Help & guides

1. 1Step 1: On your computer, open Portal. A square black-and-white code (a QR code) appears.
2. 2Step 2: On your phone, open the Camera app — the same one you use for photos.
3. 3Step 3: Point the camera at the code on the computer screen. Hold still for a second.
4. 4Step 4: A small link or yellow button appears on the phone. Tap it.
5. 5Step 5: Your phone asks “Connect to computer?”. Tap Allow.
6. 6Step 6: Done! Both screens say Connected.

iPhone: the link appears at the bottom of the camera screen. Android: it may appear at the bottom, or you may need to open Google Lens from the camera. The code works once and changes every two minutes — that's normal and keeps you safe.

1. 1Step 1: Connect your phone (see the guide above).
2. 2Step 2: On the phone, tap Photos and choose the photos you want. They now appear on the computer.
3. 3Step 3: On the computer, click Photos in the left menu.
4. 4Step 4: Choose Last 7 days, Last 30 days or All photos.
5. 5Step 5: Click Import. Your photos are copied to the computer's Downloads (or a folder you choose).

Photos you already copied are marked “Imported”, so you won't get the same photo twice.

1. 1Step 1: On the phone, tap Files or Folder and choose what to share.
2. 2Step 2: On the computer, click a folder in the left menu, for example Documents.
3. 3Step 3: Double-click a file to look at it.
4. 4Step 4: Click Download. The file is saved in your computer's Downloads folder.

Tip: right-click a file for all the options.

1. 1Step 1: On the computer, click Received in the left menu.
2. 2Step 2: Click Upload and choose the file. (Or drag the file onto the Portal window.)
3. 3Step 3: On the phone, the file appears under “Received from …”.
4. 4Step 4: Tap Save.

Where does it go? iPhone: open the Files app → Downloads. Android: open Files or My Files → Downloads.

1. 1Step 1: Click the search bar at the top of the screen.
2. 2Step 2: Type something like “invoice from September”, “photos from last week” or “videos larger than 1GB”.
3. 3Step 3: Press Enter. Portal shows the files and explains why each one matched.

You can search your phone or this computer — use the switch at the top of the results.

1. 1Step 1: In the left menu, under This computer, click Add folder.
2. 2Step 2: Choose a folder, for example Documents, and confirm.
3. 3Step 3: Click the folder in the left menu to open it here in Portal.
4. 4Step 4: To send something to your phone: right-click the file → Send to phone.
5. 5Step 5: On the phone, the folder also appears under “On [your computer]”. Tap a file to save it on the phone.

Untick “Phone can browse these” to hide the folders from the phone at once. The phone can only look — it can never change or delete anything on your computer.

1. 1Step 1: On the first phone, open Portal in the browser (Chrome or Safari). A code appears.
2. 2Step 2: On the second phone, open the Camera and scan that code. Tap Allow.
3. 3Step 3: On the second phone, tap Photos, Files or Folder to share. The first phone can now open them.
4. 4Step 4: To share from the first phone too: open the menu (☰) → This device → Share files. The second phone sees them under “On …”.

Keep Portal open on both phones while you move files.

1. 1Step 1: On the computer, go to Home and paste the text or link into the Clipboard box. Click Send.
2. 2Step 2: On the phone, it appears under Clipboard. Tap Copy.
3. 3Step 3: The other way round: paste on the phone and tap Send. On the computer it's copied automatically — just paste.

1. 1Step 1: iPhone (Safari): open Portal, tap the Share button (square with an arrow), then Add to Home Screen.
2. 2Step 2: Android (Chrome): open Portal, tap ⋮ (top right), then Add to Home screen or Install app.
3. 3Step 3: Next time, open Portal from the home screen and tap Scan code.