Airdrop photos between iPhones

Hey there Kamkam13,

Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities. To get started, does this issue only occur when trying to Airdrop photos to this specific device? Also, have the photos you're attempting to Airdrop been edited in any way?

To help with troubleshooting the issue, have you tried restarting both iPhones since the issue started? If not, give that a try with the steps shown here: Restart your iPhone - Apple Support

How to restart your iPhone X, 11, 12, or 13

1. Press and hold either volume button and the side button until the power-off slider appears.

2. Drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off. If your device is frozen or unresponsive, force restart your device.

3. To turn your device back on, press and hold the side button (on the right side of your iPhone) until you see the Apple logo.

How to restart your iPhone SE (2nd or 3rd generation), 8, 7, or 6

1. Press and hold the side button until the power-off slider appears.

2. Drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off. If your device is frozen or unresponsive, force restart your device.

3. To turn your device back on, press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.

How to restart your iPhone SE (1st generation), 5, or earlier

1. Press and hold the top button until the power-off slider appears.

2. Drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off. If your device is frozen or unresponsive, force restart your device.

3. To turn your device back on, press and hold the top button until you see the Apple logo.

Also, we'd recommend reviewing the information in the next resource to ensure that the AirDrop settings are correct on both devices: How to use AirDrop on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Let us know if that's able to help.

Have a great day!

Hello Kamkam13,

What is the exact error message, if any, that you receive? Are the older photos optimized to save iPhone storage? Please go to Settings > Photos > Optimize iPhone Storage. Are you using iCloud Photos? When AirDrop seems to hang, do you see a message that says “Waiting…”? These answers will help us to isolate the cause further.

Let us know the results.

Take care.

Kamkam13,

You mentioned we’re working with iOS 13 and iOS 12, these are both older software versions, as the current version is iOS 16. We recognize that not all models can update to iOS 16. If for some reason you’re not seeing a setting in the same place as one of the articles we provide, just let us know as it may have changed in the upgrades over the last few years. We’re including a link to the User Guides for iOS 13 and iOS 12, in case they need to be referenced when looking for a Setting or operating system specific question. 

iOS 13 - iPhone User Guide

iOS 12 - Welcome

You are correct that you would not see an option to optimize if iCloud Photos are not enabled. Can you verify on both devices that in Settings > your name > iCloud Photos is not enabled? 

On the receiving device, is there storage available on the device? You’ll be able to check that in Settings > General > iPhone Storage. If not, here’s how to free that up - How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Thanks.

Kamkam13,

Just to confirm, these are photos taken directly your iPhone using the camera app? We normally see this message when the photo or video format isn't supported. We'd also recommend that you connect with Apple at Get support for further assistance regarding this matter.

Kind regards.