AirDrop is one of the best ways to transfer files across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, according to Apple devotees. Unfortunately, this statement is only true when it is true. And there’s no disputing that AirDrop won’t operate on iPhone from time to time. Let’s find out how to fix AirDrop not working on iPhone and iPad with 5 best available methods.
In other cases, AirDrop will continue to fail or will not display the other device to begin the file transfer. AirDrop from iPhone to Mac may not function in some circumstances, but it will work with other iOS devices. Here are the five greatest options to use when AirDrop is not working to resolve all such issues. Take a peek around.
How to Fix AirDrop Not Working on iPhone
Try to accommodate the following step-by-step methods to fix AirDrop not working on iPhone and iPad.
1. Follow the AirDrop Essentials
Before moving on to the adjustments, make sure you and the person you’re giving the file to understand the basics of AirDrop. So, on both the sender’s and receiver’s Apple devices, rapidly follow all of the essentials listed below.
a. Turn On Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Both the sender’s and receiver’s devices must have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on for AirDrop to work. Furthermore, the devices should be within 30 feet of each other (9 meters). It is important to remember that being connected to a Wi-Fi network is not required.
On an iPhone or iPad: go to Settings > Wi-Fi and turn it on. Return to the previous step and repeat for Bluetooth. Alternatively, you can use the Control Center to turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
On a Mac: the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth icons are located in the top menu bar. Your Mac also has a Control Center with these toggles if you’re running macOS Big Sur or later. Finally, go to the Apple logo > System Preferences > Network > WiFi to enable Wi-Fi. To enable Bluetooth, go to the Apple logo > System Preferences > Network > Bluetooth.
b. Turn Off Personal Hotspot
You must disable the personal hotspot on both devices for AirDrop to work. Here’s how to accomplish it on an iPhone or iPad with a cellular connection: Turn off the Allow Others to Join setting in the Settings app > Personal Hotspot.
c. Enable AirDrop Visibility
Receiving Off, Contacts Only, and Everyone are the three visibility settings available to the receiver in AirDrop. Choose Receiving Off or Contacts Only if you’re in a public location and don’t want unsolicited AirDrop requests. If AirDrop isn’t working, make sure Everyone is selected. Here’s how to do it.
On your iPhone or iPad: Open the Settings app and go to General > AirDrop > Everyone. You may also accomplish this by pressing the top left card and hitting AirDrop from the Control Center. We guarantee that if you follow this guide you can easily fix AirDrop not working on iPhone and iPad.
On a Mac: go to Finder > AirDrop and select Allow everyone to find me. You can perform the same thing from the Control Center on macOS Big Sur and macOS Monterey.
Twitch Tip: It is also very helps if both devices are iCloud signed in.
d. Keep the Other Device Awake
When you try to share files via AirDrop and the receiver’s iPhone, iPad, or Mac is locked and the screen is off, you won’t see their device name. As a result, double-check that the other device is awake and unlocked. Plus, after the receiver’s iPhone, iPad, or Mac is unlocked, they can accept your AirDrop request by clicking Accept.
Extra Information: You will not get a popup asking you to Accept or Decline if both devices utilize the same Apple ID. Automatically, the AirDrop transfer is completed.
e. Check Device Compatibility
You probably won’t have to worry about this one. You can utilize AirDrop if you have an iPhone 5 or iPad 4th generation running iOS 7 or later. To put things in perspective, iOS 7 was released in 2013.
If you have a Mac that was released in 2012 (excluding the 2012 Mac Pro) and is running OS X Yosemite or later, you can use AirDrop to transfer files between Macs and iPhones, and iPads. If your Mac runs OS X Lion or later and was released between late 2008 and 2011, it will only be able to AirDrop to other Macs, not iPhones or iPads.
Clicking Go in Finder is the quickest way to check AirDrop compatibility on a Mac. If you see AirDrop, that means your Mac can use it. Now, let’s dig into the next step to fix AirDrop not working on iPhone and iPad.
f. Allow Incoming Connections on Mac
Make sure the PC isn’t set to restrict such transfers before doing an AirDrop to Mac. To do so, follow these steps: Select the Apple logo > System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall from the drop-down menu.
You can skip this step if it reads Off next to Firewall. All incoming connections are already allowed on your Mac.
If your Mac’s Firewall is turned on, click the lock icon in the lower-left corner and enter the administrator password. Deselect “Block all incoming connections” under Firewall Options.
g. Wait for a Minute or Two
Finally, I do this on a daily basis to resolve the issue of AirDrop from iPhone to Mac not working. I have a new iPhone 11 and an old 2012 MacBook Pro. On my Mac, I have dozens of browser tabs and programs open while working. Now I’m confident that restarting my Mac will resolve the AirDrop issues. However, this would necessitate saving and closing all ongoing projects.
Fortunately, I’ve figured out a trick. I simply wait a minute or two on the iPhone’s AirDrop sharing screen, and my Mac appears as a receiver device. Occasionally, turning off and on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can assist. In other cases, simply unplugging my AirPods from the Mac is enough to resolve the AirDrop issues.
As previously stated, these are my personal observations, which may or may not apply to you. However, if you have a lot of work to do, waiting a few minutes before resuming or updating is a nice strategy to try. This is how you can complete and fix AirDrop not working on iPhone and iPad.
Now that we’ve covered the fundamentals (and I hope you’ve tried them all), let’s look at how to solve AirDrop not working on iPhone or iPad.
2. Turn Off and Turn On Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
This should not be done with the iOS or iPadOS Control Center. Instead, go to the Settings app, select Wi-Fi, and disable it. Return to Bluetooth and turn it off as well. Turn on both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth after waiting 15-20 seconds. After that, try AirDropping the photo, video, or files you want. It ought to work.
3. Restart your Apple Devices
This is a fantastic way to resolve a variety of temporary issues, such as AirDrop not working or failing. It may appear insignificant, yet it is effective. Therefore, both the sender and receiver devices need to be restarted.
To restart your iPhone or iPad, switch it off by pressing the physical buttons as usual. Alternatively, go to Settings > General > Shut Down in the Settings app. Turn on your iPhone or iPad by pressing the power button after a minute. You can also use the charging port to turn it on.
To restart your Mac, select Restart from the Apple logo in the upper left corner.
Try transmitting files using AirDrop after your devices have restarted; it should operate without a hitch.
Twitch Tip: If a normal restart does not solve the problem, try to force restart your iPhone.
4. Make Sure your iPhone is Updated
Is the operating system on your iPhone or iPad not the most recent version? If this is the case, you should consider updating them because iOS upgrades solve bugs and improve the overall experience.
Open Settings > General > Software Update on your iPhone or iPad to update it. Tap Download and Install if you have a waiting update.
5. Reset Network Settings
If you’ve tried all of the above steps and still can’t get AirDrop to function, try resetting all of your network settings. It will not delete personal information such as apps, photographs, movies, or music. However, all network settings, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, VPN, and so on, will revert to their default state.
Open the Settings app and go to General > Reset > Reset Network Settings to reset your iPhone’s network settings. Proceed by entering your device’s passcode. Once this is done, you should be able to use AirDrop without any issues.
Wrap Up: Fixed AirDrop Not Working on iPhone!
All of these were tried-and-true remedies to the AirDrop failure problem. I hope you found this guide useful. After that, if you’re interested, you may read our helpful article about the 8 best AirDrop replacements for iPhone, Android, and Windows. Finally, if the files to be transferred are modest, you can upload them to a cloud storage service such as Google Drive, One Drive, or iCloud Drive and send the recipient a link.
I hope that you have done to fix AirDrop not working on iPhone or iPad using the above guide. If you are still stuck somewhere or need our attention on any issue; we are here for you and always happy to help you. Kindly leave us your details or issue in the comment section below. You may also like to read What Do Symbols and Icons Mean on Instagram.
