Help & guides

1. 1Step 1: Connect the phone and the computer to the same Wi‑Fi. On the Free plan this is needed; with Plus they can be on any network.
2. 2Step 2: On your computer, open Portal. A square black-and-white code (a QR code) appears.
3. 3Step 3: On your phone, open the Camera app — the same one you use for photos.
4. 4Step 4: Point the camera at the code on the computer screen. Hold still for a second.
5. 5Step 5: A small link or yellow button appears on the phone. Tap it.
6. 6Step 6: Your phone asks “Connect to computer?”. Tap Allow.
7. 7Step 7: 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 once as usual.
2. 2Step 2: On the computer, under the phone's name in the left menu, click Remember this device.
3. 3Step 3: Next time, open Portal on the phone. Your computer is listed under Your computers.
4. 4Step 4: Tap Connect. No code, no Allow — it connects by itself.

Portal must be open on the computer (a browser tab is enough) and the computer must not be asleep. Lost a phone, or don't want a device any more? Tap Forget — on the phone or on the computer — and it can't connect without a new code.

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.

To keep part of a folder private, click the lock next to it: Name only shows the name but can't be opened, Hidden isn't shown at all. 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 computer, click the lock next to the shared folder and tick Connected devices can replace files. The browser asks to allow changes — allow it. (Once per folder.)
2. 2Step 2: On the phone, open the folder under “On [your computer]” and tap the file to save it on the phone.
3. 3Step 3: Edit it with the phone's app — Excel, Word, WPS or Google Docs — and save it on the phone.
4. 4Step 4: Back in Portal, tap Send back next to the same file and choose the edited copy.
5. 5Step 5: Check the sizes and tap Replace. The new version takes the original's place on the computer.

Only files you can open can be replaced — never Name only or Hidden ones, and never new files. The computer keeps the previous version of files up to 150 MB: click Undo on its notice, or right-click the file there and choose Restore previous version. If the file is open in Excel or Word on the computer, close it there first. Portal must be open on the computer. After the browser restarts it may ask once to Allow changes again.

1. 1Step 1: Connect your phone, then on the phone tap Scan.
2. 2Step 2: Put the sheet on a darker surface, fit it in the frame and tap the round button.
3. 3Step 3: Check the corners — drag the circles if needed — and tap Use this page. Repeat for more pages.
4. 4Step 4: Tap Finish, give it a name and tap Create PDF and send.
5. 5Step 5: On the computer, a notice appears: click Download. The PDF is also in the Scans folder.

Black & white makes the paper white and the text dark; choose Colour for photos or coloured forms. Pages stay on the phone until the PDF is made, even if the page reloads, and recent scans can be sent again.

1. 1Step 1: Connect both phones to the same Wi‑Fi (needed on the Free plan — one phone can also turn on its hotspot and the other joins it).
2. 2Step 2: On the first phone, open Portal in the browser (Chrome or Safari). A code appears.
3. 3Step 3: On the second phone, open the Camera and scan that code. Tap Allow.
4. 4Step 4: On the second phone, tap Photos, Files or Folder to share. The first phone can now open them.
5. 5Step 5: 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. Sharing a folder? Tap Choose what they can open under it to make parts Name only or Hidden.

1. 1Step 1: On the computer, open Portal and connect the first device as usual (scan the code, tap Allow).
2. 2Step 2: In the left menu, click Add another device. A new code appears — the next person scans it.
3. 3Step 3: Repeat for each device. The menu shows who is connected, for example 2/3.
4. 4Step 4: Share what everyone should get: drag a folder onto the Portal window, or use Share files / Add folder under This computer.
5. 5Step 5: On each phone, the folder appears under “On [the computer]”. Tap a file to save it.
6. 6Step 6: Something they shouldn't open? Click the lock next to the folder and set it to Name only or Hidden.
7. 7Step 7: What one phone shares, the others see too: on their phones it appears as “Shared by [name]” under “On [the computer]”.

Click a device's name in the left menu to see its files; Disconnect ends only that device. Each code works once, so every device scans its own. To stop devices seeing each other's files, untick “Devices see each other's shared files” under the devices in the left menu. The computer passes the files on, so keep it open.

1. 1Step 1: Share a folder: Add folder on the computer, or the Folder button on the phone. A window appears: “What can others open?”
2. 2Step 2: Everything starts as Can open. Tap the arrow next to a folder to see what's inside.
3. 3Step 3: Next to each folder or file, choose: Can open (see and download), Name only (they see the name but can't open it) or Hidden (not shown at all).
4. 4Step 4: Tap Done. Or Everything can be opened to share it all.
5. 5Step 5: To change it later: on the computer, click the lock next to the folder in the left menu; on the phone, tap Choose what they can open under the folder.

A setting on a folder covers everything inside it. Hidden items don't show up in search either. On a computer your choices are remembered; on a phone they last while the page is open, like the files you share. Anyone who can open a file can still keep a copy of it.

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.