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AirDrop from iPhone to/from Mac Not Working

Hi everyone. I have used AirDrop in the past to transfer pictures from iPhone to Mac and vice versa. It worked flawlessly. Now that I am trying to send a photo from my iPhone to my Mac or Mac to my iPhone, it would not work. My iPhone detects the Mac and my iPhone is showing on the AirDrop/Finder window on my Mac. Both devices (Mac and iPhone) are communicating with each other. I am unsure why all of a sudden AirDrop stopped working.


I have restarted both devices, reset my iPhone network settings, and double checked that both AirDrop settings are switched on. Nothing fixed the issue.


Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 11.5

Posted on Aug 21, 2021 7:36 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 22, 2021 3:43 PM

Are you running a VPN on your Mac? I had the same exact issue. Trying to send a photo from my iPhone to my Mac, I could see the Mac in Airdrop and tapped it.... then nothing but "waiting." I realized that my Mac had VPN turned on and I'm guessing some type of safeguard prevented Airdrop from working if the computer looked like it was 500 miles away or the network was taking multiple hops to obfuscate its true location. In any case, I turned off VPN for a minute, the Airdrop transfer immediately went through, then I just turned on the VPN again.


Hope this helps you or someone else.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 22, 2021 3:43 PM in response to SouthPhillyPT

Are you running a VPN on your Mac? I had the same exact issue. Trying to send a photo from my iPhone to my Mac, I could see the Mac in Airdrop and tapped it.... then nothing but "waiting." I realized that my Mac had VPN turned on and I'm guessing some type of safeguard prevented Airdrop from working if the computer looked like it was 500 miles away or the network was taking multiple hops to obfuscate its true location. In any case, I turned off VPN for a minute, the Airdrop transfer immediately went through, then I just turned on the VPN again.


Hope this helps you or someone else.

Aug 22, 2021 1:06 AM in response to SouthPhillyPT

Please check your Screen Time restrictions on your iPhone.


Screen Time

Settings > Screen Time > Content and Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps > AirDrop [Enable]

Watch the GIF below



If you have Contacts Only turned On then please add Apple ID of the sending device to your list of contacts on the receiving device. See the pic at the bottom of this post for better clarity


Before you begin

  • Make sure that the person you're sending to is nearby and within Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range.
  • Check that you and the person you're sending to have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on. If either of you have Personal Hotspot on, turn it off.
  • Check if the person you're sending to has their AirDrop set to receive from Contacts Only. If they do, and you’re in their Contacts, they need to have your email address or mobile number in your contact card for AirDrop to work.
  • If you're not in their Contacts, have them set their AirDrop receiving setting to Everyone in order to receive the file.

You can put your AirDrop receiving setting to Contacts Only or Receiving Off at any time to control who can see your device and send you content in AirDrop.



AirDrop from iPhone to/from Mac Not Working

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