Deskferry editorial guide
How to AirDrop from Mac to Mac, step by step
It starts on the receiving Mac, not the one holding the file. That trips up most people.
AirDrop is the built-in way to hand a nearby Mac a PDF, a batch of photos or a video. This walkthrough follows one PDF the whole distance — from the receiver's settings to the moment the file opens at the other end — because the quiet failures happen at that last step, not the first.
The two Macs do not need the same Apple Account. If they happen to share one, transfers between your own devices can be accepted without asking, which is worth knowing when no Accept button ever appears.
How to AirDrop from Mac to Mac: start with the receiving Mac
AirDrop begins on the Mac that will receive the file. Keep the two machines within about 10 metres, and switch on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both, even when they are already wired to Ethernet. On the receiving Mac, open AirDrop in the Finder sidebar; if it is not listed there, press Shift-Command-R in Finder.
In macOS Sonoma 14, the Finder AirDrop window carries an Allow me to be discovered by control: choose Contacts Only or Everyone. Current macOS versions expose the same receiving options when you open AirDrop from Control Centre and expand it.
Contacts Only is stricter than it sounds. It checks the sender against the receiver's address book, so the receiver's card for that person has to hold the Apple Account email address or phone number the sender is actually signed in with — not just any address they use. For one exchange with someone who is not a contact, the receiver can switch to Everyone for the handoff and set the scope back straight afterwards.
Pick the file, then pick the right recipient
On the sending Mac, find the PDF in Finder, Control-click it, choose Share, then AirDrop, then click the recipient. To send several items at once, select them all before you open Share.
For files scattered through a folder, hold Command and click each one, then use Share and AirDrop once for the whole selection. In list view you can click the first file and Shift-click the last to take a run of them. Read the selected names back before you choose anyone. And with a large collection, send a small batch first so the receiver can confirm what landed before the rest follows.
The other route is to open AirDrop in Finder and drag the files onto the recipient in that window. Check the name either way — a meeting room can show several devices whose icons look much the same at a glance.
Accept the transfer, then find the file
The receiver has to accept. The request usually arrives as a notification, but when the Finder AirDrop window is already open it can appear there instead. That is a common reason a sender sits waiting at a request nobody has seen.
macOS 26.2 and later can ask for a code when the two devices are not contacts. The receiver chooses Continue or Get AirDrop Code and reads out the code on screen; the sender types it into the transfer prompt. On Sonoma 14 there is no code step and the receiver simply accepts.
For this PDF, look in Downloads on the receiving Mac first. Some items open in, or are saved by, the app chosen while accepting — a photo routed into Photos lives in the Photos library, not beside the PDF. Open what arrived and confirm it is the file you meant to send.
Work out which stage failed
No recipient in the list. Nothing has been sent yet, so this is discovery: check the receiver's scope, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at both ends, and under Contacts Only, the contact details on the receiver's card.
The recipient is visible but the send waits. Discovery already worked, so leave the radios alone. Ask the receiver to look at notifications and at the Finder AirDrop window, including any code request still sitting there.
It reports success but the file is nowhere. Check Downloads and the app chosen during acceptance before you send duplicates. If every setting looks right and transfers still fail, restart both Macs and try once more. AirDrop troubleshooting works through the same stages in more depth.
When the same two Macs swap files all day
For an occasional file to whoever is sitting nearby, AirDrop is the right tool and nothing below replaces it. The friction shows up in a different pattern: you collect material on a laptop and finish the work on a desktop, and every handoff means opening Share and choosing the same recipient again, twenty times a week.
Deskferry is a macOS menu-bar app built for that repetition. Pair the Macs into a trusted group once, select a file in Finder on A and press Command-C; when the other Mac has applied the content, open the project folder on B and press Command-V. A sentence or a link travels the same way, with no message to yourself in between.
It does not replace AirDrop for strangers or one-off recipients, and it does not reach an iPhone. It needs macOS 14 or later on both Macs and a local network they can both reach; files and videos rely on the group administrator's Pro or Max plan, and folders need Max. See copying files with Deskferry for the setup. For a single file to someone nearby, the steps above already finish the job.
Official references
Apple feature references checked 16 September 2026. Deskferry is independent of Apple.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can I AirDrop to a Mac signed in to a different Apple Account?
Yes, and that is the ordinary case. The recipient has to allow discovery, then accept, and complete any code prompt. Sharing one Apple Account mainly changes a single thing: transfers between your own devices can be accepted automatically.
My Mac is on Ethernet. Does Wi-Fi still have to be on?
Yes. AirDrop uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth directly between the two devices, so both radios have to be on at each end. A wired internet connection is not a substitute.
Contacts Only is on, but my colleague cannot see me. Why?
Look at your contact card for that colleague. It needs the Apple Account email address or phone number they actually use — not merely an address that reaches them. For a one-off exchange you have agreed to, switch to Everyone, complete the transfer, then put your preferred scope back.
Can I send several files at once?
Yes. Select them together in Finder, then choose Share, AirDrop and the recipient once. Check what arrived at the other end — sending a group of files still sends copies, and later edits do not follow them.
Where should I look once the transfer is accepted?
Downloads on the receiving Mac, for an ordinary Finder document. Then whichever app was chosen while accepting, such as Photos. Open the item to confirm it before you resend anything.
Will edits to my original update the file I sent?
No. AirDrop hands over a copy, not a shared editing session. For ongoing access to the same file, use a shared document or macOS File Sharing.
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