How To Airdrop From iPhone To Mac.
One of the most underrated and underutilized features of iOS is the Airdrop feature. It’s fantastic for seamlessly moving files from one device to another. Previously, you needed to move a file using Dropbox, iCloud, email, or PushBullet. But now you can just hit the Airdrop button and let it do wonders in seconds.
Before moving on to Airdrop from iPhone to Mac (and vice versa), let’s take a quick look at what an Airdrop is if you’re one of the uninitiated.
What is Airdrop?
Airdrop is a wireless file transfer method built into macOS and iOS operating systems, provided that Bluetooth is enabled on both the sending and receiving devices.
You simply select a file on the sending device, look at the Airdrop screen for your receiving device (which must be within the reach of the sending device) and click on it. After a few seconds, the file will appear on your receiving device.
Sounds complicated? Well it is not. Let’s take a look at how to send a file from iPhone to Mac and this will quickly become clear.
How to drop a file from iPhone to Mac over the air
Let’s say I took a picture of my dog ??with my iPhone and want to transfer it to my Mac? First, I had to make sure Bluetooth was turned on on both iPhone and Mac (otherwise, Airdrop would not work).
–
To turn on Bluetooth on iPhone, go to Settings and tap Bluetooth. If Bluetooth is not already enabled, slide the switch to green.
To turn on Bluetooth on Mac, go to System Preferences and then Bluetooth. If it’s not already on, you can turn on Bluetooth by pressing the button on the left side.
Now that Bluetooth is enabled on both devices, let’s post this photo over the air.
- Open the file you want to send. In this case, this is a photo. Click the Share button in the lower left corner.
iPhone to Mac
- Show the file you want to send. In this case, it’s an image. Click the share button in the lower left corner.
- When the pop-up menu appears, you will see the Airdrop logo on the far left corner. But since the receiving device has Bluetooth enabled and is within reach, you will see it above the Airdrop logo.
- If the device you are looking for is not there, click on the Airdrop logo and it will search for all Bluetooth enabled Airdrop devices within range. If they are, they will appear below the photo.
- As soon as you click on the device you want to send to, a “Sending†message appears below it. The whole process takes just seconds.
- On the receiving device (in this case, MacOS), you will hear two short beeps. The Finder will automatically open in your default downloads folder and you will see the file waiting for you.
- Then you can, if you like, delete the original file from the sending device. It all depends on you.
From Mac to iPhone
If you want to do it differently, then it’s just as easy.
- Go to Finder and then Airdrop from the sidebar. You will now see all Bluetooth enabled airdrops that are within range. As you can see, my Mac has picked up my iPhone.
- Let’s say we want to send this photo back to the iPhone. Just right click it, select the Share option and then Airdrop.
- After a few seconds, the photo will reappear on your iPhone.
Airdrop is a game changer as we are more and more used to carrying multiple devices with us. It is more important than ever to make our files as portable as possible.
Are you using Airdrop? Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.
–