How to AirDrop from iPhone to Windows PC 2025 Guide

For example, you could drag-and-drop a file onto a person’s name and it’d send it to their Mac. Or you could send a photo from your Mac to your iPhone. AirDrop allows you to quickly and easily send links, photos, files, and more content between nearby iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Just open up the Share panel and tap a nearby device. If you’re not in their Contacts, have them change their AirDrop preference to Everyone to receive your file. To use AirDrop on an iPhone, the person you’re sending files to needs to have an Apple device with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on.

• If you are team Android, you can use a feature called Quick Share, which does something similar.
• Once they tap Accept, the weblink will transfer and open in their default web browser and the photo will be saved in a file.
• You don’t even need the latest iPhone 16 or M3 MacBook Pro to use AirDrop.
• This service is built into the macOS and iOS operating systems and uses a combination of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to create a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network.

Here’s how to turn on the feature and customize AirDrop settings to change who’s allowed to AirDrop to you on for iOS®, iPadOS®, and MacOS®. Now that you’ve mastered the art of AirDrop, check out these iOS 18 features to make the most of your iPhone. If you want to AirDrop from your iPhone to your Mac, and both are signed into the same Apple ID, you won’t see an option to Accept or Decline. In the menu that appears, hover over Share and click on AirDrop.

You could also AirDrop from iPhone to iPhone, or to iPad, whether yours or someone else’s that’s nearby. Tap Contacts Only to ensure your device is only visible to contacts. Or tap Everyone to allow your device to be seen by any compatible devices nearby (you still have to accept any file transfers).

Apple Footer

There are ways to integrate an iPhone with Windows and transfer photos without AirDrop, too. Open the section under “Device Visibility” (it will be called “Data,” “Wi-Fi Only,” or “Without Internet,” depending on the selection) and choose how you want content to be sent. Back on Nearby Share for Windows, click “Select Files” or “Select Folders” and choose what you want to send to your Android device. If the person you’re sharing content with is in your Contacts, you’ll see an image with their name.

Now, using AirDrop, you can share files quickly and easily with most Apple devices nearby that have receiving enabled. That includes other iPhones and iPads, as well as Macs. In addition to file sharing, Snapdrop also allows users to send text messages to nearby devices.

If you want to share many files between your Mac and other Apple devices, see Transfer files from iPhone to a storage device, a server, or the cloud. Google’s Nearby Share app for Windows can be used to wirelessly transfer files to Android in a similar way as AirDrop. Download the Nearby Share app for Windows to get started.

If you are team Android, you can use a feature called Quick Share, which does something similar. Click on the recipient from the list to send the file and click Done. Tap the Share button, which looks like a box with an arrow pointing out of it, and then tap the AirDrop icon, which should appear first in the list of app icons.

How to use AirDrop on your iPhone or iPad

In the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRVWDuQ2RyU window, choose who can AirDrop to you. Click Allow me to be discovered by and choose either Contacts Only or Everyone. She is currently writing a book, creating lots of content, and writing poetry via @conpoet on Instagram. She lives in an RV full-time with her mom, Jan and dog, Jodi as they slow-travel around the country. Peter is a Senior Editor at Tom’s Guide, heading up the site’s Reviews team and Cameras section. As a writer, he covers topics including tech, photography, gaming, hardware, motoring and food & drink.

How to use AirDrop on iPhone XS or earlier, iPad, or iPod Touch

Unlike similar Android and Windows Phone solutions that require back-to-back NFC contact of your phones, AirDrop works entirely wirelessly over Bluetooth. It’s available on iPhones and iPads since iOS 7, and Macs since OS X 10.10 Yosemite. You can use it to send content between your own devices, or share it with someone else’s devices if they’re nearby.

KDE Connect is a multi-platform application that enables seamless communication and integration between different devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. It is developed by KDE, a community that creates free and open-source software. KDE Connect allows users to share files, clipboard content, and notifications between devices over a local network, without the need for internet connectivity.