Unable to share files via Bluetooth between Lumia 810 and Dell laptop

[Martin Miller]

Hello,

I have a Lumia 810 and a Dell Inspiron laptop running Windows 8.1 and I would like to be able to transfer music and photos between them wirelessly. When I pair my phone to my laptop using Bluetooth they connect for a few seconds and then disconnect. I have read several forum posts that say this is normal as the WP is not designed to "stay connected" to devices like a laptop or tablet. This blows my mind because I thought that was the whole point of Microsoft's "one OS across multiple devices" strategy, but I digress. So I try just sending individual files but even this does not work! Going from the phone to the laptop I get "The device you're trying to send to doesn't support sharing over Bluetooth." This is after I have gone into "Bluetooth Settings" on the laptop and enabled sharing:


Going from the laptop to the phone (right-click file, Send to -> Bluetooth, select Windows Phone -> Finish) I get:


What am I doing wrong? Why is this so difficult to do with devices that are supposedly made to be compatible? My enthusiasm for WP and and Windows in general is currently at an all time low so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Please see the following thread: http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...earth-do-you-pair-wp8-w8-1-via-bluetooth.html

 

[T Moore]

This has nothing to do with Microsoft strategy. This is the Bluetooth stack and how it operates. With Win8 you have to pair differently.

Once paired with a laptop of tablet that is all that is needed. The connection does not have to be maintained so the phone disconnects.
If you initiate a transfer the devices connect again and do the transfer.
Always start the pairing from the PC in devices and printers, add a device. This is the step most miss.

For the PC to receive a file right the BT icon and select receive a file, waiting for a connection pops up, then start the transfer from the phone.
For the PC to send a file you can start with the file to share, right click it, send to, Bluetooth device, and select the phone.