AirDrop and file-sharing between iDevices go hand in hand. Just select your files, choose the nearby targeted device and then let Apple’s beloved file-sharing protocol do the rest. That’s dead simple, isn’t it? But then again, the file-sharing system is not flawless and has faced its own share of issues for several years. As you might have already guessed, the ghost of the past has already traveled to the latest iteration of macOS and iOS as well. So, if AirDrop is not working on your iOS 13 and macOS Catalina devices and you are running out of ideas to fix the problem, this troubleshooting guide can rescue you.

First things first, we are going to reboot everything that’s connected to AirDrop to get rid of random glitches that tend to creep into the system once in a while. Besides, we will also turn off all the villains that are always at variance with the file-sharing system. And if the basic tricks don’t yield the desired result, we would even embrace radical but trusted troubleshooters like Terminal commands. Now that you know what’s coming up, let’s get down to business right away!

Turn Off/On WiFi/Bluetooth and Force Restart Device

The first trick that I often try whenever I find AirDrop not working on my device is to give it a fresh start. And with a fresh start, I mean turning off/on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Also, giving a hard reset to the device. Guess what? I’m going to stick to this age-old hack this time around as well.

  • Head into the Settings app on your device -> WiFi/Bluetooth and then turn it off.

Keep Your iOS/iPadOS Device Visible

One of the common problems that have been associated with AirDrop for years is “Visibility”. Many a time, it fails to discover nearby devices. So, make sure to keep your device visible.

Be Sure to Receive Different File Types Separately

Especially when sharing different file types, I make sure to share each one of them separately. It is just to ensure the receiving process remains smooth sailing. While iOS is smart enough to receive specific file types in the relevant app, sometimes it causes problems. So, follow this little but helpful tip.

When Personal Hotspot is enabled, AirDrop won’t work. So, be sure you have turned it off on your iPhone or iPad. To do so, bring up the Control Center on your device. Then, touch and hold the panel that consists of Airplane mode. After that, turn off Personal Hotspot.

Maybe you had enabled “Do Not Disturb” on your iOS device and forgot to turn it off. When DND is turned on, your device won’t receive AirDrop requests. So, better keep it disabled. To turn it off, head into Settings -> Do Not Disturb and then turn off the toggle. Alternately, you can disable it from Control Center as well.

Reset Network Settings

More often than not resetting networking settings has sorted out the AirDrop problems on my devices. Therefore, I’m going to count on my experience and suggest you try it out as well. Keep in mind that it will clean up all the saved network settings. To do it, open Settings app -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings. 

AirDrop issues tend to crop up when your devices are not updated. If you haven’t upgraded your devices to the latest iOS 13 version, chances are the devil could very well be inside the old iOS version. Launch Settings app -> General -> Software Update.

Turn Off/On WiFi/Bluetooth and Restart Your Mac

This is my basic and probably the go-to troubleshooter for resolving AirDrop issues on macOS. Based on my experience, I can say that it may get rid of the problem right away. So, try it out. Simply click on the WiFi icon in the status bar and choose Turn WiFi Off. Then, click on the Bluetooth icon in the status bar and select Turn Bluetooth Off. After that, restart your Mac.

Make Sure to Choose Your Mac’s Visibility to “Everyone”

As visibility is one of the main problems with AirDrop, it’s better to keep Mac’s discoverability to “Everyone”. If you had selected Contacts Only earlier, it might be preventing the file-sharing technology from working properly. Open Finder -> Go menu -> AirDrop. Click on the drop-down menu next to “Allow me to be discovered by” and choose Everyone. 

If you want to share files without any trouble, always receive different file types separately. While it may not sound to be a troubleshooter per se, it can go a long way in resolving the AirDrop problems. Even though macOS (just like its iOS counterpart) receives each file type in the most relevant apps, it’s always better to keep things simple to avoid hiccups.

Disable Do Not Disturb

It’s no secret that “Do Not Disturb” plays a spoilsport with AirDrop and even prevents Macs from being visible to nearby devices. So, it’s better to turn off DND to avoid facing the problem. To do so, click on the Today tab and then turn off Do Not Disturb switch.

macOS firewall doesn’t always play nicely with AirDrop. If you have enabled it on your Mac, it might be the reason why you are facing this problem as it tends to block incoming connections. Well, the good thing is you don’t have to disable firewall to turn off this setting.

Use Terminal Command to Kill Bluetooth

Yet another hack that has always proved very reliable to me in fixing the AirDrop issues on macOS. What this Terminal command primarily does is to force the Bluetooth service to restart which often proves quite handy in getting rid of transfer and visibility issues.

Now, the service will restart, eliminating all the Bluetooth connections that are open. Try sharing files using AirDrop to see if the problem is finally behind your back.

Even though it sounds a bit radical and I know that not many folks may want to go through the grind, it has a pretty high success ratio when it comes to troubleshooting AirDrop problems on macOS. So, overlooking this trick may not be a wise move.

Click on the Bluetooth icon in the status bar -> Turn Bluetooth Off. Now, open a Finder window -> Go menu -> Go to Folder. Now, paste the below-given path and hit Enter.

Not just AirDrop, many macOS features (i.e Approved and Messages in iCloud) don’t seem to work when the devices aren’t updated. So, it would be wise to give this well-known problem solver a chance as well. Open System Preferences and click on Software Update pane. Then, go through the usual process to update your Mac.

Hopefully, you have eventually found the right answer to the AirDrop problems. But before you get lost into your usual chores, do not forget to share your two cents and also let us know the hack that worked in fixing the file-sharing system. Also, share some thoughts about AirDrop alternatives and whether or not SHAREit can be termed as the real challenger to the crown of Apple’s seamless file-sharing protocol.