AirDrop Not Working Between iPhone and Mac?

You go to AirDrop a photo from your iPhone to your Mac and the Mac never shows up, or the transfer just sits on "Waiting" and fails.

Here is the first thing that saves you time: split the problem in two. If the other device never appears, that is a discovery problem.

If it appears but the transfer stalls, that is a transfer problem. They have different fixes.

There is also a genuine bug worth knowing. After the iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe updates, AirDrop broke for a lot of people. The giveaway is when your Mac can see your iPhone but your iPhone cannot see your Mac.

Check the Basics on Both Devices

Most "it just won't show up" cases come down to one of these, and they take seconds.

• Turn on both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on each device. They do not need to be on the same network, but both radios must be on.
• Turn off Personal Hotspot on the iPhone (Settings, Personal Hotspot). A live hotspot blocks AirDrop completely.
• Move the two devices within about 30 feet, keep both awake, and turn off any Focus or Do Not Disturb on the receiver.

Pro tip: The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth buttons in Control Center only disconnect for the day, they do not fully turn the radios off. Use the toggles in the Settings app for a real off and on.

Set the Receiver to "Everyone for 10 Minutes"

This is the single highest-yield fix when a device simply does not appear. If it is set to Contacts Only or Receiving Off, it stays invisible with no error at all.

• On the device that will not show up, open Settings, General, AirDrop and choose Everyone for 10 Minutes.
• On a Mac, open Finder, click AirDrop in the sidebar, and set "Allow me to be discovered by" to Everyone.

Important: "Everyone for 10 Minutes" turns itself back off after 10 minutes by design. If you set it, got distracted, and it stopped working, just select it again.

Make Contacts Only Actually Work

If you would rather keep it on Contacts Only, it has a strict requirement that fails silently when it is not met.

• Make sure both devices are signed into an Apple Account (Settings or System Settings, your name at the top).
• Save the other person in Contacts with the exact email or phone number tied to their Apple Account. A mismatch makes them invisible with no warning.
• If the Mac is still unreliable, sign out of the Apple Account, restart, and sign back in to refresh its AirDrop identity.

Know About the New AirDrop Code

On iOS 26.2 and macOS 26.2 and later, sending to someone who is not in your contacts now needs a one-time code. This is intentional, not a fault.

• If the receiver is not in your contacts, ask them to tap Get AirDrop Code and read it to you.
• Enter that code on your sending device and the transfer starts.
• To skip the code, add each other to Contacts with matching Apple Account details.

Restore a Mac That the iPhone Cannot See

This is the fix for the Tahoe bug where the Mac sees the iPhone but the iPhone cannot see the Mac. The Mac has quietly stopped advertising itself.

• First toggle Bluetooth off and on on the Mac.
• If that fails, open Terminal and run sudo pkill bluetoothd (enter your admin password). macOS relaunches it and rebuilds its advertising.
• If the iPhone still cannot see it, restart the Mac into Recovery Mode and then boot back to macOS normally. Several people said this instantly restored visibility.

Important: Also remove any VPN or third-party firewall and antivirus on the Mac, since they block the direct connection AirDrop uses.

Turn Off the Mac Firewall's "Block All Incoming"

If your Mac appears but transfers fail, one firewall option may be the cause. It blocks every sharing service, AirDrop included.

• Open System Settings, Network, Firewall, then Options. In Tahoe the firewall lives under Network.
• Turn off Block all incoming connections, turn on Automatically allow built-in software, and click OK.

Stuck on "Waiting" or "Failed"? Toggle, Restart, Update

When the device is visible but the transfer hangs, the session is stuck.

• Turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off for about 10 seconds on both devices, then back on, and try again.
• Restart both devices. If the AirDrop control on the iPhone is greyed out, turn AirDrop back on in Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, Allowed Apps.
• Update iOS. AirDrop broke for many on iOS 26.1 and was fixed in iOS 26.2, so make sure you are past that.

The Short Version

Decide which half you are dealing with first. If the device never appears, set the receiver to Everyone for 10 Minutes, confirm Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on with Hotspot off, and fix the Mac firewall.

If your iPhone specifically cannot see your Mac after Tahoe, restart the Mac's Bluetooth service or reboot through Recovery Mode.

If the device shows but the transfer stalls, toggle the radios, restart both, and get on iOS 26.2 or later.

Where to Next

More Apple fixes: This guide is part of pcglance.

See the full iOS 26 problems and fixes hub, or head to the pcglance homepage and pick your device.