A direct pipe, not a round trip
Most tools send your file on a round trip: up to a datacenter, then back down to the other computer. Pairchute connects the two computers directly. The file takes the short path — across your room, your office, or the internet — without a detour through anyone’s cloud.
Both computers open the page, one creates an invite link, the other clicks it and sends one reply back. The encrypted DataChannel opens and files stream across.
On a LAN, it runs at full speed
When both computers are on the same network — two machines at home, or across the office — the transfer never leaves the router. There’s no upload bandwidth ceiling and no server in between, so the local network sets the pace, not your internet plan — on gigabit that lands near wire speed, around 80 MB/s. Across the wider internet, Pairchute stripes the transfer across eight encrypted connections at once, so packet loss on one lane doesn’t stall the rest.
Great for moving your own files
Switching laptops? Getting a big video off one machine onto another? You don’t need a cloud account to move your own files between your own computers. Open Pairchute on both, connect them directly, and copy across — nothing is stored, nothing is left behind, no account is created.
What each side needs
Just a modern browser on both computers — Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari to send; receiving very large files uses the File System Access API, which is on by default in Chrome and Edge. No app to install, no extension, and no account to create. Open the same page on both machines and you are ready to connect.
Two machines on one network, or two machines anywhere
These are different situations with different answers, and it is worth knowing which one you are in.
Same network. Two laptops on the same Wi-Fi, or a desktop and a laptop on one office switch: the connection is made from local addresses and the data never leaves the router. Your internet plan is irrelevant — no upload cap applies, because nothing is being uploaded. The local network sets the pace, near wire speed: around 80 MB/s over gigabit.
Different places. One of you at home, one at the office, one on a phone network: the transfer crosses the internet, so the ceiling is whichever side’s upload speed is lower. Pairchute stripes the file across eight encrypted connections at once, so loss on one lane doesn’t stall the transfer — but no number of lanes lifts that upload ceiling.
Moving everything onto a new laptop
This is the case people arrive here for most often: a new machine, and a few hundred gigabytes on the old one that never needed to be on the internet. Open the page on both, connect them, and drag whole selections across. There is no external drive to find, no cloud plan to buy for files that are only moving one desk to the left, and no upload sitting between you and the finish line.
One thing to plan for: a transfer runs in a single sitting. There is no server holding progress, so if the link drops the partial file is discarded and that file starts over. For a large migration, do it in batches on a connection you trust rather than one long unattended run.
Windows to Mac, Mac to Linux, phone to desktop
Both ends run a browser, so the operating systems do not have to match or even know about each other. Windows to Mac, Mac to Linux, a phone to a desktop — it is the same procedure, with none of the same-vendor requirement that built-in sharing features carry, and no network share to configure.
The one asymmetry worth knowing: receiving a very large file streams it straight to disk through the File System Access API, which Chrome and Edge ship enabled. That matters on the receiving side only. A browser without it still receives, but is held to what fits in memory — 512 MB.
What you do not need
No USB stick to find and then discover is too small. No external drive. No network share, SMB mount or FTP server to stand up for a one-off job. No cloud account, and no plan tier gating the file size. No app or browser extension to install on either machine, and no matching operating systems. A browser on each side and one link between them is the whole requirement.
Send a file now
Scroll up and hit Create invite — you get a link to send the other person. They click it, send one reply back, and the direct encrypted pipe opens. Nothing is uploaded; nothing is stored.
Related
See also: sending files without uploading · file transfer with no account — and the Pairchute home page.