Google Files Go is a cleanup tool that removes unwanted junk and apps from your phone to free up space. It is also handy for securely transferring files from one Android device to another.

I looked at Files Go by Google in No space on your phone? Google has the solution with Files Go and it is a great utility for recovering space on a phone that is nearly full.

This article will focus on sharing files and transferring them to other Android devices you may own or even to someone else nearby with a phone. The file transfer capabilities enable files to be securely transferred from one device to another without using the internet or going by any other service or route that someone could spy on. Only you and the other device or person can see and exchange files.

This might add a bit of peace of mind and set aside any security or privacy worries that might occur if files were shared over the internet.

An obvious way to share files would be to place them on Google Drive, Dropbox or other online storage and then share them, but then someone else potentially has access to them. Using Files Go file transfer no third party is involved.

1 Set up a file transfer

Open Files Go by Google on your Android phone or tablet. Press the Files button at the bottom and then just above is SEND and RECEIVE. Press SEND to send a file to another Android phone or tablet close by.

The first time send or receive is used you are asked to agree to various permissions, such as allowing it to set up a wireless hotspot. Just tap through the messages to continue.

2 Name and broadcast

You are asked to enter a name to identify the device and then the phone or tablet starts a mini wireless hotspot. It uses WPA2 encryption, so it is very secure.

3 Connect to a device

If you chose to send files, you or your friend on the other Android device must choose to receive files. The other device is prompted to enter a name when they press RECEIVE.

As the sender, you own the mini wireless hotspot and you can see other devices in range set to receive in Files Go. They cannot connect to you unless you select them and give them permission.

Tap the name of the device you want to send files to, Nexus in my case, and the devices establish a secure wireless connection. No-one else can connect.

4 Exchange files

It does not matter whether you choose send or receive because a two-way connection is established and both devices can send and receive. Just tap the SEND MORE FILES button to send files.

You can choose from the usual locations, such as downloads, images, videos, audio and documents, and one or multiple files can be selected and sent in one go. Received files are saved to the Downloads folder. I chose some photos to send to the other device, but other files are possible.

To close the connection and stop the wireless network, tap the arrow in the top left corner to go back to the Files home screen.

I used an old Samsung Galaxy S6 running Android 7 and an even older Nexus 7 tablet running Android 5 that barely works these days. Once the connection was established, the file transfer feature worked well though. It would be even better on newer devices.