Airdrop doesn't work in Ventura 13.1

I recently found a workaround. I open the Finder on my iMac and select AirDrop from the sidebar, then send a file from another device, and it successfully sends it to the Downloads folder as it should. In the past, I could AirDrop at any time, but now I have to have AirDrop selected as above and the Finder must be the active window -- but at least it works. Hope this works for you!

laflorblanca wrote:

In Ventura 13.1 I send a PDF file from my iPhone to my iMac and I hear the sound that sounds when the iMac received a file, but I can't find the file anywhere. Also the Documents and Downloads folders have disappeared.

Please help

Do you have any third party apps installed ... they all have options for capturing documents, screenshots, downloads(?)

Dropbox

Onedrive

What about iCloud Drive ?

Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

laflorblanca wrote:

Thank you for your answer. Yes, I have both Dropbox and iCloud. I have deinstalled the Dropbox app from my computer, but I still have iCloud. Is there any way to stop iCloud to share these folders (Documents and Downloads)? Thank you for your help!

If by default iCloud Drive got turned on...

see if there is anything here—

iCloud drive missing desktop and documents

Access and manage your files in iCloud Drive - Apple Support

Add or remove shared files and folders in iCloud Drive on ...

How to find your Documents and Desktop folder contents after disabling ...

https://www.macworld.com/article/3396119/how-to-find-your-documents-and-desktop-folder-contents-after-disabling-icloud-sync.html

Finder>Go>Go to Folder>copy & paste:

~/iCloud Drive (Archive)

iCLoud Drive (Archive) - here you should find all your files 

laflorblanca wrote:

Also the Documents and Downloads folders have disappeared.

Check the iCloud setting under System/Apple ID settings and see if you have iCloud Drive activated.

If you know the name of the PDF file that you AirDropped you can use the shareware app Find Any File to search for the file.

1 - Name contains XXXX.pdf

Any files that are found can be dragged from the search results window to the Desktop.

FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.  

Simple method for this problem when sending anything using airdrop you need to figure out where you are actually send the file to when you send it . Meaning when sending any file to airdrop you have to know when your computer accept it most likely stored in the download folder which you can find in the finder window listed under downloads, hope this help you with the airdrop.

I've been experiencing the same AirDrop problem since upgrading to Ventura two months ago. I often would AirDrop all types of files (not just PDFs) from my iPhone or iPad to my iMac's Downloads folder in the past, but now my iMac doesn't receive them. I do hear the "ping" sound that indicates a file has been AirDropped, and the Finder becomes the active app, but my Downloads folder is empty. A search for the file name that was AirDropped turns up nothing, so I assume the file was never transferred. Strangely, I have no problem sending files from my iMac to my other devices via AirDrop. Are you able to send files from your iMac with AirDrop, or is that also not working?

My Documents and Downloads folders have not moved since upgrading. They're still in the Finder window inside my User folder, and they're still in my Dock, too. But I don't use iCloud to back up those folders; I use Dropbox instead. Have yours disappeared from both the Dock and your User folder? Hopefully you were able to locate your folders in your iCloud Drive, then simply copy the missing folders/files back to your local drive.

I'm very annoyed with Apple for making this an issue with Ventura. It only started up for me last week and it's driving me crazy. Unfortunately none of the workarounds suggested on here at the time this post was created work.

Please let's all keep complaining about this so Apple changes it back. All the brain power there and they think people only want to download to app specific programs? Come on already.

I'm running Sonoma 14.1 (23B74) on a new MBP M2 MAX that I got a few months ago. AirDrop was working fine for both sending and receiving files. A few weeks ago the MBP would no longer receive files via AirDrop from any of my other iOS devices (iPhone 14 Max Pro, iPad all at latest iOS). I could send files from the MBP to those devices though. I tried the simple stuff (shut off AirDrop, turned back on, tried Contacts Only, Everyone, etc) and still had the problem. So I came by this post and sure enough if I open Finder and click on AirDrop there, the MBP is able to receive files. Is this some undocumented feature? What is the sense of having AirDop set to ON in Control Center, if I have to go to Finder every time I ant to receive a file? And what's the point of administering (Everyone or Contacts Only) in Control Center? And why doesn't the Apple Support Engineer who I spent two hours chatting with this evening know any of this? Instead they looked for a reason to blame "3rd party" VPN or Security Software. After the blame game, then they focused on ANYTHING that would cause a loss of connection to the chat window, knowing I won't get them back. They recommend creating a new user with ADMIN rights, log off, log on as new user and see if the new user has the same issue. I said OK what it doesn't happen with this new used, I need it to work for my User (which is the one and only User since Day-1). The answer was to the we'll "TRY" rebooting and if the issue still exists then we'll TRY REINSTALLING the OS. Seriously!!!

Same here, how do I get documents and desktop back? All of the files on my desktop have disappeared... I am assuming it has something to do with icloud?

AirDrop doesn't work for me, either. Ventura 13.2.1 The computer beeps as though it's received the file. It is not on the Desktop or in the Downloads folder.

that worked for me (and I had the exact same problem). THANK YOU! Hopefully they fix this!

This fix worked for me, as well. Nice work! I too hope Apple fixes this right away.