How to share files between 2018 MacBook Air (Mojave) & 2014 Mac mini (High Sierra) on wifi network?

Question

Level 1

20 points

How to share files between 2018 MacBook Air (Mojave) & 2014 Mac mini (High Sierra) on wifi network?

Hello, my 2018 MacBook Air (Mojave) & 2014 Mac mini (High Sierra) are on the same wifi network (the Mac mini is also connected by Ethernet to the gateway).

I have a file in my 2018 MacBook Air (MacB) drop box. I want to pick it up on the Mac mini (MacA).

I've been fiddling for hours with System Prefs > Sharing on both computers. The MacB drop box does in fact show up in the Mac mini Finder. I can open it but I cannot see the file it contains!

I made MacA an administrator of MacB. MacA shows up in the log-in, so that's established. I have given read-write permissions on both computers to the administrators and every user that might be me. (Permissions for Everyone are turned off.) I have also given these users permissions to the drop box on both computers AND to the file inside the drop box on MacB.

What do I need to do to make the file appear in the MacB drop box I can see on MacA?

Mac mini, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jun 14, 2021 5:39 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,602 points

Jun 14, 2021 11:27 PM in response to crabpaws

Have you enabled System Preferences> Sharing> File Sharing.

In Finder press Go in the menubar and select Go To Server

enter the IP address for the other computer and then enter your password,

if all is well it should connect and an icon for that mac should show on the Desktop.

It should be a simple matter of dragging and dropping from one to the other.

WiFi can be very slow, so an ethernet connection would be preferable.

If all else fails it may be quicker and easier to transfer the file on a USB flash drive or via an external drive.

Reply

Answer 2

crabpaws Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 6, 2021 8:20 PM in response to Danti

I am confused. Is this not the purpose of the dropbox folder?

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/access-a-mac-users-public-folder-and-drop-box-mchlp1145/10.13/mac/10.13

Access a Mac user’s Public folder and Drop Box

Another Mac user on your local network can share files with you by putting them in their Public folder. You can also share your files with another local Mac user by putting them in their Drop Box (a folder inside the Public folder).

I am the owner of both computers, and I've given all users (me and me as admin) of both computers access to the drop box folder on both MacA and MacB.

Reply

Answer 3

crabpaws Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 4, 2021 5:06 PM in response to Eau Rouge

Thank you for your effort.

As explained above, I have enabled File Sharing on both computers in every possible way I can imagine.

Thanks for the suggestion of entering MacB's IP address in Go to Server. As explained above, I can see MacB's drop box in MacA's finder already, but I cannot see the contents.

I have given permission to every party on my wifi network to view and write on MacA.

Given the MacBook Air is designed for wifi connection only and has no Ethernet port, it is simply not feasible to put it on the Ethernet network for casual file transfers.

(So "Apple" recommends this suggestion?? It doesn't seem germane to me. What am I missing??)

Reply

Answer 4

Danti

Level 1

9 points

Jul 6, 2021 6:25 PM in response to crabpaws

The drop box is a write-only folder. Your transferred files will be there for the owner of the account the dropbox is in, but not visible to other users. If you would like visual confirmation of your file transfers, try creating a new shared folder on MacB (not in the drop box folder) and copying your MacA files to that folder, instead.

Reply

Answer 5

Danti

Level 1

9 points

Jul 6, 2021 6:34 PM in response to Danti

I may have gotten your source and destination computers backwards, so modify accordingly. If you are actually trying to copy files FROM the dropbox on one computer, that may be causing a permissions issue. Again, I would place the files to be copied in a different folder, and make sure the account on the other computer has R/W (read/write) permissions for those files.

Reply