Asklemmy

QR code reader and generator on both phone and laptop

• Phone: SecScanQR
• Laptop: ZBarCam and Zint

But I'm glad to have learned about LocalSend here so I'm no longer limited to short text snippets

Email?

I usually just use an email draft for cross platform transfers. MacOS/iOS handle this pretty much automatically and Linux has a good option (KDE Connect) but it sounds like you’re on Windows.

Does Phone Link (built into Windows) work for your needs? I don’t use Windows often but I know they’re trying to make something sort of like the other OS’s syncing systems. Not sure how good it is.

Depending on what I want to do, I used a combination of Unified Remote and LocalSend, both of which are available for Linux. With Unified Remote, I can control my PC on my home network. So if I want to copy over a URL, for example, I could open notepad and paste it remotely from my phone's clipboard (or type it manually), or I could open a new tab on my PC's browser and paste the URL so it's open and ready for me the next time I'm at my PC. I can sit downstairs on the couch and check the status of a project upstairs, open and run new programs upstairs, etc.

My only two complaints are that I need to be at the PC to handle admin messages like "Are you sure you want to install this program?", which I guess is a safety feature but it's still annoying. And secondly, I really wish they had an easier way to toggle between left- and right-mouse-click, it gets annoying.

To send images, actual files or even folders, I use LocalSend. It does require that you click Accept on the device you're sending to, but I can use Unified Remote to do that, and then save the files to wherever I want to (or accept the default).

This may be less streamlined than other options, but what I really like about it is that I can complete a task and then not have to think about it again. I don't have to go back to my desktop and download or save anything, I've already done it, the job's complete. The only exception is when I've put a new URL into my browser, but that's generally because I wanted to look at it on my (much larger than my phone's) desktop screen.

Anyway, it works nicely for me; I hope you find a solution that works for you!

Discord. I have a channel in one of my servers that's just me.

Try plain-app

I like pairdrop/snapdrop or Google quick share

I have a discord DM to myself that I use.

Oh, posted this before I read the rest of your message lol. Nvm.

You can make your own Discord or Discord alternative server

Despite everything, Telegram is actually great. It's only bloated if you're using the features on the device, the client is opensource and there are native apps for any platform, it's very lightweight compared to other messengers and even to some dedicated filesharing solutions, it sends stuff p2p on the same network so you don't need to care about the traffic, but also it allows for on-demand downloads so if you want the stuff will be available outside of your network.
Alternatively, kdeconnect, but I find myself using Telegram instead 9 times out of 10, even though I have both installed.