AirDrop Not Working on Mac? Here's the Fix

You drag a screenshot to AirDrop, the iPhone is two feet away, and the AirDrop sheet shows “No People Found.” Or it shows the iPhone, you click it, the iPhone never gets the prompt. Or the transfer starts and freezes at 23%.

AirDrop relies on Bluetooth for discovery and Wi-Fi for the actual transfer, which means there are roughly twice as many things that can break it. Here’s the fix sequence that resolves the vast majority of cases on macOS Sonoma and Sequoia.

Step 1: The boring requirements check

AirDrop fails predictably when basic conditions aren’t met. Run through these:

• Wi-Fi on: both devices, on any network (they don’t have to be on the same one).
• Bluetooth on: both devices.
• Personal Hotspot off: on the iPhone. AirDrop will not work to or from a phone in hotspot mode.
• Discoverability: AirDrop set to “Everyone for 10 Minutes” or “Contacts Only” with both devices in each other’s contacts.
• Devices within 30 feet: AirDrop is short-range. A wall between you cuts the range significantly.
• Both devices unlocked: AirDrop won’t show a sleeping device.

On the Mac: Finder → Go → AirDrop. The “Allow me to be discovered by” dropdown at the bottom must be set to Everyone or Contacts Only.

Step 2: Toggle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

The fastest reset:

1. Click Control Center → toggle Wi-Fi off.
2. Toggle Bluetooth off.
3. Wait ten seconds.
4. Toggle Bluetooth on, then Wi-Fi on.

Open the AirDrop window in Finder again. Wait 30 seconds for discovery to repopulate.

If the receiving device is an iPhone: Control Center → toggle airplane mode on for five seconds, then off. This resets all radios at once.

Step 3: Make sure both devices are signed into iCloud

AirDrop relies on iCloud for “Contacts Only” mode and uses the signed-in Apple ID’s contact card to identify the device. If either device is signed out of iCloud, only “Everyone” mode will work.

Mac: System Settings → top, Apple ID. If it says “Sign In,” that’s your problem.

iPhone: Settings → top, your name. Same check.

Step 4: Restart bluetoothd

If discovery is the problem (you can see the other device on iPhone but not on Mac, or vice versa), the Bluetooth daemon is usually stuck. Open Terminal:

sudo pkill bluetoothd

launchd restarts it. Try AirDrop again 30 seconds later.

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Step 5: Check the firewall

System Settings → Network → Firewall. If “Block all incoming connections” is on, AirDrop transfers fail silently after handshake. Either turn that off, or click Options and confirm “Automatically allow built-in software to receive incoming connections” is on.

If you use Little Snitch or LuLu, look for rules that block sharingd, rapportd, or AirDropHelper. Allow them.

Step 6: Reset the AirDrop / Continuity stack

AirDrop, Handoff, Universal Clipboard, and Continuity Camera all share the same backend daemons. Restarting them as a group fixes a surprising number of issues:

sudo killall sharingd
sudo killall rapportd
sudo killall AirDropHelper

These restart automatically. The sharingd daemon is what shows up in the AirDrop window; rapportd handles peer discovery between Apple devices.

Step 7: Check for VPN interference

AirDrop uses peer-to-peer Wi-Fi, which is normally not affected by a VPN. But some VPN clients (especially the older Cisco AnyConnect and certain corporate-managed VPNs) install network filters that block peer-to-peer traffic.

Disconnect any active VPN. Check systemextensionsctl list for any VPN extensions still loaded. If you see one from a VPN you no longer use, it’s intercepting AirDrop traffic even though you can’t see it.

This is a common Sweep finding: people uninstall a VPN by dragging the app to Trash, but the network extension stays loaded for weeks until the next reboot — and even then, the configuration profile and helper tools persist. Sweep’s uninstaller catches all of those.

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Step 8: Confirm Wi-Fi is set up correctly (even if you’re not using it)

AirDrop creates an ad-hoc peer-to-peer Wi-Fi link, separate from any network you’re connected to. But macOS will not enable that link if Wi-Fi is administratively disabled.

System Settings → Network → confirm Wi-Fi is in the service list and not red-status’d. If Wi-Fi is set to “Off” specifically, AirDrop fails. You don’t have to be on a Wi-Fi network — but Wi-Fi must be enabled.

If your Mac is wired-only and Wi-Fi has been disabled at the network service level, that’s the bug. Toggle it on; AirDrop will work; you don’t have to actually connect to anything.

Step 9: Check for hostname conflict

If you’ve imported your Mac’s setup from a Time Machine backup, you may have two devices on iCloud with the same name. AirDrop sometimes picks the wrong one and silently fails.

System Settings → General → Sharing → click the Edit button next to the local hostname. Ensure it’s unique.

While you’re there, check that “Computer Name” matches what your iPhone and other devices expect.

Step 10: Bluetooth pairing residue

If you’ve ever paired the receiving device’s Bluetooth (an iPhone, an iPad) directly to your Mac via the Bluetooth panel — which you don’t need to do for AirDrop — the pairing record can confuse discovery.

System Settings → Bluetooth → find your iPhone in the list → click the (i) → Forget This Device. Then try AirDrop again. AirDrop doesn’t need a Bluetooth pairing; it uses Bluetooth LE for discovery only.

Step 11: Check the Mac’s chip / OS combination

AirDrop has compatibility quirks based on age:

• AirDrop between Macs from 2012 and earlier and modern Macs needs a “legacy AirDrop” mode. Click the AirDrop window → look for “Don’t see what you’re looking for?” → “Search for an Older Mac.”
• Macs and iPhones must both be on relatively recent OSes. macOS 14+ talking to iOS 17+ works seamlessly. macOS 12 talking to iOS 18 sometimes won’t discover.
• Apple Silicon Macs talking to other Apple Silicon Macs use a faster path that pre-2020 Intel Macs don’t support.

Step 12: Reset the SystemConfiguration cache

If discovery still fails after steps 1-11:

1. Turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off.
2. Finder → Go → Go to Folder → /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/.
3. Move to the desktop:
   • com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
   • com.apple.network.identification.plist
   • NetworkInterfaces.plist
   • preferences.plist
4. Restart the Mac.
5. Turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth back on.

Step 13: Reset the Bluetooth module

If Bluetooth is the discovery problem, reset Bluetooth deeply:

sudo pkill bluetoothd
sudo rm -rf /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
sudo rm -rf /Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.Bluetooth.*.plist

Restart. Re-pair any Bluetooth peripherals. Try AirDrop.

Step 14: When everything fails, send through Files instead

If you’re stuck mid-meeting and need to get a file from Mac to iPhone right now:

• iCloud Drive: drop the file into iCloud Drive on Mac, open the Files app on iPhone.
• Messages to yourself: open Messages, send the file to your own number.
• A free file transfer service: Snapdrop, Nearby Share, Dropbox.

These are slower but they always work. AirDrop is convenient but not essential.

What if it works to one device but not another?

That’s almost always a per-device issue, not a Mac issue:

• Receiving iPhone: toggle airplane mode, sign out and back into iCloud, or restart.
• Receiving Mac: run through this whole guide on that Mac.
• Receiving iPad: confirm AirDrop is set to “Everyone” temporarily for testing.

Most AirDrop failures fall into one of three buckets: a stuck Bluetooth daemon (Step 4), a firewall or VPN blocking the transfer (Steps 5 and 7), or a Wi-Fi service that’s been administratively disabled (Step 8). Working through this list takes about ten minutes and resolves the issue almost every time.