AlexWoodblock

Q: Handoff and AirDrop not working in El Capitan

After upgrading to OS X 10.11 El Capitan, my Handoff and AirDrop stopped working between iOS 9.0.2 on iPhone 5S and my MacBook Pro Late 13. I've tried logging out of iCloud account on both devices numerous times, it didn't help.

 

For my friend with MacBook Air and iPhone 5S with same iOS version it works flawlessly.

 

Did anyone encounter similar issue, and if so, how did you solve it?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, iOS 9.0.2, plus iPhone 5S with iOS 9.0.2

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 6:18 AM

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Q: Handoff and AirDrop not working in El Capitan

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  • by Arthar360,

    Arthar360 Arthar360 Nov 10, 2015 10:01 PM in response to Arthar360
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2015 10:01 PM in response to Arthar360

    Stopped working after sometime. Ultimate solution was to downgrade to Yosemite. Everything is awesome now. But didn't expect Apple to do such mistake..

  • by theapplemacgirl,

    theapplemacgirl theapplemacgirl Nov 11, 2015 8:41 PM in response to am285
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 11, 2015 8:41 PM in response to am285

    I am having this same issue. I can see on my iPad and iPhone the tabs I have open on my Mac but not the other way around. Been having this issue since Yosemite with no luck resolving it.

  • by vanagsg,

    vanagsg vanagsg Nov 12, 2015 9:12 AM in response to theapplemacgirl
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 9:12 AM in response to theapplemacgirl

    FINALLY. After OSX 10.11.2 Public beta 3  (15C40a) problem for missing Airdrop between OSX and iOS is fixed now without aditional steps. Now all Airdrop phones are visible and connection is fast.

    p.s. Handoff for me was working also before.

  • by creativepaddlerDJ,

    creativepaddlerDJ creativepaddlerDJ Nov 28, 2015 12:34 PM in response to AlexWoodblock
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2015 12:34 PM in response to AlexWoodblock

    Just an update with one more positive result for getting Airdrop to work again between iPhone and El Capitan on my retina MacbookPro (El Capitan).

     

    I did not have to do all the steps mentioned above.

    Assuming you've got the Airdrop finder window open and have turned on to be able to send to contacts (yourself being one of them):

    Enable Airdrop on the sending device (swipe up from home screen and enable if on an iOS device)

    If that fails to send anything by enacting an Airdrop:

    Try this first and see if you have the same positive result:

     

    1. Go to the computer's hard drive;
    2. Do not open the User folder Library.
    3. Turn off Bluetooth on computer.
    4. Open the system-level LIBRARY>Preferences> delete the com.apple.bluetooth.plist file.
    5. Empty trash (possibly optional, but that's what I did)
    6. Turn on Bluetooth.
    7. Try using Airdrop again. First sign that it will work is when your user's icon appears on both send and receiving devices.
    8. select a photo and try the Airdrop from one device to the other. That worked for me.
    9. If not, try re-booting both devices and try steps again.
  • by dino2345,

    dino2345 dino2345 Nov 30, 2015 10:31 AM in response to AlexWoodblock
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2015 10:31 AM in response to AlexWoodblock

    I have had to same problem with airdrop on my phone and computer. I found out how to fix it at leave on my computer.

    • Open system preferences
    • Click on Sharing
    • Go to the very bottom of the the list where it says, "Bluetooth Sharing"
    • Make sure the arrow directly to the left of where it says Bluetooth Sharing is turned on.
    • Go to the Airdrop tab in Finder
    • On your phone, turn your bluetooth on if it's off or off then back on if it's already on
    • Make sure you are allowed to be discovered by everyone on both your iPhone and computer

    After doing all of that, my airdrop seemed to be working just fine.

    I hope this helped everyone who was experiencing this same problem as I.

  • by Sinuku,

    Sinuku Sinuku Nov 30, 2015 8:33 PM in response to dino2345
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 30, 2015 8:33 PM in response to dino2345

    I called Apple for help (iMessage and handoff don't work), the Apple guy told me to press "command"+"option"+"P"+"R" till 6 chime sound, and miraculously the handoff is back (but iMessage issue still...)    

  • by lionrocknz,

    lionrocknz lionrocknz Dec 1, 2015 11:08 AM in response to Sinuku
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 1, 2015 11:08 AM in response to Sinuku

    I've tried several solutions to get Airdrop working - the one that worked for me was to turn off bluetooth and Wifi multiple times on both my Macbook Pro and iPhone. After two or three cycles, my airdrop function was restored.

     

    (OSX El Capitan, IOS 9.1)

  • by bunnabella,

    bunnabella bunnabella Dec 2, 2015 6:42 AM in response to donkermo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2015 6:42 AM in response to donkermo

    excellent. this worked for me - thanks so much!   i'm on a mac mini, using a bluetooth mouse, so was about to go get my old mouse out of storage so i could turn off bluetooth, but decided to delete the file com.apple.Bluetooth.plist from the system folder as directed, but WITHOUT TURNING BLUETOOTH OFF... handoff works great now between iPod touch and man mini.

     

    it was working quickly and accurately from mac to iPod, but it wasn't working at all from iPod to mac, although it use to with yosemite. so now this is great, it's more useful to go from iPod to mac for me most of the time, and now it's fast and flawless. best wishes everyone.

  • by dharmon66,

    dharmon66 dharmon66 Dec 8, 2015 11:37 AM in response to AlexWoodblock
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 8, 2015 11:37 AM in response to AlexWoodblock

    After 2 months of trying every troubleshooting method mentioned in this thread, nothing had worked.

     

    That is until today, when I downloaded and installed the 10.11.2 patch for El Capitan from the App Store, which mentions that it "improves reliability of Handoff and Airdrop"

     

    I finally have these two functionalities back!

  • by HaraldS,

    HaraldS HaraldS Dec 8, 2015 3:05 PM in response to dharmon66
    Level 2 (324 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 8, 2015 3:05 PM in response to dharmon66

    Did you do anything special to kick start the behavior? I still do not see the thing working after it worked great on Yosemite.

  • by HaraldS,

    HaraldS HaraldS Dec 8, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Arthar360
    Level 2 (324 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 8, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Arthar360

    Reversion is futile (not possible,) after my Photo Library update. That is the ONE feature barrier. Sad...

  • by HaraldS,

    HaraldS HaraldS Dec 8, 2015 5:14 PM in response to HaraldS
    Level 2 (324 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 8, 2015 5:14 PM in response to HaraldS

    I tried what other have tried:

    - Turn of BT

    - Delete BT and some other system preferences

    - Shut down

    - SMC Reset

    - 5 "Holy Maries" - parameter resets

     

    Carefull check of the network options (same WiFI)

     

    All my other systems work with handoff, but still nothing on my troubled Mac Pro.

  • by 031croat,

    031croat 031croat Dec 11, 2015 6:52 AM in response to HaraldS
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2015 6:52 AM in response to HaraldS

    I solve problem, try to delete ur old "com.apple.Bluetooth.plist" and copy with this new one. it worked for me!

     

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5pQoB17O34rYWMxQzk2a3NDMWM

  • by 031croat,

    031croat 031croat Dec 11, 2015 6:52 AM in response to AlexWoodblock
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2015 6:52 AM in response to AlexWoodblock

    I solve problem, try to delete ur old "com.apple.Bluetooth.plist" and copy with this new one. it worked for me!

     

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5pQoB17O34rYWMxQzk2a3NDMWM

  • by Tettiko,

    Tettiko Tettiko Dec 11, 2015 9:01 AM in response to 031croat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 11, 2015 9:01 AM in response to 031croat

    how did you delete the com.apple.Bluetooth.plist ? it is locked file on my el capitan and no way to delete it.

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