Like the Safari browser for iPhone, Google Chrome also has this surprisingly handy feature that lets you transfer open tabs between your iPhone and PC. Honestly, it’s kind of weird how seamless it sounds in theory, but in practice, sometimes you hit unexpected hurdles—like signals not syncing, or notifications not popping up. That said, once set up right, it can save a lot of hassle jumping between devices. The main trick is making sure you’re signed into the same Google account on both, with sync enabled everywhere. This guide walks through the core steps plus a couple of troubleshooting tips, so you can get those tabs moving smoothly from device to device without losing your mind.
Transfer Chrome Tabs Between iPhone & PC
First things first—sign in to the same Google account on Chrome for both devices and enable sync. If that’s not done, the whole thing won’t work. When your sync is active, opening a tab on your PC or iPhone can be sent over to the other device almost instantly. On some setups, it might take a second or two, or you might need to manually refresh or reopen Chrome, because Windows is weird like that. The trick is to ensure sync is fully on and that your devices are connected to the internet. Once that’s sorted, transferring tabs just feels like flicking a switch.
Make sure Chrome is sync-enabled on your PC
- Open Chrome, click on the profile picture in the top right.
- Go to Settings > Sync and Google services.
- Check that Sync is ON. You might need to log in if it’s not.
- Ensure Sync everything or at least Open tabs are enabled.
This ensures everything is sharing across devices. On some computers, if sync is turned off or hiccuping, the transfer won’t happen smoothly, so double-check.
Set up Chrome on iPhone the same way
- Open Chrome on your iPhone, then go to Settings.
- Tap your profile, then verify Sync is enabled too.
Now, whenever you want to send a tab from your desktop, just right-click it (or tap and hold on mobile) and look for Send to Devices. Select your iPhone, and a notification pops up—tap Open and voilà, the webpage is on your phone.
Expectations and caveats
It does work, mostly. On some machines, this fails the first few times, then it magically kicks in. If it’s not working, ensure both devices are logged in with the same account and that Chrome is fully synced. Also, sometimes a quick restart of Chrome or even the device clears up lingering glitches. Because of course, Windows has to make it harder than necessary sometimes.
How to Transfer Chrome Tabs from iPhone to PC?
Same idea—make sure sync is active everywhere. Open whatever webpage on your iPhone you want to send over, then tap that share icon (the box with an arrow).From there, pick Send to your devices. Select your PC from the list. When it works, you’ll get a notification—just click Open on your PC Chrome, and the page loads. It’s kinda neat when it works, but again, sometimes the sync lags or the notification doesn’t pop up promptly.
Extra tip
If you don’t see your device, check that it’s properly logged into the same Google account. Also, sometimes toggling Sync off and on on both devices refreshes the connection. Just make sure Chrome’s background app refresh and notifications are allowed in your iPhone prompts.
How to See Tabs from Other Devices?
Super useful if you’re jumping around lots of devices. On Chrome desktop, click the three dots > History, then on the left sidebar, click Tabs from other devices. You’ll see all the open tabs on your synced devices. On iPhone, open Chrome, go to History, then tap Tabs from other devices. Just a quick way to see what’s open elsewhere without sending tabs back and forth manually.
This feature is kinda under-the-hood, but it’s clutch — especially if you’ve got multiple devices going and don’t want to keep track of every URL. Just keep in mind, sometimes these lists don’t update instantaneously, so if a tab isn’t showing up, a quick refresh or restart of Chrome might do the trick.
All in all, this isn’t perfect, but once you get the hang of it, Chrome’s syncing special sauce really pays off. Hopefully, this shaves off a few hours for someone, or at least saves the hassle of copying and pasting URLs manually.
Summary
- Make sure you’re signed into Chrome with the same Google account on both devices
- Ensure sync is turned on, especially for “Open tabs” and “Tabs from other devices”
- Use “Send to Devices” to quickly push tabs from one to the other
- Check “History” to see all open tabs on other devices when needed
Wrap-up
Getting Chrome to play nicely with tab sharing between iPhone and PC can be a bit finicky sometimes, but once it’s working, it’s honestly a huge time saver. Just keep in mind that local network issues or sync hiccups can slow things down, so staying patient and doing a quick check of your settings usually solves most problems. Fingers crossed, this helps keep those frantic tab switches a little less stressful.