#Instashare air drop transfer mac free how to#
#Instashare air drop transfer mac free Bluetooth#

To do this on the Mac, invoke AirDrop (in the Finder, Go > AirDrop), then, at the bottom of the Finder window, you’ll see “Allow me to be discovered by.” There are three options: No One (which turns off AirDrop access), Contacts Only (which displays your AirDrop devices only to people in your contacts and uses the Apple IDs in Contacts), and Everyone (which means, well, anyone within range). Because of this, it’s important to set up AirDrop so it’s secure. These may be your devices-say you want to send a file from your iPhone to your Mac-and it could also be devices owned by your friends, colleagues, or even strangers.

#Instashare air drop transfer mac free how to#

How to Keep AirDrop SecureĪs mentioned above, when sharing a file, you’ll see any device within range that can accept files in AirDrop dialogs. Wherever you see the share button-the small square with the upward-pointing arrow-you can share something via AirDrop. You can send web pages from a browser, tweets from a Twitter client, a song from the Music app on iOS, and more. On the Mac, right-click a file, then choose Share > AirDrop to bring up a dialog asking you which device you want to send a file.Īnd you can send more than just files. On iOS, tap the Share button, then you’ll see the AirDrop section populate with any devices in range that can accept files. On an iOS device, photos will be saved to the Photos app, and, for other file types, the receiver will see a list of apps to open the file, depending on the file type.Īnother way to send files via AirDrop is to use the Sharing menu. If they click Open in Photos, it gets saved to their Photos library. If they click Accept, they can save it to their Downloads folder. If you send a photo via AirDrop to a Mac, the receiver will have two options as to how to save it. On an iOS device, the notification looks like this: The other device will receive a notification. (All devices need to be awake to display: Macs can’t be asleep, and iOS devices need to have their screen on.)ĭrag a file onto one of the icons. A window shows which devices are available to received files. The first is to go to AirDrop in the Finder by choosing Go > AirDrop, or pressing Command-Shift-R. On the Mac, there are two ways to use AirDrop.

#Instashare air drop transfer mac free Bluetooth#

To use AirDrop, both devices need to have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on, and neither device should be acting as a personal hotspot. How to Use AirDropĪirDrop is the simplest way to transfer files from one device to another. Also, AirDrop only works with devices that are within about 10 meters, or 30 feet, because it uses Bluetooth to create a connection (that’s the distance limit for Bluetooth connectivity), then creates the peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network. This will be slower if the devices are further apart (they were both on my desk), and if there’s interference with other devices around. As a test, I transferred a one-gigabyte file from my iMac to my MacBook Air over AirDrop in about 36 seconds. Since you’re not transferring files over a network, you don’t share bandwidth with anyone.

There is no limit to file size, and files transfer as fast as their individual hardware allows. This makes it practical anywhere, such as in the field, where you may want to transfer files from, say, an iPhone to a MacBook Pro. This transfer does not use the Internet, nor a local Wi-Fi network you don’t need to be on a Wi-Fi network to use AirDrop. It uses Bluetooth to find devices that you can send to, and the device you send from creates a secure peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network connection with the receiving device and transfers the file(s). How AirDrop WorksĪirDrop uses an interesting combination of technologies to transfer files securely. In this article, I’m going to show you how to use AirDrop to quickly and securely transfer files across your devices. I’ll also tell you how to configure AirDrop so you don’t get potentially malicious files from people you don’t know. Macs and iOS devices built since 2012 support AirDrop. The easiest and most practical way to do this, when both devices are near each other, is to use AirDrop. There are many ways to transfer files from one Mac to another, and a few ways to transfer files to and from iOS devices.

How To How to Use AirDrop to Securely Share or Transfer Files