Chrome for desktop can now send numbers straight to your phone – here's how to try it

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Here's my number, so call me safely

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Google is testing a new feature in Chrome that makes it possible to send a phone number from the desktop browser to your phone.

When you're browsing the internet on your phone and encounter a phone number, placing a call is a simple matter of tapping the hyperlink and hitting the dial button, but it's not so easy when you're browsing on the desktop. The new option should save you having to manually tap out a number – and potentially misdialing it.

Currently available in Chrome 78 Beta, the feature comes only shortly after Google introduced the ability to send tabs from one device to another and to copy and paste content between devices.

How to send a number

The new number sharing option works in a similar way. When you encounter a hyperlinked phone number in Chrome on the desktop, you can simply click it and a new 'Call from your devices' menu lets you choose which of your linked handsets to send the number to.

You can also right-click any non-hyperlinked number to access the same option. Once the number has been transmitted to your handset, a single tap is all it takes to place the call.

As Android Police reports, the feature should be enabled by default, but it can be toggled on and off by visiting chrome://flags/#click-to-call-context-menu-selected-text and changing the 'Enable click to call feature on desktop when a phone number is selected' option.

As the feature is in beta at the moment, it's hard to determine exactly how things will pan out, but for now it seems that the feature is supported on Android 9 and 10, and number sending is working in the mobile version of Chrome 77.

Via Android Police

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Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson
Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson
Freelance writer

Sofia is a tech journalist who's been writing about software, hardware and the web for nearly 25 years – but still looks as youthful as ever! After years writing for magazines, her life moved online and remains fueled by technology, music and nature.

Having written for websites and magazines since 2000, producing a wide range of reviews, guides, tutorials, brochures, newsletters and more, she continues to write for diverse audiences, from computing newbies to advanced users and business clients. Always willing to try something new, she loves sharing new discoveries with others.

Sofia lives and breathes Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and just about anything with a power button, but her particular areas of interest include security, tweaking and privacy. Her other loves include walking, music, her two Malamutes and, of course, her wife and daughter.

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