The Fastest Way to Transfer Files Between Two Windows PCs — Tested

The Contenders

Six realistic methods for transferring files between two Windows machines — no exotic hardware, no enterprise infrastructure:

1. Windows SMB (shared folders and mapped drives)
2. A dedicated LAN transfer tool (Oxolan)
3. A cross-platform LAN tool (LocalSend)
4. Cloud storage (Dropbox/Google Drive roundtrip)
5. USB drive (physical)
6. Ethernet crossover cable + file copy

Method 1 — Windows SMB Shared Folders

The built-in Windows file sharing over SMB is capable of reaching near-gigabit throughput when correctly configured.

Setup required: Significant — correct network profile, four services running, correct permissions, credential configuration. 20–45 minutes on a fresh setup.

Real-world speed: 90–115 MB/s on wired gigabit when working correctly.

Reliability: Variable. Configuration can drift after Windows Updates. Discovery (finding the machine in the Network folder) is unreliable independent of transfer speed.

Best for: Persistent shared access to folders, mapped network drives that need to remain connected.

10GB transfer time: ~1.5 minutes (when working)

Method 2 — Dedicated LAN Transfer Tool (Oxolan)

Oxolan establishes a direct connection between machines on the same network without using the Windows SMB stack.

Setup required: Install on each machine — under two minutes.

Real-world speed: Full network throughput — comparable to SMB at ~100–115 MB/s on wired gigabit.

Reliability: High — application manages its own discovery and does not depend on Windows networking services.

Best for: Frequent file handoffs between Windows office machines, non-technical users, environments where SMB configuration is unreliable.

10GB transfer time: ~1.5 minutes

Get Oxolan for Windows

Method 3 — Cross-Platform LAN Tool (LocalSend)

LocalSend uses HTTPS over LAN for direct device-to-device transfer.

Setup required: Install on each machine — under two minutes.

Real-world speed: Full network throughput — ~95–115 MB/s on wired gigabit.

Reliability: High — its own discovery stack, independent of Windows networking.

Best for: Cross-platform environments (Windows + Mac + Linux + mobile), free requirement.

10GB transfer time: ~1.5 minutes

Mac note: LocalSend works identically on macOS. Transfers between a Mac and a Windows PC in the same office run at the same speed as Windows-to-Windows transfers.

Method 4 — Cloud Storage Roundtrip

Both machines sync via a shared cloud folder (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive).

Setup required: Account creation, app installation, shared folder setup — 10–20 minutes.

Real-world speed: Limited by internet upload bandwidth. At 100 Mbps upload: ~12.5 MB/s effective. Both machines must sync independently.

Reliability: High for small files. Unreliable for large files in simultaneous edit scenarios.

Best for: Remote teams, files that need external access, version history.

10GB transfer time: ~14 minutes upload + ~7 minutes download = ~21 minutes total (at 100 Mbps/200 Mbps)

Method 5 — USB Drive

The traditional "sneakernet" approach — copy to a USB drive, walk it between machines.

Setup required: None.

Real-world speed:

• USB 2.0 drive: 20–40 MB/s
• USB 3.0 drive: 100–400 MB/s (read side), 60–200 MB/s (write side)
• USB 3.1/3.2 NVMe enclosure: up to 500–900 MB/s on modern ports

Reliability: High (passive hardware, no software dependency). Physical wear is a longevity factor.

Best for: One-time large transfers, transfers where both machines cannot be on the same network simultaneously, transfers that need to survive network outages.

10GB transfer time: ~4 minutes on USB 3.0 (writing), ~3 minutes reading at destination

Method 6 — Direct Ethernet Crossover Cable

Connect the two machines directly via Ethernet cable (standard cable on modern NICs, which support Auto-MDI/MDIX), assign static IPs, and copy via SMB or any tool.

Setup required: Moderate — assign static IP addresses on both machines, configure SMB on the same subnet, or use a LAN tool like LocalSend.

Real-world speed: Full gigabit — 90–115 MB/s. No switch bottleneck.

Reliability: High — no network infrastructure involved.

Best for: Large one-time transfers where both machines are co-located, transfers of very large datasets (hundreds of GB) where maximum speed matters.

10GB transfer time: ~1.5 minutes

Comparison Table

Method	Setup effort	Speed	Reliability	Best use case
Windows SMB	High	110 MB/s	Variable	Persistent shared folders
Oxolan	Very low	110 MB/s	High	Daily office file handoffs
LocalSend	Very low	110 MB/s	High	Cross-platform, free
Cloud roundtrip	Medium	12–25 MB/s	High	Remote access, version history
USB 3.0 drive	None	80–200 MB/s	High	One-time, no network
Direct cable	Medium	110 MB/s	Very high	Max speed, co-located

Which One Is Actually Fastest?

For machines on the same wired gigabit network: SMB, Oxolan, LocalSend, and direct cable all achieve essentially the same transfer speed. The bottleneck is the network, not the application.

The practical differentiator is setup friction and reliability, not raw transfer rate:

• SMB is fastest when it works and doesn't need configuring — which is rare on fresh Windows 11 setups
• Oxolan and LocalSend reach the same speed with a fraction of the setup effort and maintain reliability through Windows updates
• A USB 3.0 drive is competitive for one-time large transfers if network configuration is uncertain

What About Mac?

For a Mac-to-Mac transfer: AirDrop creates a direct WiFi peer-to-peer connection and achieves 30–60 MB/s in real conditions — convenient but slower than wired. Finder Connect to Server (SMB) achieves the same ~110 MB/s as Windows-to-Windows on a wired connection. LocalSend achieves the same speeds cross-platform (Mac-to-Mac or Mac-to-Windows).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get faster than 115 MB/s on a standard office network? Not on gigabit ethernet — 115 MB/s is the practical ceiling. For faster speeds, you need 2.5GbE hardware (~270 MB/s) or 10GbE hardware (~1,050 MB/s), plus a compatible switch and cabling.

Is it safe to use a cloud tool for fast internal transfers? For non-sensitive files, yes. The speed limitation is the only concern. For sensitive data, consider whether cloud routing is appropriate before sending files externally.

Does file size affect which method is fastest? Yes, slightly. SMB and LAN tools have connection overhead that is negligible for large files but more significant for many small files. Transferring 10,000 small files (e.g., a web project directory) may be slower than expected because the overhead per file adds up. Archiving (zip) the directory first reduces this overhead.

Can I transfer files between Windows and Mac at full gigabit speed? Yes. SMB from Mac Finder (Connect to Server → smb://IP/Share) achieves full gigabit speed from a Mac to a Windows shared folder. LocalSend achieves the same between any two machines regardless of OS.