How to Use AirDrop to Quickly Send Photos and Files Across iPhone, Mac and iPad

Unlike similar Android and Windows Phone solutions that require back-to-back NFC contact of your phones, AirDrop works entirely wirelessly over Bluetooth. It’s available on iPhones and iPads since iOS 7, and Macs since OS X 10.10 Yosemite. You can use it to send content between your own devices, or share it with someone else’s devices if they’re nearby.

In the AirDrop window, choose who can AirDrop to you. Click Allow me to be discovered by and choose either Contacts Only or Everyone. She is currently writing a book, creating lots of content, and writing poetry via @conpoet on Instagram. She lives in an RV full-time with her mom, Jan and dog, Jodi as they slow-travel around the country. Peter is a Senior Editor at Tom’s Guide, heading up the site’s Reviews team and Cameras section. As a writer, he covers topics including tech, photography, gaming, hardware, motoring and food & drink.

• On the AirDrop screen, you should see icons for all of the AirDrop-compatible devices in range (it might take a moment for them to appear).
• To AirDrop files from iPhone or iPad, make sure your iPhone or iPad and the target Apple device are within the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth range, or the transfer will fail even the AirDrop is turned on.
• However, it all works wirelessly over Bluetooth with no NFC contact required.
• Drag-and-drop files into another device to share them.
• With AirDrop, Apple creates a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection between the two devices in an AirDrop exchange.
• Snapdrop is available as a web application, which can be accessed through any web browser by visiting the Snapdrop website.

Here’s how to turn on the feature and customize https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz9aEWRPx28 settings to change who’s allowed to AirDrop to you on for iOS®, iPadOS®, and MacOS®. Now that you’ve mastered the art of AirDrop, check out these iOS 18 features to make the most of your iPhone. If you want to AirDrop from your iPhone to your Mac, and both are signed into the same Apple ID, you won’t see an option to Accept or Decline. In the menu that appears, hover over Share and click on AirDrop.

How to turn on AirDrop on iPhone, iPad and Mac

If you want to AirDrop with people without adding each other to your contacts, you can always temporarily switch AirDrop to work with everyone, ignoring contacts. This works a bit like Android Beam on Android phones and tablets. However, it all works wirelessly over Bluetooth with no NFC contact required. A simple guide to pairing more than one set of wireless headphones to your iPhone or iPad to allow for audio sharing with family and friends. You can choose whether to accept AirDrop content from just your contacts, or from everyone.

Now, using AirDrop, you can share files quickly and easily with most Apple devices nearby that have receiving enabled. That includes other iPhones and iPads, as well as Macs. In addition to file sharing, Snapdrop also allows users to send text messages to nearby devices.

How to turn on AirDrop on iPhone and iPad to receive files from others

One such feature is known as “Drop”, which allows users to easily share files and messages between their devices, such as a phone and a desktop computer. AirDrop is a wireless file-sharing feature built into Apple devices that securely share your photos, videos, websites, locations, documents and other data with a nearby iPhone, iPad or Mac. It uses a combination of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to establish a peer-to-peer network between Apple devices, so the files can be transferred from one to another. AirDrop is an Apple feature that allows you to wirelessly transfer media between your iOS and Mac devices. It’s one of the most painless Apple Continuity features; it’s easy to use and works exactly as it should.

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You could also AirDrop from iPhone to iPhone, or to iPad, whether yours or someone else’s that’s nearby. Tap Contacts Only to ensure your device is only visible to contacts. Or tap Everyone to allow your device to be seen by any compatible devices nearby (you still have to accept any file transfers).

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If you are team Android, you can use a feature called Quick Share, which does something similar. Click on the recipient from the list to send the file and click Done. Tap the Share button, which looks like a box with an arrow pointing out of it, and then tap the AirDrop icon, which should appear first in the list of app icons.

If you want to share many files between your Mac and other Apple devices, see Transfer files from iPhone to a storage device, a server, or the cloud. Google’s Nearby Share app for Windows can be used to wirelessly transfer files to Android in a similar way as AirDrop. Download the Nearby Share app for Windows to get started.