Share between a Chromebook and an iPhone — two worlds, one room
A Chromebook and an iPhone have no shared transfer path. Open a room in the browser on both, type the 6-digit code, and copy on one to paste on the other.
ChromeOS leans on Google's ecosystem and Quick Share; the iPhone leans on Apple's and AirDrop. The two don't meet — Quick Share has no iOS support and AirDrop has no ChromeOS support — so a Chromebook and an iPhone are one of those pairs with no native handshake at all. The usual workaround is Google Drive plus the Drive app on the phone, or messaging yourself.
pastehere is the in-between. A Chromebook is browser-first by design, and the iPhone runs the same site in Safari, so open a room on one, type the six-digit code into the other, and copy to paste across. Links, text, screenshots and files all cross, no account, end-to-end encrypted.
How to do it in three steps
- 1
Open a room on your Chromebook
Go to pastehere.app in any browser and create a room. You'll get a six-digit code — no sign-up, nothing to install.
- 2
Enter the code on your iPhone
Open the same site on your iPhone and type the six-digit code to join. The two devices agree on a key directly, so the server never sees it.
- 3
Copy on one, paste on the other
Add text, a link, a screenshot or a file on either device and it appears on the other within a second. The room stays open until you destroy it.
Everything is encrypted in your browser with AES-256 before it leaves the device. Devices agree on the room key through a PAKE exchange over the 6-digit code, so the key never reaches the server — it only ever stores ciphertext.
What you can send
Anything that fits in a room moves both ways between your Chromebook and your iPhone:
- TextNotes, passwords, addresses, long passages — no length limit.
- LinksOpen a tab on the other device with one tap.
- ImagesScreenshots and photos, kept at full quality.
- FilesPDFs, archives, any file type — up to 15 MB each, 100 MB per room.
Why ChromeOS and iOS don't talk
Quick Share (Google's AirDrop equivalent) covers Android, Windows and ChromeOS but not iOS. AirDrop covers Apple devices only. So nothing first-party bridges a Chromebook and an iPhone. Google Drive works if you've signed into the Drive app on the iPhone and you don't mind the file living in your Google account and waiting on a sync.
For a quick transfer you don't want to file away in Drive, a browser room is faster and keeps the data end-to-end encrypted instead of parked in a cloud account. It's also handy on a school or shared Chromebook where you'd rather not sign a personal account into anything.
Questions
Is there a Quick Share or AirDrop between a Chromebook and an iPhone?
No — Quick Share doesn't support iOS and AirDrop doesn't support ChromeOS, so there's no native option. pastehere bridges them over the web: pair with a 6-digit code, then copy on one and paste on the other.
How do I send a photo from a Chromebook to an iPhone?
Open a room on both, add the photo in the room on the Chromebook, and download it on the iPhone. Up to 15 MB per image, no Google Drive round-trip.
Does it work on a school or managed Chromebook?
As long as the browser can reach the site, yes — there's nothing to install and no account. Some managed Chromebooks restrict sites or downloads, so check your school or org's policy.