A common issue on macOS is when Airdrop doesn’t work and this normally happens when you try to send files from one Apple device to another. It’s annoying and prevents you from sharing any files between your devices.

Luckily, there are a few things you can do to possibly get rid of the AirDrop issues and start sharing files between an iOS-based device and a Mac.

Table of Contents
    Fix AirDrop Issues on Your iPhone & Mac

    Make Your Devices Discoverable

    You need to make sure both your iPhone and Mac are discoverable for AirDrop. If they aren’t due to a settings option, you need to turn it off so your devices can be found when you use AirDrop.

    Make Your iPhone Discoverable

    1. Launch the Settings app and tap on General.
    General menu in Settings
    1. Tap on AirDrop on the following screen.
    AirDrop menu in General
    1. Select Everyone. This’ll let anyone find your iPhone in AirDrop.
    Everyone selected in AirDrop

    Make Your Mac Discoverable

    1. Launch a Finder window and click on AirDrop in the left sidebar.
    AirDrop in Finder
    1. Select Everyone from the Allow me to be discovered by dropdown menu.
    Everyone menu selected in AirDrop

    Bring Your Devices Closer To Each Other

    AirDrop uses Bluetooth to find and connect devices. As you may already know, Bluetooth has a range of 10 meters to make connections. Therefore, you should make sure both your AirDrop-compatible devices are within the 10 meters range. If they aren’t you may find that AirDrop is not working.

    iPhone sitting on a laptop

    If they aren’t, bring them closer and then retry sending your files with AirDrop. You should find now that you can connect both your devices without any issues.

    Ensure Your iPhone Is Unlocked

    While sharing files with your iPhone, you must make sure that it’s unlocked and awake. If it’s in sleep mode and locked with a passcode, you’ll have issues sending files from other devices to your iPhone.

    Passcode screen on iPhone

    Keep your iPhone unlocked, awake, and display on while using AirDrop on it. That’ll keep your phone safe from any potential AirDrop issues.

    Toggle WiFi & Bluetooth On Your Devices

    AirDrop uses both WiFi and Bluetooth to help you share files between your devices. When AirDrop doesn’t work, you should try toggling these options and see if that fixes the issue for you.

    Toggle WiFi & Bluetooth On Your iPhone

    1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
    2. Tap on Wi-Fi and turn it off.
    Wi-Fi toggle in Wi-Fi
    1. Tap on Bluetooth and turn it off.
    Bluetooth toggle
    1. Turn both WiFi and Bluetooth on.

    Toggle WiFi & Bluetooth On Your Mac

    1. Click on the WiFi icon at the top of your Mac screen and select Turn Wi-Fi Off.
    Turn Wi-Fi Off in Wi-Fi menu
    1. Click on the Bluetooth icon and choose Turn Bluetooth Off.
    Turn Bluetooth Off in Bluetooth menu
    1. Turn both WiFi and Bluetooth on.

    Turn Off WiFi Hotspot On Your iPhone

    AirDrop doesn’t work when you have a personal hotspot enabled on your iPhone. You’ll need to turn it off to use AirDrop for file sharing.

    This will make the Internet unavailable on the devices that use your hotspot but you can turn it back on once you’ve finished your AirDrop file transfers.

    1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
    2. Tap on Mobile Data.
    Mobile Data in iPhone Settings
    1. Select Personal Hotspot.
    Personal Hotspot menu
    1. Turn the toggle for Personal Hotspot to the off position.
    Personal Hotspot toggle

    Connect Both Your Devices To The Same WiFi Network

    If your AirDrop-enabled devices are connected to a WiFi network, we suggest you connect both your devices to the same WiFi network. Apple doesn’t specifically tell you that both your devices should be on the same network. However, it does help to be on the same network connection from our personal experience.

    If at all possible, ensure both your iOS-device and Mac use the same WiFi network.

    Turn Off Do Not Disturb On Your Devices

    Do Not Disturb silences all your notifications on your devices and this includes AirDrop notifications as well. Since you won’t get a notification for an incoming file, you won’t be able to accept or reject it. Therefore, keep Do Not Disturb disabled when you use AirDrop.

    Disable Do Not Disturb On Your iPhone

    1. Open the Settings app and tap on Do Not Disturb.
    Do Not Disturb in Settings
    1. Turn off the Do Not Disturb option.
    Do Not Disturb toggle

    Disable Do Not Disturb On Your Mac

    1. Click on the Notification Centre icon at the top-right corner of your screen.
    Notification Center icon
    1. Turn the toggle for Do Not Disturb to the off position.
    Do Not Disturb toggle

    Disable a Firewall Option On Your Mac

    The Mac firewall has an option that blocks all incoming connections on your machine. This could affect your AirDrop connections as well and so you should keep this option turned off while using AirDrop.

    1. Click on the Apple logo at the top-left corner of your screen and select System Preferences.
    System Preferences in Apple menu
    1. Choose Security & Privacy on the following screen.
    Security & Privacy in System Preferences
    1. Click on the Firewall tab and select Firewall Options.
    Firewall Options in Firewall
    1. If the buttons are greyed-out on your screen, click on the padlock icon at the bottom and enter your account password.
    2. Untick the box that says Block all incoming connections and hit OK at the bottom.
    Block all incoming connections in Security & Privacy

    Reset Network Settings On Your iPhone

    If AirDrop is still not working on your iPhone, you could try resetting your network settings to the factory defaults. This should fix issues with your network configuration and you can reconfigure these options later.

    1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on General.
    General in Settings window
    1. Scroll down and tap on Reset.
    Reset menu
    1. Select Reset Network Settings to reset your settings.
    Reset Network Settings in Reset

    Update The Operating System On Your Devices

    Lastly, you need to make sure both your devices are running the latest version of their respective operating systems. If they aren’t, update their operating system versions and that should most likely fix the AirDrop not working issue.

    Update Your iPhone

    1. Open the Settings app and tap on General.
    General in Settings menu
    1. Tap on Software Update at the top of your screen.
    Software Update menu
    1. Tap on Download and Install if an update is available. This will download the update and install it for you on your device.

    Update Your Mac

    1. Click on the Apple logo at the top-left corner of your screen and select About This Mac.
    About This Mac in Apple menu
    1. Click on the Software Update button on the following screen.
    macOS High Sierra screen
    1. It’ll take you to the Mac App Store to download and install a macOS update if one is available.

    How common is it for AirDrop to not work on your devices? Did the methods above fix the AirDrop issues for you? Let us know in the comments below.