: “Relay fallback is disabled. Transfers may fail if either device is on mobile data or a restricted network and a direct connection cannot be established.” Turn it off only when you need certainty that files never pass through a relay, for compliance reasons for example. You do not need to turn it off to send more than 2 GB: the cap applies only when the connection actually ends up relayed, so leaving fallback on costs a direct transfer nothing. The checkbox disappears when you create the link, so set it before you click. The choice applies to this page only. It is not saved, so it is back on after a reload.

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Create the link

Click Create secure link. The button carries the count, so it reads “Create secure link (3 files)”. Your browser makes the room id itself and joins that room on the signaling server. The panel appears once the server confirms the join, with three ways to hand the transfer over:

• Copy puts the link on your clipboard.
• Show QR reveals a QR code. Point a phone camera at it to open the link there. Hide QR collapses it again.
• Share opens your device’s own share sheet. It appears only on browsers that have one, which in practice means mobile.

The link looks like https://www.floe.one/?s=8262e1b4#room=<uuid>. The room id sits after the #, which browsers never send to a server, so the part that actually guards your transfer stays on your two devices. The ?s= value is eight random hex characters that carry no information; they exist only so each link is a distinct page, which stops a phone that already has Floe open from reusing a stale tab. One link, one recipient at a time. The room holds exactly two people, so while someone is connected, anyone else opening the same link gets a “Link Invalid” card. Opening a link does not use it up: if that person drops off, the seat frees and the link works again. Create a fresh link for each person.

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Watch the connection

The top of the card shows a dot, a label, and, on the sending side only, a live ping. Read the label, not just the dot. Two of the four states are green. The dot tracks your link to the signaling server until the route resolves, so a green Ready does not mean anyone has joined. The status line under the share link is what tells you that: it reads “Waiting for peer”, then “Peer joined. Starting transfer”. Hover or tap the info icon beside Direct or Relay for the short explanation shown above. The other two labels have no icon.

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While it transfers

The transfer begins on its own, about two seconds after the two devices actually connect. On a fast network that is a moment after they open the link; on a slow or relayed one the connection itself takes longer, and the two seconds start after it. There is nothing to click. Floe checks the route before sending a single byte, so two things can stop it there:

• You turned relay fallback off and the only path is relayed. The card reads Connection failed. Enable "Network Relay" to connect across restrictive networks. and the connection is closed.
• The route is relayed and your files total more than 2 GB. The status line reads Transfer blocked. Relay limit exceeded., an amber banner explains the cap, and the connection is closed. Nothing is sent. Because the file list is locked once the link exists, the way out is to reload the page and start again with fewer files, or from a network that allows a direct connection.

Once it is running, two more things are worth knowing. If a file you queued is moved, renamed, or lives on a drive that goes away, Floe stops and names the file rather than sending a short one. And if the other side never answers, the transfer gives up after two minutes with Transfer timed out waiting for receiver. Please try again. Keep the tab open and in the foreground. Closing it or navigating away ends the session immediately and the recipient loses the connection. On mobile, a backgrounded tab may be throttled, which slows the transfer down.

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Short codes are not a browser feature

floe send and Floe Desktop both register a three-word code, and both floe receive and the desktop Receive tab accept one. The web app does neither: it never mints a code, and it has no field to type one into. A browser recipient always needs the full link or the QR code. If you want a code, send from the terminal or from Floe Desktop instead.

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If it does not connect

The other person may be on a network that blocks direct paths, in which case relay fallback needs to stay on. For a large transfer on a corporate or university network, a personal mobile hotspot often gets you a direct connection instead of a relayed one. If the status line stays on “Waiting for peer” for more than thirty seconds after they have opened the link, see Troubleshooting.