Copy and paste from iPhone to MacOS not working

I'm on MacOS Monterey and iOS 16.4.1 (both up to date), where copy-and-paste from my iPhone to MacOS is not working. Steps to debug include restarting bluetooth on each device; try pasting into different apps, try selecting/copying the text from the iPhone again, repeat debugging steps. No luck.


Is there a bug in the new revision of iOS that is preventing this operation? How can we fix this?




iPhone 14 Pro

Posted on Apr 23, 2023 12:09 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 24, 2023 10:43 AM

Handoff (the name of the mechanism for transferring state data between your Mac an iPhone) doesn't rely solely on Bluetooth.


Both devices have to be logged in on the same iCloud account, and Handoff needs to be enabled.


So first check that you're logged into iCloud on both devices.


The on the Mac, check System Preferences -> General, and make sure that the 'Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices' is enabled.

On the iPhone, check Settings -> General -> AirPlay & Handoff to make sure it's enabled there.

94 replies

Nov 20, 2023 9:08 PM in response to jas1

Yet another "It just (doesn't) work" feature that's got broken. I find the copy / paste works OK from Mac to iPhone but not for iPhone to Mac.


Sure, I find Windows to be a PITA generally and haven't used a Windows laptop for 15 years, but with so many of the things that are supposed to make Apple easier to live with being very patchy (Airdrop is also very temperamental) or even plain broke, I have a feeling the next big sum of money I will drop will be on a Windows laptop with better spec and less restriction. Gradually eating away at the 'ease of use' functionality of Apple knocks out one of the key reasons I have stuck with the brand.

Dec 21, 2023 8:16 PM in response to Forrest

After my iPad, MacBook Pro and iPhone have been updated most recently, I can't copy and paste from one device to another. Example, I'm writing a speech on my Macbook Pro and want to copy and paste into a teleprompter app on my iPhone but can't do it. Macbook is Sonoma 14.2.1, ios on phone is 17.2.1, iPad OS is 17.3. mouse from Macbook also stopped going to the iPad. I've toggled Handoff settings, restarted all devices, toggled bluetooth on all devices. No luck

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Copy and paste from iPhone to MacOS not working

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