How do you make Ubuntu accept files sent over bluetooth

Question

I have a problem when I send my files from phone to ubuntu 12.04 via bluetooth as the phone prompts with the message "the file not sent"! I can send any files from ubuntu 12.04 to my android phone.

Same issue for me on Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit. No solution so far... — , Sep 30 '14 at 18:11
Created a bug for this https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-user-share/+bug/1406108 — frmdstryr, Dec 28 '14 at 15:16
I would just like to confirm that on 18.04 the apt-get install blueman fixes the issue as well. — Konrad Gajewski, Sep 27 '18 at 09:06

score 171 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 13 '15 at 15:28

171

Go to Dash Home search for personal file sharing. If you don't have Unity installed, you can open the program from a terminal with typing gnome-file-share-properties in it.

Ubuntu Personal File Sharing Bluetooth

At the bottom of the box enable Receive files in downloads folder over bluetooth also enable Notify about received file then you're good to go :)

Personal File Sharing Application Ubuntu Bluetooth Sharing

edited Mar 13 '15 at 15:28

Anwar

76,649

answered May 05 '12 at 11:43

Iain Wrethman

1,711

7

How is the program name if I want to start that in a Terminal? – BuZZ-dEE Dec 18 '12 at 18:59
7

gnome-file-share-properties – Florian Echtler Jun 18 '13 at 08:09
7

this did not work for me on 64 bit Ubuntu 14.04 – faizal Jul 12 '14 at 15:21
1

Its worked for me on 32 bit Ubuntu 14.04. but didn't seen any notifications may be some error. – Mansoorkhan Cherupuzha Aug 25 '14 at 01:44
1

It only worked after rebooting both smartphone and computer (I'm on Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit) @faizal – chelder Mar 13 '15 at 15:08
1

@FlorianEchtler This doesn't work in Xfce. What package needs to be installed? – landroni Mar 25 '15 at 22:03
gnome-user-share (can also be looked up using "dpkg -S gnome-file-share-properties"). – Florian Echtler Mar 26 '15 at 08:06
Still works in Ubuntu 15.10 – tudor -Reinstate Monica- Dec 29 '15 at 06:31
It doesn't work for me Ubuntu 15.10 I can send files but not receive – D.Snap Mar 31 '16 at 17:55
This worked for me without restart in 64 bit Ubuntu 14.04.5. And the notification is just a sound (when transfer is complete). – Leone Dec 19 '17 at 10:34
1

In 18.04 LTS it looks like mate-file-share-properties is there in its place. – blackappy Jun 30 '18 at 16:34
It worked in 16.04 LTS 64 bit without reboot. – Chromium Jul 07 '18 at 02:47
It should be possible to configure it using only "Bluetooth Settings". – Leonardo Castro Dec 24 '18 at 10:40
1

Could we get an update for something that works in 18.04 (It is kind of bad that by far the most upvoted answer does not work anymore.) – Kvothe Aug 16 '20 at 16:35
on ubuntu 20 it needs to be installed from the Ubuntu Software, and it still doesn't work – Dima Lituiev Dec 24 '20 at 07:05

score 13 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 11 '23 at 00:23

[Updated answer tested on Ubuntu 20.04]

I have found that simply installing blueman and using the blueman applet works well:

First, pair your device using the system default bluetooth menu.
Install blueman:
```
sudo apt-get install blueman
```
Run the applet:
```
/usr/bin/blueman-applet
```
Click on the new bluetooth applet indicator and select Local Services from the menu.
Tic the box for Accept files from trusted devices > select a default destination folder > and then click Apply.

Go back to the [other] system default bluetooth menu > hover your mouse cursor over your Phone/device > and toggle Connection before you send the file to Ubuntu.

Sharing from your phone should "just work".

NOTE: If the phone tries to send, but immediately fails, it may be a folder-permissions issue. Files sent via bluetooth are downloaded temporarily to ~/.cache/obexd, and if the owner/permissions of this folder aren't set correctly, the files can't be downloaded there and the transfer fails. Changing the folder's ownership and/or permissions so that your non-root account has read/write access to it should fix the problem.

[Original answer:]

For non-gnome/unity desktop-environments (Xmonad, XFCE, LXDE, etc.), the following works (tested on 15.04):

Make sure you have the necessary dependencies installed:

sudo apt-get install obex-data-server gnome-user-share

Run gnome-file-share-properties from the command-line, and make sure Receive files in downloads folder over bluetooth and Notify about received file are enabled.
Create a file ~/bin/start-bluetooth-listener which contains the following (the order is important):
```
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/obex-data-server
/usr/lib/gnome-user-share/gnome-user-share &
```
(create the~/bin directory first if it doesn't already exist)

Make the file executable:

chmod +x ~/bin/start-bluetooth-listener

Either manually run the ~/bin/start-bluetooth-listener script, or set up your desktop-environment to automatically run the script when you log-in (e.g. in XFCE, via the xfce4-session-settings tool).

Now if you try to send a file from your phone to your paired computer via bluetooth, it should work, and pop up a notification window after the file has been received.

in ubuntu-studio with xfce i get this error when run ./start-bluetooth-listener: ./start-bluetooth-listener: 3: ./start-bluetooth-listener: /usr/lib/gnome-user-share/gnome-user-share: not found — , Aug 08 '16 at 21:17
This almost worked for me but the magic glyph was running /usr/lib/gnome-user-share/gnome-user-share-obexpush. Maybe the file name has changed as there is not one without the -obexpush suffix. — Salix alba, Apr 18 '17 at 21:27
Blueman works. But it only lets me transfer pictures and not videos from my tablet. — SDsolar, Aug 05 '17 at 13:51

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered May 31 '20 at 17:38

3

On Ubuntu 20.04, remember that you have to keep the Bluetooth Settings open in order to receive files, otherwise Ubuntu will reject all transfers.

answered May 31 '20 at 17:38

Muhammad bin Yusrat

286

I'm running Lubuntu 20.04 I found that having ~/cache/obexd open in my file manager helped to insure that files were received. – Geoffrey Wheeler Jun 07 '20 at 23:10
I found that having the Bluetooth Devices dialog box open also helped ensure successful transfers. – Geoffrey Wheeler Jul 01 '20 at 04:23
In my case just opening settings didn't work, I had to connect to the sending device, then I'm able to receive files. – Dev Bhuyan Feb 28 '23 at 19:17
Doesn't work for me at all. Have the phone connected, can send to it, but not receive from it. – misiu_mp May 05 '23 at 20:28

score -10 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 24 '13 at 13:29

-10

go to bluetooth sittings and pair your device and choose the device that you want to send or connect audio speaker set shown and put sign on ( use your phone as, and send or play music

edited Aug 24 '13 at 13:29

Braiam

67,791
32
179
269

answered Aug 24 '13 at 12:58

ko0o0ky

1
1

1

The question asked is regarding file transfer. You aren't addressing his problem with this solution. – thewebjackal Nov 27 '16 at 03:45

How do you make Ubuntu accept files sent over bluetooth

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