**Understanding and Troubleshooting Airdrop**

Airdrop is a feature that allows users to share files between Apple devices, such as iPhones, iPads, and Macs, without the need for cables. However, there are several steps and considerations that must be taken in order to make Airdrop work effectively.

**Location of Toggables**

To start, you'll need to locate the toggle switches that control whether or not Airdrop is enabled on your device. On iOS devices, these toggles can usually be found in Settings > Bluetooth. On Macs, they can be found in System Preferences > Bluetooth. Once you've located the toggles, make sure they're both turned on and set to "Everyone" in order for Airdrop to work.

**Troubleshooting Issues**

However, even with these settings enabled, there are several issues that can prevent Airdrop from working properly. One common issue is that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth must be turned on in order for Airdrop to function. On iOS devices, this means turning on the toggle switches in Settings > Bluetooth and Settings > Wi-Fi. On Macs, this means clicking on the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles in the top right corner of the screen.

If you're still having trouble getting Airdrop to work, it's possible that your device is not connected to a network. In this case, you may need to turn off your personal hotspot (if you have one) in order for Airdrop to function. Alternatively, if you are hosting a personal hotspot on your iPhone, and are trying to use Airdrop from another device, the only solution here is to unfortunately turn off the personal hotspot.

**Device Requirements**

In order for Airdrop to work, both devices must be unlocked and powered on. Additionally, they must be within range of each other (approximately 33 feet on modern iOS devices). If you're having trouble getting Airdrop to work due to distance, try moving closer to the device you want to use.

**Max Firewall Settings**

On Macs, a strict firewall setting can sometimes prevent Airdrop from working properly. To troubleshoot this issue, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy and select "Firewall". Then, uncheck the box next to "Block all incoming connections" and check the box next to "Allow built-in software to receive incoming connections". This should allow Airdrop to function.

**Hard Reset**

If none of the above steps resolve the issue, you may need to hard reset your device. The process for doing this varies depending on the type of device you have, so be sure to check out a guide linked in the description below for more information.

**Sponsor: OWL Lab's USBC Dual HDMI 4K Display Adapter**

If you're having trouble with multiple external displays connected to your M1 Mac, there is a solution available. OWL Lab has created a USBC dual HDMI 4K display adapter with DisplayLink that allows users to connect two HDMI 4k displays via a single Thunderbolt port. This product is bus-powered and features an integrated USB-C cable for easy use on the go. It also supports HDMI pass-through, allowing audio signals to be passed through to connected displays. If you're experiencing issues with multiple external displays, this product may be just what you need. To learn more or purchase this product, click the link in the description below.

**Conclusion**

We hope that by following these steps and troubleshooting tips, you've been able to resolve any Airdrop issues you were experiencing. Remember to always keep your device unlocked and powered on, and make sure Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are turned on in order for Airdrop to function. If none of the above solutions work, don't hesitate to contact Apple Support or visit a Genius Bar at your local Apple Store.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis video is sponsored by owc airdrop is an incredibly useful feature that lets users discover nearby macs and ios devices and securely transfers files between them via wi-fi and bluetooth unfortunately it doesn't always work correctly and so in this video we're gonna go over some ways that could help you get airdrop back up and running properly so first things first make sure your device can even support airdrop in the first place there's a good chance it can but to be sure you need to have an iphone 5 or later an ipad 4 or later any ipad mini or a 5th generation ipod touch now for the mac all models released in 2012 and later and running yosemite or later will support airdrop you can confirm by going into finder and clicking on go in the menu bar you'll see airdrop right there in the list of options if supported you can toggle airdrop on and off a few different ways but the easiest way on ios or ipad os would be to head into control center long press on the cluster of icons here where the wi-fi and bluetooth toggles are located and you'll see an option for airdrop tapping it will show you a few different options you can either turn it off contacts only or everyone nearby can locate and send you files via airdrop if you're having trouble getting airdrop to work and it is actually on and in contact mode you can just try switching to everyone if it's not already selected on mac os head into finder then the favorites bar you should see airdrop listed there if not there's a way you can get there via keyboard shortcut which is probably the faster way anyways and just use command shift r to open up airdrop then at the bottom you will see allow me to be discovered by and then you can select everyone from the drop down menu also on the mac just like your ios or ipad os device airdrop settings can be found in control center and you can access them by clicking on the control center icon in the far right of the menu bar if you're still having issues with airdrop we can try the old turning it off and then back on again method this time with wi-fi and bluetooth as airdrop relies on both of these settings to transfer files over the air so on ios or ipad os just head into control center and tap on both the wi-fi and bluetooth toggles until they are grayed out then tap them on again to make sure they're blue and back up and running mac os is basically the same method here you just head into the menu bar tap on the control center icon here in the top right corner and deselect both icons and then of course turn them back on if you're hosting a personal hotspot on your iphone to provide internet access to another device airdrop's not going to work so the only solution here is to unfortunately turn off the personal hotspot this will make the internet connection unavailable to the device that was using the hotspot but you can always turn it back on again once you've transferred files over from airdrop so to do this just head into control center go ahead and long press on the cluster of icons again here in the top left corner and then turn off personal hotspot if that button is of course on and illuminated in green these next two options are very simple but they're helpful make sure your device like an iphone or ipad is actually unlocked if the device is locked or obviously if it's powered off it's not going to appear in your list of available air-droppable devices so of course make sure they're unlocked and powered on then the next thing you should do is actually bring your devices closer to each other when a shared wifi network isn't available airdrop relies exclusively on bluetooth to find those devices and transfer files and bluetooth has a range of about 33 feet on modern iphones so make sure the two devices you want to use airdrop between are within this range otherwise it probably won't work either if you're still having issues on a mac you can try limiting the strictness of your max firewall you can do this by heading into system preferences security and privacy and then select firewall options and then uncheck the box next to block all incoming connections then right below that check the box next to automatically allow built-in software to receive incoming connections unfortunately if none of the above works then you should probably try hard resetting your device now this process is different depending on what device you're using and so i recommend just checking out the guide linked in the description down below for more information on how to do all of that if all else fails then you're probably going to need to contact apple support or check into a genius bar at your local apple store to see if they can run a diagnostic check on your device before we end today's video i do want to give you more information about today's sponsor owc owc has come up with a solution for those who want to have more than one external display with your m1 mac this is the owc usbc dual hdmi 4k display adapter with display link and it solves the problem and allows users to connect two hdmi 4k displays via a single thunderbolt port for m1 macs but also really just any mac or pc that that user might want to do the same thing with it's bus powered and features an integrated usbc cable for easy use on the go very portable but very durable and allows hdmi pass-through support for audio signals to pass through the adapter and onto the connected displays if this is an issue that you have i highly recommend picking up this product because it's most likely going to solve all of your problems and of course you can check out this product or any other product that owc has to offer by clicking the link in the description down below this has been down with mac rumors thanks so much for watching and i hope to see you around in the next videothis video is sponsored by owc airdrop is an incredibly useful feature that lets users discover nearby macs and ios devices and securely transfers files between them via wi-fi and bluetooth unfortunately it doesn't always work correctly and so in this video we're gonna go over some ways that could help you get airdrop back up and running properly so first things first make sure your device can even support airdrop in the first place there's a good chance it can but to be sure you need to have an iphone 5 or later an ipad 4 or later any ipad mini or a 5th generation ipod touch now for the mac all models released in 2012 and later and running yosemite or later will support airdrop you can confirm by going into finder and clicking on go in the menu bar you'll see airdrop right there in the list of options if supported you can toggle airdrop on and off a few different ways but the easiest way on ios or ipad os would be to head into control center long press on the cluster of icons here where the wi-fi and bluetooth toggles are located and you'll see an option for airdrop tapping it will show you a few different options you can either turn it off contacts only or everyone nearby can locate and send you files via airdrop if you're having trouble getting airdrop to work and it is actually on and in contact mode you can just try switching to everyone if it's not already selected on mac os head into finder then the favorites bar you should see airdrop listed there if not there's a way you can get there via keyboard shortcut which is probably the faster way anyways and just use command shift r to open up airdrop then at the bottom you will see allow me to be discovered by and then you can select everyone from the drop down menu also on the mac just like your ios or ipad os device airdrop settings can be found in control center and you can access them by clicking on the control center icon in the far right of the menu bar if you're still having issues with airdrop we can try the old turning it off and then back on again method this time with wi-fi and bluetooth as airdrop relies on both of these settings to transfer files over the air so on ios or ipad os just head into control center and tap on both the wi-fi and bluetooth toggles until they are grayed out then tap them on again to make sure they're blue and back up and running mac os is basically the same method here you just head into the menu bar tap on the control center icon here in the top right corner and deselect both icons and then of course turn them back on if you're hosting a personal hotspot on your iphone to provide internet access to another device airdrop's not going to work so the only solution here is to unfortunately turn off the personal hotspot this will make the internet connection unavailable to the device that was using the hotspot but you can always turn it back on again once you've transferred files over from airdrop so to do this just head into control center go ahead and long press on the cluster of icons again here in the top left corner and then turn off personal hotspot if that button is of course on and illuminated in green these next two options are very simple but they're helpful make sure your device like an iphone or ipad is actually unlocked if the device is locked or obviously if it's powered off it's not going to appear in your list of available air-droppable devices so of course make sure they're unlocked and powered on then the next thing you should do is actually bring your devices closer to each other when a shared wifi network isn't available airdrop relies exclusively on bluetooth to find those devices and transfer files and bluetooth has a range of about 33 feet on modern iphones so make sure the two devices you want to use airdrop between are within this range otherwise it probably won't work either if you're still having issues on a mac you can try limiting the strictness of your max firewall you can do this by heading into system preferences security and privacy and then select firewall options and then uncheck the box next to block all incoming connections then right below that check the box next to automatically allow built-in software to receive incoming connections unfortunately if none of the above works then you should probably try hard resetting your device now this process is different depending on what device you're using and so i recommend just checking out the guide linked in the description down below for more information on how to do all of that if all else fails then you're probably going to need to contact apple support or check into a genius bar at your local apple store to see if they can run a diagnostic check on your device before we end today's video i do want to give you more information about today's sponsor owc owc has come up with a solution for those who want to have more than one external display with your m1 mac this is the owc usbc dual hdmi 4k display adapter with display link and it solves the problem and allows users to connect two hdmi 4k displays via a single thunderbolt port for m1 macs but also really just any mac or pc that that user might want to do the same thing with it's bus powered and features an integrated usbc cable for easy use on the go very portable but very durable and allows hdmi pass-through support for audio signals to pass through the adapter and onto the connected displays if this is an issue that you have i highly recommend picking up this product because it's most likely going to solve all of your problems and of course you can check out this product or any other product that owc has to offer by clicking the link in the description down below this has been down with mac rumors thanks so much for watching and i hope to see you around in the next video\n"