10 Reasons You Should Be Using AirDrop To Transfer Files

[@chipcurry]

I never understood that it just uses the Wi-Fi hardware. Thanks for demystifying it. Your videos are always right to the point - no long introductions, no filler, no extraneous information. Thank you!

[@ryanmooncat3949]

Best educator on KZbin.

[@dplj4428]

4:00 if i understand this correctly airdrop discovers device but the “wifi“ is hardware to hardware not over wifi from a provider. Excellent way for at home transfers.

[@macmost]

Yes.

[@Espesia1]

Thanks for the another great video, Garry!

[@loisskiathitis8926]

A very useful and informative video tutorial today! As always thanks for the visuals! Thank you, Gary! 👏🏻❤️

[@Billy123bobzzz]

Excellent job! People really need to know this so it's extremely helpful. Thanks! Keep up the great work!

[@scottboettcher1344]

Learned a few new things today; thanks Gary.

[@defel1]

As always, excellent, useful, clearly presented information. Thanks!

[@Greg-fg1rd]

AirDrop rocks!

[@ConscienciaSuprahumana]

I use intensively Airdrop for its ease and practicality, as always thanks for this new video

[@juleshorse9056]

Very useful for travelling to work meetings. Just bought a MBA and Mini so work on the Mini and now can transfer a work related folder to the MBA to go to a meeting. Thanks.

[@markwaclawec3803]

I grew up with windows PCs like most people i guess (born in 80s raised in the 90s), haven't owned a PC in years since u can do most things with your smartphone nowadays. but i recently started coding so i bought myself a Macbook, since I'm a fan of Apple products. Although i am using iPhone and iPad for years now, im having a hard time learning and getting used to the Macbook features. I just recently discovered your channel but its already a big help, so i just wanted to take the time and thank you and hope you keep going for years to come. Looking forward to learning more old and new tricks in the future.

[@rickyiglesias5384]

I love airdop. It's insanely fast to go from my iphone to my mac mini. I remember the old days of e-mailing photos from my iphone to myself and then opening the e-mail with my stupid windows laptop. those days are gone, thankfully.

[@angusorvid8840]

AirDrop is awesome. Makes life easier.

[@donlibes]

Very useful video, thanks! One thing I found initially puzzling is that destination devices don't show up on the AirDrop screen unless they are awake. Since some file types know where to go without requiring a destination be selected (e.g., photos automatically go to the Photos app), I would prefer not having to ask people to wake their device or me having to wake my own devices. Is there an option on the destination device that makes it unnecessary to wake it up before AirDrop can see it?

[@macmost]

No, the device has to be awake. There would be a big problem if you could wake someone else's device up without their permission.

[@sundaynightdrunk]

It's amazing how few people really know about AirDrop. My nephew considers himself to be very tech literate and knew nothing about it, and doubted me when I told him he and his girlfriend could share photos that way even if they aren't on the same wifi network. They'd been texting each other photos they wanted to share (I didn't even get into having an album share in Photos). One thing I wish they'd add is the ability to AirDrop later, like if I realize I want these files on my Mac when I get home, they would start transferring as soon as I get home and the phone sees my iMac is available nearby.

[@webbyrj]

Very informative video. Thank you. 👍🏻🤗🕸

[@bikeman5]

Agreed, air drop is awesome between devices and friends with apple devices. So Quick, 200 pics moved in seconds.

[@billwdwc]

Excellent channel. Quick question . If I air drop an HDR video clip does it keep all the info or does the file get changed in any way? Thanks in advance!

[@macmost]

As a file? Then you are transferring the file. It isn't changed in any way.

[@CraftsmanontheLake]

I use it a lot but you pointed out many things I didn't know about it. Thnx.

[@dmckenrick4896]

Excellent! Thank You!

[@OthelloSuge]

Thanks for the forecast! Just a quick off-topic question: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (air carpet target dish off jeans toilet sweet piano spoil fruit essay). What's the best way to send them to Binance?

[@macmost]

Sorry, I don't use that wallet app or service you mention so I'm not sure.

[@MrReiniP]

Thanks for the very interesting video

[@briantempest4866]

Great video i need some help i can not find where i have sent photos from my iphone to my Mac book pro i have looked every where for them. They used to downloads but for reason they don't go there now. Can you help Thanks Brian.

[@macmost]

Did you check in the Photos app? When you "sent photos from my iPhone" what did you do, exactly?

[@briantempest4866]

@@macmost yes looked in Photos app not there. I go into air drop on my phone and air drop them to my Mac Book pro with comes up, but when i go into my downloads they are not there. I have looked every where for them but con find them.

[@macmost]

@@briantempest4866 Did you try searching for them? Search for image files with dates that match the day you transferred them.

[@briantempest4866]

hi sorry i took so long geting back to you yes i have looked every where but can not find them i just sent a photo to my mac book but still can not it it works the other way though.@@macmost

[@juanenruedas6939]

great info!!! Thanks!

[@off-road-biker]

*Saves Picture /Video quality😊* In the past we used shared albums in Photo and/or WhatsApp etc. - till I recognized that the quality wasn’t as original. 😢 Since we’re using AirDrop the recipient get the same quality of pic/vid as the original file.❤

[@BevMolander]

I'm creating family interviews on my ipad and would like to airdrop the files to the family. What is ratio of interview length / file size to time to airdrop the file? Is there a length limit? Have not seen this discussed on anyone's youtube video.

[@macmost]

That depends on the bitrate of the audio file. But I don't think audio files would pose much of a problem for most people. So unless you really want to run the calculations, I would just try it.

[@LetsTravelThisYear]

Do you have a video on transferring files(photos) from an android phone to a Mac?

[@macmost]

No sorry, I don't use an Android phone so I can't be of much help there. But if you are on Android, then maybe you are storing your files with Google Drive anyway? In that case just install Google Drive on your Mac or access the file on the Google Drive site.

[@LetsTravelThisYear]

@@macmost Thank you.

[@LiamApilado]

Why is it that when I airdrop from my mac mini to iphone it dosent give me the option on my phone to chose to put the item in the files app or anything else? it just automatically appears on my phone. Perhaps this feature was removed with an update? Great helpful video!

[@macmost]

Use iCloud Drive for that type of transfer instead.

[@LiamApilado]

@@macmost but i want to save it to my device instead of icloud? Will saving to icloud drive do this?

[@paulrs2975]

Good job, I love AirDrop also. A minor FYI I discovered recently: you can not be logged into your VPN (at least not Express VPN).

[@jdda4536]

Airdrop is not working properly on my Mac, I can send files to my iPhone but I cannot receive files as I do not get the incoming notification on the Mac ( 2:54 ), is there a way to enable it?

[@macmost]

Make sure you have everything set up right, Bluetooth on, etc. Try switching to Everyone to see if it works then.

[@mikedavis6711]

Sometimes I wish we could AirDrop MP3 files between devices, but it looks like we have to use the Music app to transfer or sync. Unless I'm missing a way to do it.

[@jeffgottschalk504]

Hi Gary. Thank you for your great channel. I couldn't find the others I wanted to AirDrop in my list. Your video didn't make it clear to me. I found this "Make sure that the person you're sending to is nearby. You can't AirDrop to users who are out of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi...". Can you confirm that they recipient has to be "nearby" or am I still not getting it? Thanks again.

[@macmost]

Yes. I have a whole section on this at 9:01.

[@jeffgottschalk504]

Thank you I missed that.

[@jameswallacejr]

This is very informative, I almost never use Airdrop... will be using this moving forward! Question, I noted that you referenced a video app on your iPhone, are you shooting your video content for the channel with an iPhone? Curious, thanks!

[@macmost]

I usually screen record. But if I need to shoot video with the camera I sometimes use the Camera app, but other times I use that app (ProMovie Recorder+) to avoid having the video mix with my personal photos and videos.

[@hardik6700]

Superb🎉

[@ashutoshsingh9424]

How do we change default destination directory from "Downloads" to some other folder when transferring from iPhone to Mac?

[@macmost]

Not sure if you can. You can try changing the downloads folder location in Safari, but I don't think that effects AirDrop.

[@ashutoshsingh9424]

@@macmost Thank you!

[@TimothyHalkowski]

Excellent video!

[@johnvender]

AirDrop is very useful. One limitation I found is if I use AirDrop to move a live photo from my iPhone's Photos to my iMac is it's not a live photo on the Mac. if I physically connect the phone to the Mac using a cable and import the live photo into Photos on the Mac I get the live photo. I don't sync Photos using iCloud because I don't want to pay for extra iCloud storage and I have quite a lot of data in photos and videos. It's possible there is something I'm not getting about using AirDrop for this.

[@hotcrispyduck]

Hi John. Once you have selected the photo(s) you want to Airdrop. Click the 'Options' button at the top of the window. Within the options make sure 'All Photos Data' is turned on. This includes extra photo data (the details are explained in this window) which includes Live Photo data, portrait mode data etc. Hope this helps. You need to turn this option on every time you Airdrop unfortunately (it doesn't save the setting in my experience).

[@johnvender]

Great, that works like a charm. Thank you very much.

[@vblack7372]

Maybe you mentioned it, but is there a size limitation? I’m sure there must be.

[@macmost]

No size limit.

[@michaell5038]

Do photos shoot in camera RAW or JPEG loose any file size/ quality ? Used this at weekend to send JPEGS downloaded off SD card, to models iPhone 13 Pro, on a street photo shoot. Worked great after I set her phone to “everybody “ she was happy to get 150 images within a few mins.

[@macmost]

Should send as whatever format they are.

[@michaelmarrison6939]

Thanks Gary. Airdrop is great, but I realised recently that when airdropping photos some of the meta data is not automatically transferred e.g. depth of field information for a portrait photo. This requires the sender to always tap "options" on the Airdrop interface and then select "All Photos Data". Messy. Also this setting is not "sticky" so it is necessary to go through this process every time a new Airdrop is initiated. Any thoughts? Regards Michael

[@macmost]

That's probably there as a privacy feature, more for the location data than other data though.

[@charliemcelveen2418]

Strategy question: I am traveling to Europe. Which is better strategy for photos…(1) turn off cloud sync while out taking photos and turn it back on when I get in Wi-Fi range or (2) keep it off and airdrop to my Mac in my hotel?

[@macmost]

Neither. Leave it on always (turning it on and off again all the time is asking for trouble). Instead, go to Settings, Photos, Cellular Data and turn that off. Then it will automatically sync only when you are connected to Wi-Fi.

[@charliemcelveen2418]

Thanks Gary!

[@ianh2674]

Use it all the time

[@notorious.nip.888]

Is there a limit on how big the file can be eg can airdrop transfer a 150gb mp4 file and not have any issues?

[@macmost]

There is no file size limit.

[@stuartcreighton3410]

Good info Gary, but trying to get video and photo file via USB from a non Apple device is painful. Do you have any info to create efficiency in this process ?

[@macmost]

Depends on the device.

[@stuartcreighton3410]

@@macmost Fujifilm XT3, XH2s cameras

[@macmost]

@@stuartcreighton3410 I’d get a decent SD card reader and transfer from the SD card.

[@vidform]

AirDrop allows me to transfer files from a USB-C G-Drive external HD that's connected to a current iMac with compatible ports, to an older iMac that has the older USB 3/2 ports.

[@cjc363636]

Love airdrop. I even use airdrop to send photos to my mac knowing full well the photo is in the photos app. It's faster.

[@mehmd1913]

The biggest issue that I and others have is when I send or receive a file on the iPhone I don’t know where it ended up. Maybe you can clarify that for me.

[@macmost]

Pay attention when you receive the file and it tells you. Perhaps it is in your Downloads folder in the Files app?

[@GeeWhizbang]

Love me some Airdrop BUT how can you go back to find a list of the items on iOS people have sent you after the fact??

[@macmost]

There's no way to do that.

[@warrengibson7898]

No more sneakernet? What do I do with my floppy disks?

[@KabuchiMichaels]

Does AirDrop reduce video quality while transferring btw devices ?

[@macmost]

No. These are digital files. You get the exact file you are transferring.

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

Very interesting info especially the part of wifi. I don’t use it a lot. In the past macOS didn’t allow airdropping to iPhone or other devices I think. Sometimes I think using apple sync for photos or using third party messaging app is faster than airdropping. I’m wondering Can I use airdrop without an email address of other person? As usually I don’t get all family devices showing

[@macmost]

Wi-Fi would be much much faster than going through a messaging system via the Internet. But for tiny files you may not notice. You an AirDrop to someone without knowing their email address or anything. They just have to be near you and have it set to "Everyone."

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

@@macmost just tested it out yea it works nicely! Cool! Just wish it worked for not nearby devices. Also it would be nice if we had automatic accept instead of waiting

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

Do you leave it on Gary? I wonder if it does drain battery and if it’s okay to leave it own? Just tested it between iPad and iPhone and it needs to be on even if same Apple ID

[@macmost]

@@Abdullah-zl9ub I leave it on Contacts Only, yes. Doesn't drain battery.

[@davidwright6105]

Hi Gary, maybe you can help me. I cannot airdrop from my iphone se 2nd gen to my M1 iMac. They are near each other and on the same apple account but the M1 never shows up in the airdrop list on my iphone. My iPad shows up but not the M1.

[@macmost]

Try things. Change AirDrop to Everyone. Switch Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off and then on again. Reboot, etc.

[@MaiElizabeth]

80% of Apple users in Malaysia don't know or not using AirDrop frequently. It's supposed to be fast and easy but most of the time when I want to share something with fellow lawyers, they are usually scrambling to turn on AirDrop. I mean there is no harm to set AirDrop to be available to everyone. There is no really security issue because strangers can always refuse to accept if accident sending happens. I just wish AirDrop can be used if our other devices is off or in sleep mode. That would be extra awesome.

[@stewartl5109]

Gary My Iphone 13 wont send a photo or file to my M2 max Macbook Pro using Airdrop when both devices are sitting right next to each other. however I can Airdrop from M2 Max to my iphone 13 Any ideas. This used to work before 17.1.1 update🤔

[@macmost]

Try restarts and if that does work then walk through it with Apple Support.

[@sandyg5653]

is there a size limit for airdrop? i have a 3 1/2 hour audio recording split into 3 hours and 1/2 hour and the even the 1/2 hour session doesn't seem to go through. is there something i'm doing wrong?

[@macmost]

What's the size of those files? Shouldn't be a limit. I regularly transfer files that are 10GB or so (since it is faster to do it that way than any other).

[@desertpatient]

Thanks bunches

[@notorious.nip.888]

Does quality of 4k video get reduced when transfer using air drop?

[@macmost]

It transfers the actual file. No change is made to the file.

[@artysanmobile]

I feel that some mention should be made about compatibility. I have many Macs, some of them rather old, and they all use Airdrop but some will not contact others at all. This is frustrating particularly when I am using the same service on all of them. None of the other sharing alternatives are choosy about OS or hardware differences as they use a network each device can reach every single time. Not so with Airdrop. Somewhere, and I don’t know where that is, sits a table of OS and hardware choices showing which can drop to or from the others. In other words, there are Airdrop 1, Airdrop 2, and so on. Attempting to make use of Airdrop across this incompatibility layer will tell you nothing about this. This is a major shortcoming of Airdrop.

[@Bluefox1978]

I very often experience that i must turn of BT and WIFI and turning it on again and chose Everyone in order to make it work and then no! cos often I can't find the receiving part. But when the connection is there it's brilliant!!! 🥳But it can from time to time be a hell dealing with! 🤬

[@ypu3ap]

Can I send files from iPhone to Mac to specific folder and not to Downloads?

[@macmost]

No, you'd just move them there after.

[@REChief]

AirDrop is a great example of the Apple ecosystem "just working". No superfluous menus, no setup -- you just AirDrop from your phone and it appears on your Mac's desktop, or vice versa.

[@gemsngiftsusa2281]

Can air drop only be used between apple IDs? What if the Apple ID is not a @icloud/@me email? If a contact card has several emails listed, does air drop automatically pick the Apple ID? Confused about this point. Thank you.

[@Smartiebob317]

Gary my wife uses AirDrop almost exclusively. When she sends me pictures, I save them and try to edit them. I cannot edit those photos. My workaround is to load it in iMovie and then use the Ken Burns tool to edit it. Then save it. Then add to my photos. There has to be a better way. What am I doing wrong?

[@macmost]

That certainly isn't a good way to do it as iMovie is for video and you are probably downsizing and reducing quality quite a bit by converting pictures to video. When you get the photos are they in your Photos app or as files in the Finder?

[@Smartiebob317]

They are AirDroped to me then I put them in the Photos folder but cannot edit the picture no matter where I save it on my iMac.

[@macmost]

@@Smartiebob317 Not sure what you mean by that. But either way, they are just images and you should be able to edit them. I'd call Apple Support and get to the bottom of this as it is not normal.

[@pirchoo]

Somewhy if I transfer a video from my iPad from files app, then the file I receive on my mybook will be compressed and has worse quality and smaller file size. This is frustrating. It was ok from the iPad to iPhone... but why doesn't it sends the original to my macBook?

[@macmost]

Where is the video, originally? A file in the Files app, or a video in the Photos app? Something else?

[@pirchoo]

@@macmost in the download folder in files app. After quite some research I found that in Settings / Photos / Download and keep originals should be switched on (it is off by default) and it is related for airdrop too.

[@MerciSulkhanishviliOfficial]

How to change airdrop location from download file to sdd?

[@macmost]

You can't. Files go to Downloads first. Then you can move them to where you want.

[@MerciSulkhanishviliOfficial]

Bad 🥹

[@MerciSulkhanishviliOfficial]

How to save SSD viability? I want to use only external storage 🙃

[@MerciSulkhanishviliOfficial]

Or how to check mac ssd health? 🥹

[@BogdanTimofte]

Let's not forget the context in which the contacts only restriction was introduced: In China during the recent protests because those there were using AirDrop to bypass censorship. I expected a little more from a channel like this.

[@macmost]

Possibly. We don't know for sure as Apple has never said. I know for years people complained about getting unwanted AirDrop requests (which come with a little picture) from strangers in public places here in the US. Whether they did this because of China or not, that was a problem they needed to find a solution for. Either way, this is an instructional how-to tutorial on using AirDrop, and I wouldn't have mentioned any of this even if it had occurred to me.

[@BogdanTimofte]

@@macmost True: "Apple never said." All we have now are the titles from last November - December press: "Look what they did in China! "; "They would not dare to do such a thing to the free world!"; "Never mind. They just did it."

[@ausmiku]

We always like your videos Gary, but why can't a Mac and iPhone automatically pair up without using the Airdrop app ?? That would be to difficult for those "geniuses" at Apple, wouldn't it.

[@macmost]

Pair up in what sense? Looks like iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma may have some new methods though.

[@generic_official]

📶I love AirDrop, but it doesn't work 100% of the time. Occasionally the sending device gets stuck with the "waiting" message. Sometimes this can be resolved by toggling WiFi off/on, but not always.

[@cerebrumexcrement]

how do i find airdrop om my phone?

[@macmost]

Select the item you want (like a file in the Files app or a photo in the Photos app) and tap the Share button. Look for it in these Share sheets. I show it at about 2:30.

[@irvinelover]

I recently bought my 1st Mac and for some reason my phone just says phone as the device when I air-dop to my Mac. How do I change the name from phone to Mac?

[@macmost]

I'm confused by your comment. Is your Mac named "phone?"

[@irvinelover]

When I open up my ipad to air drop to my Mac it shows my Mac labeled as phone device for some reason

[@macmost]

@@irvinelover Are you sure it isn't just showing you your iPhone?

[@irvinelover]

I will double check again later once I’m home from work

[@50PullUps]

AirDrop is a good option, but I wish transfer speeds didn’t max out at appx 22-23 MBps.

[@macmost]

I don't think it is limited to that as I have often transferred > 1 GB files in less than a minute.

[@normski4ash]

Every time I try this is says, " Move to icloud drive to collaborate", it's late, I'll try 2moro...

[@macmost]

With some file types have to choose to share a copy instead of collaborate since collaborate is the main option. I show that at one part of this video.

[@Tom-xx1om]

I just wonder why it never works smoothly to find airdrop friends iPhone to iPhone - is in my contacts, airdrop for contacts enabled, BT & WiFi on, friend standing next to me, but doesn't show as an airdrop contact. Has to unlock the phone, then shows. It's almost always like this, regardless who I try this with.

[@sgk8220]

The receiver has to have their phone awake.

[@Tom-xx1om]

@@sgk8220 is that so? It almost never gets mentioned anywhere. Maybe I just overread.

[@macmost]

Yes, the receiver has to have the phone unlocked. Otherwise, it would be a bit of a security issue if you could just wake up someone else's phone without their permission.

[@MarEbra-h4r]

Excllent

[@BraddersMusic]

Airdrop on my device will not find any people nearby - I have both devices in front of me?

[@macmost]

Check the settings for AirDrop on the other devices. Try turning AirDrop off and on again on those devices.

[@BraddersMusic]

@@macmost all done via visits to many YT sites! Must admit I am baffled as it did work! I am thinking I have some security level blocking as no iMacs can see the iPhone

[@ifrankenstein7455]

Please you should have made it clearer only between apple devices This is not applicable to multi device setups from different companies

[@macmost]

I say it at (approximately) 0:03, 0:22 and 0:31. So 3 times, right at the start of the video.

[@will.gallegos]

I have AirDropped macOS Installers to people's Macs with older macOS's to get people to update their Macs lol.

[@BillStoppard]

Air drop is dependent entirely on the luck of the draw. It's the single biggest tech barrier between me and success. It works 20% of the time at best. It really is the worst way to share files since the 80's.

[@Surfsailwaves]

Big thanks. Apple should slash their marketing budget and invest a lot more in helping users understand the technology. They should make Gary Head of Apple Customer Education or at least employ him as consultant. I vote for far fewer glossy marketing photos and a lot more explanation from Apple. Where is the Apple equivalent of this video?

[@guymauve0]

No need to AirDrop between own devices if you have iCloud. I save on my documents and all is sync.

[@BibaswanNarayanDatta]

Yes, correct, but iCloud storage may be a limiting factor in some scenarios.

[@Erin-Thor]

But… how do you airdrop to a windows PC?

[@macmost]

Windows doesn't' have it. This is an Apple thing. Not even sure if most Windows machines have the right type of Wi-Fi hardware to support it.

[@Erin-Thor]

@@macmost 😢

[@eugsmiley]

"10 Reasons You Should Be Using AirDrop To Transfer Files BETWEEN APPLE DEVICES" There. I fixed a huge omission in your headline.

[@macmost]

I do mention that this is for apple devices 3 times in the first 30 seconds.

[@dallasyeatman272]

Airdrop has never worked for me....i have tried every recommendation without success...

[@gpellmind]

You can also AirDrop a WiFi password.

[@paulinoo2]

The problem being my friends and co workers don't use Apple..😢

[@Simon-pl2zi]

it's great when it works, but man it's so flaky.

[@MonzaKheder]

❤

[@TheEricBooth]

Lol. OMG I thought that said Android not AirDrop.

[@warrenjoseph76]

It doesn’t require the internet! Wow! That’s because it’s just glorified Bluetooth sharing 😂

[@amanterobot]

I love airdrop! all the other services to transfer files via wifi are not as fast as airdrop. This is a killer feature! not the emojis Apple is releasing almost every update 😡😡😂😂

[@ifrankenstein7455]

It's not as fast simply because apple had restricted it. For people who use multiple devices from different brands airdrop isn't useful although the other devices can use wifi direct to transfer files between them apple doesn't support transferring files from other devices to it via the wifi transfer standard

[@macmost]

Where did you read or observe that? I have never heard that Apple has restricted it at all, and don't see why they would.

[@ifrankenstein7455]

@@macmost Airdrop is simply wifi direct that all other devices use and there isn't a way to transfer files via WiFi between other devices and apple Airdrop doesn't work if wifi is turned off, and if they haven't restricted it, why doesn't apple devices support wifi direct, they've rebranded wifi direct as airdrop and have restricted it to only apple devices

[@warrenjoseph76]

AirDrop or Apple only blue tooth sharing pisses me off. Yes it works fine but sharing via blue tooth has been a thing for more than a damn decade! But Apple hamstrings it so you can’t share with anyone but Apple users. Same thing with Bluetooth headphones or keyboards etc that aren’t Apple…they screw with it so it doesn’t work well then boast that you should use their products because “it just works”. I’m deep into the Apple ecosystem but someone seriously needs to sue the ever living crap out of them for this nonsense

[@ausmiku]

Thanks, but Airdrop is rubbish, like most other pretentious Apple apps. Not user-friendly at all.