To check if your Mac can use AirDrop, choose the Go Menu item in Finder. You can share content using AirDrop between any recent Mac and/or iOS devices. Once you get used to using it you’ll wonder how you ever used anything else. You can even use it to share contact information, grocery lists, even web pages.

You can also use it to share photos, self-created video clips, documents, Notes, shopping lists and more. This makes sharing files using AirDrop much safer than email as the information is never shared online and is only made available while the transfer takes place at a very limited range.īecause the system uses Wi-Fi for file transfer it makes it really good at sharing almost anything, including larger files. Data is also encrypted while the transfer takes place. It uses Bluetooth to build a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network between the devices, which helps keep the data transfer private. AirDrop does not work across platforms, such as between iOS and Windows devices, or Macs and Android smartphones.ĪirDrop is a secure way to share data. You may want to email items using MailDrop, send links to shared content in iCloud or anther cloud-based storage system, or use third party services such as MailBigFile. If you are further away, or in different places then you will need to use a different way to exchange files other than AirDrop. You do need to be within Bluetooth range of each other, around 30-feet with no walls in between both parties. However, as a rule of thumb you should find AirDrop works really well when used with a current Mac or iOS device running the latest version of the operating system.ĪirDrop is an excellent solution if you want to quickly get something to someone in the same room. AirDrop versions before OS X 10.10 were incompatible with AirDrop on iOS so you could not share files with your devices this way. Most of these issues are prevalent because there have been different implementations of AirDrop since it was first introduced.

However, there are some known issues with AirDrop. This makes it useful for people who often need to exchange large files with colleagues, such as those working in magazine or film production. Because the system creates a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network in order to transfer the files, AirDrop can handle large file sizes (video, or photos, for example). AirDrop enables easy transfer of files between Macs and Apple devices over the same Wi-Fi or Bluetooth network using the latest iteration of Apple’s useful Bonjour zero-configuration networking protocol.

Mac folder icons free