How to Use AirDrop Between iPhone, iPad, and Mac

To use AirDrop, open the photo or file, tap the Share button, tap AirDrop, and tap the person or device you want. On their side, they tap Accept. Both devices need Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and, per Apple's AirDrop guide, they should be within about 30 feet of each other. If the other device is your own and signed in to the same Apple Account, there's no Accept step at all. The item just arrives.

That covers the ordinary case. The rest of this page is the part the share sheet doesn't teach. Which receiving setting to leave on, where a sent item ends up on each device, and two switches under Settings, General, AirDrop that most people have never opened. One of them can quietly spend cellular data, because Apple's guide says a transfer that starts nearby carries on over the internet if you walk out of range.

If your problem is that AirDrop isn't working at all, the AirDrop failures guide is the one to read; this page assumes it works and explains how to live with it.

Turn It On, Per Device

There's no AirDrop app. The switch is a receiving setting, and it lives in a different place on each device.

On an iPhone or iPad, open Control Center, touch and hold the top-left group of controls, and tap AirDrop. Apple's guide gives two choices there, Contacts Only and Everyone for 10 Minutes, and adds that they only appear on devices that meet AirDrop's minimum requirements. I couldn't find a current list of those minimums on Apple's pages, so if your Control Center shows different options, that's the reason and not a fault.

On a Mac, click Control Center in the menu bar, then click AirDrop. Apple's line is "When it's blue, it's on." Click the arrow beside it to choose Contacts Only or Everyone.

The Contacts Only row is where most "they can't see me" moments come from, and it's worth reading twice. Apple's guide says the sender must be in your contacts list and that their card must carry the Apple Account email address or phone number they use. A contact saved with a work email and no Apple details won't get through. Contacts Only is still the setting I'd leave on; the fix is the contact card, not the setting.

Send Something the First Time

Apple's AirDrop support page uses a photo as its example, so start there.

1. Open Photos, tap Select, and tap one photo.
2. Tap the Share button, then tap AirDrop.
3. Nearby contacts appear under People. Tap the one you want.
4. Ask them to tap Accept.

A file from the Files app works the same way through its More button, Select, then Share and AirDrop. On a Mac, open the item, click Share in the toolbar, and click AirDrop, or open a Finder window, click AirDrop in the sidebar, and drag the file onto the person.

The recipients you see, in Apple's words, are "those who are nearby, have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on, and are able to accept files from your device." If the person isn't there, the table above is usually why.

There's also a shortcut both Apple pages mention. On iOS 17 or later, with the item open, move your iPhone close to your contact's iPhone and the transfer starts. Apple qualifies it as "supported models", and the setting that controls it is in the last section of this page.

Between Your Own iPhone, iPad, and Mac

This is the case the search results skip, and it's the one I use most. Apple's guide says that when you send an item between devices signed in to the same Apple Account, "the item is automatically accepted and saved." No Accept tap, no code, no ten-minute window. That's the whole routine. The only prerequisite in the guide is that you're signed in to the Apple Account on both.

So the practical routine for moving a screenshot from iPhone to Mac is Share, AirDrop, tap the Mac's name, and go and look in Downloads. Moving a PDF from Mac to iPad is Finder, AirDrop in the sidebar, drag the file onto the iPad. If the iPad is asleep in a bag it may not appear in the list. Wake it first.

Two limits. Apple says AirDrop is "best for sharing a small selection of files between devices" and points people with many files at a storage device, a server, or the cloud instead. And the same-account rule means a shared family iPad signed in to someone else's Apple Account is "someone else" for AirDrop purposes, with all the Accept and contact-card rules above.

Where the Item Lands

"Where did it go?" is a question Google attaches to this search, and the honest answer depends on the device and on what was sent. Apple's rule is that most items are saved in the app they were sent from, with two exceptions the guide spells out.

Apple adds one Mac detail that catches people. If you have the AirDrop window open in Finder, the accept-or-decline prompt appears there rather than in Notification Center. So a Mac that seems to have ignored a transfer may be waiting in a Finder window behind something else, with the prompt sitting there while you tap Send on the iPhone a second and a third time. I'd check Downloads and the Finder window before blaming the Mac.

On iPhone, the Files destination can itself be On My iPhone or iCloud Drive, and the downloaded files guide shows how to check both. On a Mac, a year of AirDropped screenshots in Downloads is one of the folders the Mac storage guide tells you to sort by size.

Sharing With Someone Who Isn't a Contact

Apple's support page has the recipient open Control Center, touch and hold the connectivity controls, tap AirDrop, and tap Everyone for 10 Minutes. Then the sender taps their name under People.

If both devices run iOS 26.2 or later, an AirDrop code is added. The recipient taps Get AirDrop Code and reads it out, the sender types it in, and Apple says the person is added to an Other Known list in Contacts for 30 days, during which no further code is needed. You can end that early in Contacts by finding them in Other Known and choosing Forget This Person.

The code is spoken between two people standing together. A code that arrives by text from someone you're not standing next to isn't part of any transfer you started, and I'd treat it the way I'd treat an unexpected verification code, which is to ignore it.

After ten minutes the setting reverts on its own, per Apple, to Contacts Only if you're signed in and to Receiving Off if you're not. That reversion is why I don't mind the Everyone setting existing; it can't be left open by accident.

The Two Settings Under General

Open Settings, General, AirDrop. Both of these are on by default and neither is mentioned by any of the pages ranking for this search.

Use Cellular Data. Apple's guide says that if you leave Bluetooth or Wi-Fi range after a transfer has started, the transfer continues over the internet, and that cellular data charges may apply. This switch is what allows that. Apple calls it a one-time setting but suggests turning it off when travelling to avoid roaming charges, and I'd turn it off before a trip abroad for exactly that reason. With it off, a transfer you walk away from won't use your cellular plan to finish. Simple trade.

Bring Devices Together. This governs NameDrop and what Apple calls the other Bring Devices Together features, which is where the touch-to-share shortcut sits. Apple's NameDrop guide describes NameDrop as holding your iPhone's display a few centimeters from the top of another iPhone or an Apple Watch until NameDrop appears on both screens. You can then share your card and receive theirs, or receive only, and pick which fields go. Two things Apple says about it are easy to miss. NameDrop only creates new contacts and won't update one you already have. And to cancel, move the phones apart or lock your iPhone before it finishes. If the whole idea of phones exchanging details by proximity bothers you, this is the switch that turns it off, and AirDrop through the share sheet keeps working.

Questions Google Attaches to This Search

How do you use AirDrop step by step? Share, AirDrop, tap the person, they tap Accept. The four steps in the photo section are Apple's own.

How do I use AirDrop on my iPhone? Same steps, after checking the receiving setting in Control Center. An iPhone 11 or 13 on a current iOS uses the same share sheet as a new one; the version-gated parts on Apple's pages are touch-to-share (iOS 17), the ten-minute reversion (iOS 16.2), and the AirDrop code (iOS 26.2).

How do you AirDrop to someone? If they're a contact with Apple details on their card, tap their name. If not, they set Everyone for 10 Minutes and give you the code.

How do I send photos via AirDrop? Photos, Select, Share, AirDrop. Photos land in the other person's Photos app.

Where do my photos go when I AirDrop? Into Photos on an iPhone or iPad. On a Mac, into Downloads unless the Mac offers Photos and you choose it.

Is it better to AirDrop or send photos? For a few photos to someone in the room, AirDrop. Apple says transfers are encrypted and the recipient accepts each one, and nothing goes over cellular unless you walk out of range with Use Cellular Data on. For a lot of files, Apple's own advice is a storage device or the cloud. Whether a messaging app shrinks the photo is that app's business, and I'd check its settings before trusting it with an original.

Does AirDrop work with Android? No. Apple's guide lists iPhone, iPad, and Mac as the devices it works between, and its first troubleshooting check is that both people are using one of those.

When It Doesn't Work

Apple's guide gives four checks, in this order. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on for both people. Both devices are an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. The recipient's setting is Contacts Only or Everyone. Restart and try again. The support page adds one more that belongs at the top of the list. If either of you has Personal Hotspot on, disconnect it.

If Bluetooth itself won't stay on, the Bluetooth pairing guide covers that on its own. For a recipient who never appears, a transfer stuck on Waiting, or a Mac that won't show up, the AirDrop failures guide works through it one small test at a time.

The Short Version

Check the receiving setting in Control Center or the Mac menu bar and leave it on Contacts Only. Share, AirDrop, tap the name, they tap Accept. Your own devices on the same Apple Account skip the Accept. Photos go to Photos, documents to Files or Downloads, and a Mac may be holding the prompt in a Finder window. Then open Settings, General, AirDrop once, decide whether you want transfers to carry on over cellular, and decide whether you want phones swapping contact cards when they touch.