Airdrop from iPhone to iMac stopped working

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Level 1

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Airdrop from iPhone to iMac stopped working

Airdrop from iMac to iPhone and iPad works fine, but my iPhone and iPad no longer see my iMac so unable to send files in that direction. This problem has been occurring off and on for several months, but has now gone out completely. Airdrop setting on iMac is "Allow me to be discovered by: Everyone". Any ideas on what is going on... IOS update, hardware issue on iMac, other? MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6, multiple iPhones and iPads on various levels (up to 14.3). Thanks in advance for recommendations.

Posted on Mar 25, 2021 4:47 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

144,090 points

Mar 25, 2021 5:08 PM in response to saxman84

Does the iMac meet AirDrops minimum system requirements:

If you can't see the other device in AirDrop

Make sure that your devices meet these requirements:

Both devices are within 30 feet (9 meters) of each other and have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on.
Each Mac was introduced in 2012 or later (excluding the 2012 Mac Pro) and is using OS X Yosemite or later. To find out, choose Apple menu  > About This Mac.
Each iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is using iOS 7 or later, with Personal Hotspot turned off.

If it does, please restart in Safe Mode per the directions in Use Safe Mode to isolate issues with your Mac and then restart normally and test again.

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Answer 2

saxman84 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 25, 2021 9:36 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks for your response. AirDrop worked fine in Safe Mode. I did a bit more troubleshooting and was able to identify a program in the System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items that was causing the problem. I removed the program from Login Items, rebooted, and AirDrop to iMac is working again.

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Answer 3

saxman84 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 26, 2021 10:01 AM in response to rkaufmann87

I spoke to soon... thought I had it licked by removing Secure VPN from Login Items, but that only gave me a temporary reprieve as the problem has reoccurred. After only short period of AirDrop working great again - my other apple devices (multiple iPhones and iPads) no longer see the iMac. The iMac can see and send to the other devices Looks like I have a bit more troubleshooting to do to figure out why AirDrop to the iMac works consistently in Safe Mode, but inconsistently after a normal boot. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction as it is fun to dig in an learn.

Also, it is an iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) running the latest version of High Sierra. AirDrop worked fine for several years as my wife was using it almost daily before intermittent issues began a few months back. I'm thinking about updating from High Sierra to Catalina, but a little concerned with performance impact. Any experience or thoughts on this... pros and cons?

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