Sharing Files with AirDrop

by | Sep 26, 2023 | iPad | 0 comments

A photo of two iPads

Do you want to quickly share files with your colleagues during live meetings or in face-to-face conversations?

Today’s Tip

AirDrop can provide a lot of opportunities for sharing files extremely quickly. While you can always email files to individuals from your iPad, it may be faster to share files using AirDrop. This allows you to immediately send items like photos or documents to the people in your immediate vicinity with both Bluetooth and Wifi enabled. Sharing files with AirDrop streamlines the process, making it easier for all users to gain access to them equitably.

Note: Look back at yesterday’s post about Renaming Your iPad to make AirDropping files an easier process. Without completing this step, identifying who you are sharing with could be difficult.

Before You AirDrop

Even if all recipients are nearby, there are a few set-up steps that need to occur before you can share files with AirDrop:

  • All recipients should have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on and Personal Hotspot turned off.
  • All recipients should have their AirDrop receiving functionality set to “Everyone for 10 Minutes” assuming they are not already in your contacts. See the instructions in the next section to change these settings.

Changing Your Receiving Settings

Use the following instructions to receive files from people sharing with AirDrop.

  1. Swipe down from the top right corner of your iPad to access your Control Center.
  2. In the top left box of your Control Center, locate and select the AirDrop symbol (beside the Airplane mode symbol and above the Bluetooth symbol).
  3. Select the “Everyone for 10 Minutes” option from the menu that expands.
  4. Tap anywhere outside of the Control Panel to exit these settings and receive files.

This can also be set up in your Settings app by selecting General, then AirDrop, and Everyone for 10 Minutes.

Sharing Files with AirDrop

After the recipients have allowed files to be received, complete the following steps to share with them.

  1. Open the photo or document you would like to share.
  2. For PDFs, select the three dots symbol and choose Send a Copy. You do not need to complete this step for photos.
  3. Select the Share button.
  4. Locate and choose the AirDrop app from the list in the pop-out menu. If this does not appear in your list, scroll all the way to the right and choose More. AirDrop should appear in the More menu.
  5. Select the individuals you would like to share the file with on the following menu. Any recipients you select will receive a notification to accept or decline the AirDrop file.
  6. When you have finished sharing your file, select Done from the top right and continue your workflow.

If you are sharing from the Photos app, you can select multiple photos by swiping left or right and selecting all relevant photos.

Video Tutorial

A brief video tutorial about Sharing Files with AirDrop (run time: 4:07) has been created to help illustrate these functions and capabilities better.

Additional Support

Check out some of the resources we’ve curated on this topic for more support: