A lot has been said about AirDrop since its debut in 2011. Ahead of its time, AirDrop was an incredible addition to the Apple ecosystem almost a decade ago. Over time, it lingered, and languished, and fell behind many competing services.

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The criticism was valid, but is no longer accurate. In the past few years, Apple has made AirDrop faster to load, and it recognizes devices far better than it used to. We’ll show you how to use AirDrop across your devices, and showcase some apps that make file transfer much easier.

What is AirDrop and how does it work

The purpose of AirDrop is simple: transferring files. It works over WiFi and Bluetooth, identifying devices nearby that can accept file transfers.

You can choose to accept files from everyone, or just those in your contacts list. You can also choose to have AirDrop block all incoming file transfers, though this setting will also make your device undiscoverable by others, so you won’t be able to send files either.

OS X Yosemite ushered in a new era for AirDrop on the Mac. Before this version of OS X (now macOS), AirDrop for Mac and iOS were not interoperable. This made transferring files between a Mac and iPhone or iPad difficult; now that these systems play well together, there is no such problem.

When you want to share a file using AirDrop, you just need to choose AirDrop from the share-sheet when right-clicking on a file or folder, then select AirDrop. An available list of devices to share to will appear.

How to turn on AirDrop

While easy to use, AirDrop may not be activated on your device. Because it can allow anyone to send files to your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, AirDrop can be a security risk. If someone sent you a file or link that had malware, it may end up on your device without you having the option to refuse it!

We’ll walk you through how to set up AirDrop on all of your devices.

How to turn on AirDrop on iPhone/iPad

Chances are your AirDrop experience will involve using an iOS or iPadOS device, so it’s important to know how to activate AirDrop on your iPhone or iPad as well. Here’s how to turn AirDrop on when using an iPhone:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone
Select “General”
Select “AirDrop”
Choose the discoverability option best suited to you

Here’s how to turn on Airdrop on iPad:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone
Select “General”
Select “AirDrop”
Choose the discoverability option best suited to you

For all Apple changed about iPad when it spun iPadOS into its own platform, it kept settings largely unchanged.

How to turn on AirDrop on Mac

If you’re wondering how to turn on AirDrop on Mac, you’re not alone. While AirDrop is a really simple and impressive sharing option, Apple doesn’t surface it well on the Mac.

Here’s how to activate AirDrop on your Mac:

Open the Finder app on your Mac
On the left side of the window, select “AirDrop” from the Favorites section
At the bottom of the window, choose the discoverability option best suited to you
Note: Selecting “Everyone” from this list means any Apple device in your vicinity can send you files. Be mindful of this while in public.

How to use AirDrop

Just like activating AirDrop is different across devices, using it to send files is also unique. Here, we’ll show you the best ways to send files to and from all of your Apple devices.

How to Airdrop from Mac to iPhone

When using a Mac to send files to iPhones or iPads, right-click is your best option. Here’s how it’s done:

Locate the file you want to send to an iPhone
Right-click on the filename or thumbnail
From the drop-down menu, scroll down to “Share”
In the new sub-menu, select “AirDrop”
In the new window that appears, select the device you want to send a file or folder to

How to Airdrop from iPhone to Mac

Sending files via AirDrop on iOS and iPadOS is a bit different. Here’s how it’s done:

Choose the image, file, webpage, or other item you’d like to share
From the bottom of the screen, select the “share sheet” – a box icon with an upward-facing arrow
Select “AirDrop” from the options. Note: The device you want to send the file to may show up on the top row if it has AirDrop active, and your device is able to send files to it as a contact.
Select the Mac you want to send the file to

AirDrop is great for sending things you are working on in the moment. We like AirDrop for sending files to an iPad that need to be signed, or editing images on a favorite iOS photo editing app. It’s a quick, easy method for sending files to and from your devices.

What AirDrop is not adept at is acting as a backup service. While AirDrop has no file size limitations, that doesn’t mean you will want to send gigabytes of data over AirDrop. It also can’t handle all the data you want to save. That’s where AnyTrans comes in.

AnyTrans picks up where iTunes backups left off. It helps you backup the contents of your iPhone in its entirety, and access your entire system on a Mac. It’s perfect for backing up and accessing media content on your Mac, even if you have iCloud synced across your devices. It’s also faster; because AnyTrans uses a secure, wired connection rather than wireless sharing like AirDrop, your files are ported quickly.

AnyTrans is also better at migrating data en masse. If you have larger files, AirDrop can take a long time. AnyTrans doesn’t have to worry about how much you want to transfer. AnyTrans is also far more secure than Airdrop. While an interloper may be able to send you files you don’t want if your AirDrop settings aren’t correct, AnyTrans uses a wired connection, and nobody can intercept that!

Where do Airdrop Files go on Mac, iPhone

Accepting AirDrop files is one thing – but where do they end up once you’ve accepted the download?

On your Mac, AirDrop files go directly to the Downloads folder. It makes sense: an AirDrop is still a download, the delivery is just more direct.

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For iOS devices, photos sent to your iPhone (and iPad using iPadOS) will end up directly in your Photos app. If you forward a website from Mac to iPhone or iPad, it will open directly in your default browser. Should you send yourself a file, like a PDF, AirDrop will open it directly in the Files app. If you have multiple cloud storage services, like Google Drive and iCloud, it will allow you to save it to one of them via a popup menu.

AirDrop is easy to use, and that makes it easy to send yourself duplicate files. Apple’s file transfer service doesn’t care if you have multiple files; it’s only there to transfer. A better way to manage duplicates is with Gemini.

An app every Mac should have, Gemini focuses entirely on finding pesky duplicate files on your Mac so you can quickly and easily dispose of them. Gemini scans images, music files, videos, photos – you name it. Naturally, the app also peers into your Mac’s filesystem to discover duplicate apps as well.

When using AirDrop, it’s highly likely you’ll end up sending yourself a file multiple times, but Gemini makes it easy to discard those duplicates later on. Over time, Gemini’s self-learning algorithm and deep customization options make it even better. While deletion is easy, Gemini also has a safe file recovery feature in the event you accidentally delete a file you really did need.

Why AirDrop is not Working on my Mac

There are a few things to look for when using AirDrop on your Mac, especially if you’re running into problems. Here are a few things to consider: