Using Handoff To Copy Text, Images and Files Between Your Apple Devices

The handoff feature of macOS and iOS allows you to use a Universal Clipboard to copy text, images, files or just about anything between your devices. You can use this to copy and paste text and images between documents while working with two or more devices. You can also transfer entire files this way, which is actually easier than using AirDrop in many situations.

Video Transcript: Hi this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let me show you how you can easily copy and paste between all of your Apple devices..
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So a great feature of all your Apple devices is their ability to copy and paste between them. In other words you can Copy something on one device, like your iPad, and then Paste it on your Mac. You don't have to do any additional steps for that. You copy on one device and paste on the other. This is all part of the continuity set of features and actually part of something called Handoff. Handoff is also the feature that allows you do things like start writing an email or a document on one device and then just pick it up on another. You can do this with just about anything you can copy like text, images, files. Let me show you.
Let's look at one of those basic examples. Here I am on my iPad and I've selected some text on a webpage. I'm going to tap it and Copy. Then here I am on my Mac and you could see there's even a message coming up saying that something was being copied on the iPad there. Now I'm going to go here and Paste. So I'm going to do Command V or I can do Edit, Paste. You can see it pastes the exact text that I copied from my iPad. So that's the simplest case. Just copy some text on your iPad or your iPhone and then you can paste it here on your Mac.
You can, of course, do the opposite. I can select some text here. I'm going to do it in Pages. I can do it in any app where I can copy text. I'm going to Command C or copy that test. Then here on the iPad I'm going to paste that in. I'm going to paste it into the Search field here. So I'll use the Paste command and you can see it pastes that text right in there. 
But you can go way beyond text. Pretty much anything that you can copy to the Clipboard will work. So let's go and copy an image. I'm going to copy this image that's here and then here on my Mac I can paste that in. So Command V just does the paste. I could have copied it from my Photos app. I could have copied it from an image editing app. Here I  just copied it in Safari and then I was able to paste the image. So it works for text, it works for images, it works for just about anything you can put into the copy buffer. 
It can even work for files. As you probably already know you can Copy and Paste files in the Finder on the Mac. But you can also Copy and Paste files between your devices. So, here I am in a folder on my local drive. I've got a file here. I can copy that file and then I can go over to my iPad. In the files app I'm looking at the local on my iPad area there in the files app. So not in iCloud. I just tap in the middle of the screen and you can see I've got Paste and I can paste there. There, the file is pasted. So this gives you a way to quickly transfer files. And this isn't a small file. This is a 31 MB file here and I was able to put it onto my iPad or iPhone pretty easily using this.
This works on the iPhone just as easily with text and with images. Here with a file, again, I'm going to Copy and again here on my iPhone, in the files app in a local folder not using iCloud drive, I'm going to simply Paste and it will paste the file in there. 
So here's also the same thing between two Macs. I've got my MacPro on my desktop and my MacBook Pro here. I can copy this file here, Command C, and over here on my MacBook Pro I can Paste and it will paste that file. It works, of course, with images, with text, with anything in the Clipboard as well.
To get this working you've got to make sure that you have a few things turned on. First of all you want to make sure that you've got Bluetooth turned on. You want to make sure you have WiFi turned on as well. You want to make sure you have this feature turned on which is under General in System Preferences. It's called Handoff. Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices.  On your iPhone or iPad the settings for this are under General, then you'll see AirPlay & Handoff. Make sure Handoff is turned on. Of course also check for Bluetooth and check for WiFi.
Then, it goes without saying, that you have to be signed in with the same iCloud account on all these devices. That's the key that links all these together is being signed in with your Apple ID and your iCloud account.
Even if you have all of these things setup correctly some people report that they still have trouble using this or it only works from one device to another and not the opposite way. I've even run into situations where is just seems to stop working. What works for me to get it working again is to simply turn Handoff Off and then turn it back on again. Try that on each device. So it's a quick switch on and off. Other people say that they've had to restart their machine entirely to get it going. Other people that say they can't get it working at all. It goes without saying that you need to have a fairly recent Mac. So if your Mac is eight years old or your iPad is seven years old and using an old version of iOS it's probably not going to work.
As I showed you here it's super handy for transferring files. It's easier to use this than it actually is to use AirDrop for transferring files. So I hope you get some use out of kit.
Thanks for watching!

Comments: 5 Responses to “Using Handoff To Copy Text, Images and Files Between Your Apple Devices”

4 years ago

I have found that Handoff does not work so well when my Apple devices are connected to WiFi via VPN. Have you experienced this?

Gary Rosenzweig

PJ: I haven't noticed, but I'm only using a VPN when traveling, so I probably don't come across it. Makes sense though that a VPN would interfere. I'm wondering if it is the software of the specific VPN you are using which may be blocking Wi-Fi traffic that isn't going through the VPN?

Marj Green

In Files, on an iPhone, is there anyway to copy and paste a pdf file?

Marj: Yes. You can tap and hold a file and then select copy. You can tap and hold a blank area, like at the bottom of the list of files, to paste or move a file.

russell winkler

Regarding Handoff on my 2014 MBP, everything works except when my iPhone 6S/Plus rings it will not pop-up on my MBP. It pops up occasionally, but that is rare.

Comments Closed.

Using Handoff To Copy Text, Images and Files Between Your Apple Devices

Comments: 5 Responses to “Using Handoff To Copy Text, Images and Files Between Your Apple Devices”

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