AirDrop Not Working Between Mac and iPhone? Fix It
AirDrop should feel effortless, so when a device simply does not appear, it is tempting to blame the file. In practice, the cause is almost always a setting on one of the two devices, and it takes only a few checks to find it.
Follow these steps
- Bring the devices close together and wake them up. Keep the Mac and iPhone within a few metres, with both screens awake and unlocked. AirDrop needs the devices near each other and active to discover each other.
- Turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, on both devices. AirDrop uses both: Bluetooth to discover the other device and Wi-Fi to transfer the file. Open Control Centre on each device and confirm both are switched on, even if you are not connected to a Wi-Fi network.
- Check AirDrop visibility on both devices. On the iPhone, open Settings, then General, then AirDrop, and choose Everyone for 10 Minutes while testing. On the Mac, open Finder, then AirDrop, and set Allow me to be discovered by to Everyone.
- Make sure neither device is in a blocking mode. Turn off Personal Hotspot on the iPhone while testing, since it can interfere with AirDrop, and check that neither device is in a Focus mode that might suppress the incoming transfer prompt.
- Check the Mac firewall. On the Mac, open System Settings, then Network, then Firewall, and make sure the firewall is not blocking incoming connections for AirDrop. If you use third-party security software, check its firewall too.
- Restart both devices and try a small file first. Restart the Mac and the iPhone, then try sending a single photo. If a small file works, the connection is fine, and a large file that failed before may simply need a retry.
- Sign in to the same Apple Account as a fallback. If the devices still cannot see each other, sign in to the same Apple Account on both, or add the other person's contact details. AirDrop works best between devices that recognise each other.
What NOT to do
- Do not turn off your firewall permanently to make AirDrop work. Adjust the specific setting, then turn protection back on.
- Do not accept AirDrop files from strangers. Set visibility back to Contacts Only after testing, so unknown senders cannot reach you.
- Do not blame the file size first. A settings problem blocks small files too, so fix discovery before retrying a huge transfer.
If a test photo transfers, AirDrop is working again. Remember to set visibility back to Contacts Only, and keep Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on whenever you expect to share files.