How to Share Files With Airdrop on a Mac: 8 Steps (with Pictures)

Mac OS X Lion ships with many great features, but perhaps the most useful is AirDrop. AirDrop lets users send files between Macs that are connected on the same Wi-Fi network. To get AirDrop to work, you must have an AirPlay supported Mac running Mac OS X Lion or above. This article will show you how to use AirDrop.
STEPS

1

CLICK THE “FINDER” ICON THAT IS LOCATED IN THE MAC OS X DOCK TO OPEN A NEW FINDER WINDOW.

2

CLICK THE “AIRDROP” ICON LOCATED IN THE FINDER. It is the second icon down on most Macs. Make sure you have AirDrop open on both Macs that you will be transferring files between, or this will fail to work.

3

ONCE IN AIRDROP, YOU’LL FIND ICONS FOR MACS THAT ARE CONNECTED ON THE WI-FI NETWORK OR ARE IN CLOSE RANGE. The Macs will be represented by the user’s image on each Mac.

4

DRAG AND DROP THE FILE YOU WANT TO SHARE ONTO THE AIRDROP ICON IN FINDER. You’ll be prompted inside of the AirDrop folder to select which Mac you’d like to send the file to.
Once the file begins sending, a file transfer progress bar will appear on the user icon where you can watch the progress of the transfer.

5

CONFIRM SENDING THE FILE BY CLICKING THE “SEND” BUTTON. Go to the Mac you sent the file to. and click “Save” or “Open” to download the file that was sent over AirDrop. The file will be saved by default to your “Downloads” folder.
METHOD 1 OF 1: MACS NOT RUNNING LION
For Macs that aren’t supported, a simple Terminal command will enable AirDrop.

1

OPEN THE MAC’S TERMINAL APPLICATION BY SEARCHING FOR “TERMINAL” IN THE MAC’S SEARCH BOX IN THE TOP RIGHT.

2

IN THE TERMINAL, COPY AND PASTE “DEFAULTS WRITE COM.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1” and hit enter.

3

IN THE TERMINAL, TYPE ‘KILLALL FINDER’ OR RESTART YOUR MAC. Upon doing either, you will now have AirDrop in your Finder window.
VIDEO

TIPS
You can open Launchpad in OS X Lion using custom shortcuts or hot corners by setting them in System Preferences.
Swipe between pages of apps in Launchpad by clicking and holding your mouse while making a swiping gesture left or right, or use a two finger gesture on your track-pad.