Airdrop not working between iPhone and iMac. Both up to date

Apple devices can be a total pain in the butt. Constantly telling you that you have to upgrade your software to access some function that you successfully used a month ago. My iphone and MacBook aren't able to communicate with each other via Airdrop even though they are on the same wifi network and "see" each other on Bluetooth. Ditto communicating using a lightning cable. I have much better luck getting my iPhone to communicate with my Windows machine.

Galileo634 wrote:

Hello. I can't send files using AirDrop from iMac to iPhone. Yes, from the iPhone to the iMac.

The iPhone appears on the Mac, I click to send it but nothing happens.

I have Bluetooth activated on both, the firewall configured as indicated by Apple,

the devices updated to the latest version.

I also rebooted both and still the same.

I do not know what to do.

Both Bluetooth and Wifi need to be on...

Use AirDrop on your Mac - Apple Support

Can you verify your software is up to date…

The current stable release of Ventura including bug fixes, security updates is macOS Ventura 13.4

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

The current stable release of iOS including bug fixes, security updates is iOS 16.5

Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

I have the same issue. So I shut down iPhone and powered it back on, and it WORKS again. So, all good.

Just to clarify the situation. You are trying to send files from the computer to the iPhone? You can see the iPhone as an option, but nothing happens when you select it?

Have you tried to transfer an item from the iPhone to the computer to see if things work in the other direction?

Try turning Air Drop off on both devices, then turning Air Drop back on for both devices.

Are you running any anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, or third party security software on either the computer or the iPhone? If so, then uninstall those apps by following the developer's instructions since those types of apps are not needed and usually causes more problems than they solve.

FYI, every time I have had an issue with Air Drop, a reboot of both devices and/or updating the OS on both devices has solved the problem. Double check that both the iPhone and computer are completely up to date for their OS patches. Keep in mind that iOS 16.5 was just released as mentioned by @leroydouglas. AFAIK the current version for macOS Ventura is 13.4.

If you are using an older iPhone running an older version of iOS, then maybe Air Drop is no longer supported. We have been assuming you are running iOS 16.5 on the iPhone and macOS Ventura 13.4 on the computer. If these assumptions are incorrect, then please let us know.

On the iPhone, go to Settings > General > Airdrop, change it to Everyone to test if there is a problem with the Contacts.

Also, a phone restart has fixed the issue for some.