OpenDrop Setup Guide for Windows: Download to First Transfer

Before You Install: What OpenDrop Actually Does

OpenDrop moves files between your phone and your Windows PC. On the same Wi-Fi, the file goes straight from one device to the other. On different networks, it goes over a direct peer-to-peer link or OpenDrop's own encrypted relay. There is no cloud drive in the middle.

The Windows app does three jobs. It runs a small local server, it announces itself on your network with mDNS so your phone can find it, and it dials out to the relay so your phone can still reach it when you are away from home.

You get a desktop app and a command-line tool in the same install. This guide follows the desktop app. If you want scripts or a headless server instead, see automating transfers with the OpenDrop CLI.

What you need:

• Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, 64-bit. Windows on ARM runs it through emulation.
• A phone or tablet with the OpenDrop app: iPhone or iPad on iOS 16 or later, or Android 7.0 or later.

The Free plan needs no account. You pair your phone with your PC by scanning a QR code. Pro needs a sign-in (Google, Apple, Microsoft or email); it connects every device on your account automatically and adds phone to phone and PC to PC transfers.

Download Options: Microsoft Store vs Direct Install

The Microsoft Store listing and the installer on the website are the same Inno Setup build, with the same desktop app and the same CLI. The only difference is how updates arrive.

• Microsoft Store: search for OpenDrop in the Store app, or use the Store link in the download section. When a new version is out, the app tells you and opens the Store page.
• Direct download: OpenDropInstaller.exe (about 147 MB) from the same download section. It checks for updates at launch and installs a new version in one click, verified with SHA-256.

Both install for your user account by default, so there is no admin prompt. The installer offers to add opendrop to your PATH. Tick it if you plan to use the CLI from any terminal.

Installation Internals: What Gets Put Where

Three locations matter:

• Program files: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\OpenDrop\ for a per-user install, or Program Files if you choose to install for all users.
• Settings: %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenDrop\. settings.json holds your preferences. token.json appears when you sign in for Pro.
• Received files: %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\OpenDrop\Files\ by default. You can pick another folder in Settings.

The desktop app is written in Python with a PySide6 (Qt) interface. ffmpeg ships inside the build for Pro video conversion, so you don't need to install it separately.

First Launch: mDNS, Firewall, and Device Discovery

When OpenDrop starts, three things happen.

The local server starts. It listens on port 8000 on all network interfaces (0.0.0.0), so your phone can reach it over Wi-Fi. If another program already holds port 8000, OpenDrop takes the next free port.

mDNS announcement begins. The app registers the service type _opendrop._tcp.local. with the zeroconf library. mDNS is the multicast DNS that Bonjour and network printers use: a device asks the local network who offers a service, and the answer comes back without any central server. A phone paired with this PC uses it to find the PC on your Wi-Fi. How mDNS auto-discovery works covers the protocol in more detail.

Windows Firewall asks for access. The first time an app listens for incoming connections, Windows Defender Firewall usually asks whether to allow it. Allow it on private networks. If you dismissed the prompt, open Windows Security, go to Firewall & network protection, choose "Allow an app through firewall", and tick Private for OpenDrop. Without that rule, your phone cannot connect to the PC on your Wi-Fi.

Check the network profile too. If Windows has your home Wi-Fi marked as Public, a rule for private networks does not apply. Switch the network to Private in Settings, under Network & internet, or allow OpenDrop on public networks as well.

Now pair. The dashboard in the desktop app shows a QR code. Open OpenDrop on your phone and scan it. The QR code holds a private pairing key and the addresses your phone needs to reach your computer, plus a certificate fingerprint so the phone can check it is really your PC. Anyone who scans it can pair with your PC, so don't share screenshots of it.

Each phone pairs with one computer at a time. Scanning a different computer's code replaces the first one. If the phone stops seeing your PC after the PC app restarts, scan the code again.

Your First Transfer: Sending and Receiving Files

Phone to PC: open OpenDrop on the phone, pick your PC, choose the files and send. Leave OpenDrop running on Windows. Files land in Downloads\OpenDrop\Files\ and show up in the app's Files tab.

PC to phone: drag files from File Explorer onto your phone's device tab in the desktop app. Keep the OpenDrop app open on the phone while it receives.

On the same Wi-Fi, the file streams in one piece at full speed, with no size cap. If the phone is on cellular or another network, the transfer still works; it just takes a different route, described below. Remote uploads from the phone keep going in the background on iPhone, and for a while on Android.

Free covers transfers between your phone and your PC. Sending phone to phone (iPhone and Android) or PC to PC needs Pro. For more ways to move files off a phone, see Android to PC without USB and iPhone photos to a Windows PC.

Under the Hood: How the Transfer Actually Happens

The route depends on whether the two devices share a network, and on your plan. You don't pick it. The app tries the local network first and moves down the list for your plan.

Same Wi-Fi (both plans): the phone sends the file to the PC's local server as one continuous stream. No chunking, no relay, no size cap.

Different networks, Free: OpenDrop tries a direct peer-to-peer link first, then the shared free relay. Both apps dial out, so there is no port forwarding and nothing extra to install. Free remote transfers are speed-limited, move in resumable 5 MB pieces, and share a weekly fair-use allowance on the free relay. There is no file size cap.

Different networks, Pro: OpenDrop starts on the faster Pro relay, which has automatic backup, and keeps peer-to-peer as a second option. It streams the whole file at full speed with no weekly limit. There is no file size cap here either.

There is no TURN server, so on networks that block direct links, the transfer goes through the relay. On either plan, a remote transfer that drops picks up where it left off.

Encryption and authentication: file contents are encrypted with ChaCha20-Poly1305 on the sending device before they leave it, with a key derived (HKDF-SHA256) from the secret your devices share when you pair them. Encryption is mandatory on every route, and OpenDrop refuses to send or accept unencrypted file data. Requests between your devices are authenticated with HMAC-SHA256. Each signature covers the method, path, query, device ID and a timestamp, and expires after 5 minutes. On your local network, the OpenDrop mobile apps pin your PC's certificate, so they only talk to the computer you paired with.

What the relay sees: relay servers carry file contents only in encrypted form. They can see transfer details such as file names, folder names, file sizes and device names, which they need to route transfers. On Free, your pairing key is made on your PC and shared only through the QR code; OpenDrop's servers never receive it. For more on this, read wireless file transfer security.