Use AirDrop to Transfer Files from an iPhone to a Mac

Posted on by Larry

If you use Final Cut Pro X for your edit, transferring files from an iPhone into Final Cut is easy:

To determine what’s displayed, select the appropriate choice from the popup menu in the center-right side of the Media Import window.

Make sure you are copying the files into the Library. FCP X won’t allow you to leave files on the iPhone that you need for an edit.

NOTE: FCP X won’t erase these files on your iPhone. Instead it copies them from your iPhone to your FCP X library.

Easy.

But! What if you don’t edit using Final Cut? Or, if you just want to copy files to your computer to use in Photoshop?

Its easy – you don’t even need to connect your iPhone with a cable. As long as your iPhone and computer are within a few feet of each other use AirDrop. Here’s how.

USING AIRDROP

In Photos, find the videos or photos you want to transfer.

Touch the small circle in the bottom right of the image/video, so that it turns blue. You can select as many images and/or videos as you want.

While there are several ways you can do this on you Mac, this one always works. In the Finder, choose Go > AirDrop.

If WiFi is not turned on, turn it on.

Once WiFi is turned on, make sure you are discoverable. If this is a one-time thing, discoverable by Everyone is an easy choice. When the transfer is done, you can turn this feature off.

On the iPhone, once an AirDrop connection is established, the AirDrop icon changes color and indicates the person it is connected to.

Touch the AirDrop button on your phone.

After a few seconds, the selected files start transferring. The blue ring indicates the transfer status.

The transferred files are stored in your Downloads folder.

SUMMARY

I’ve found AirDrop to be easy to use and reasonably fast. It is a great way to get images stored on your phone moved to where you can do something with them.

Try it for yourself.


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