Viewing files in the iCloud Drive app on an iPhone. For example, if you need to read Excel spreadsheets, you’ll need either Microsoft Excel for iOS, Apple’s Numbers, or another app that can view (and perhaps edit) these files. If there are specific files you need to access on your iOS device, you may need to find apps that can read them. As with email, you’re limited as to which types of files you can open. If you have the Dropbox app on your iOS device (or apps for other cloud services, such as Google Drive, Box, etc.) you can add files to your cloud and then access them on your iOS device. Naturally, you’ll want to do this when you’re on a Wi-Fi network to avoid potentially using a lot of cellular data if you’re sending large files. Depending on the file type, you may or may not be able to open files on your device. Tap the attachment in the message to download and then open the file. Just create a new email addressed to yourself and add the file(s) as attachment to the message. Using email is a good way to send small files to an iOS device. You can choose to allow transfers from Contacts Only or from Everyone it’s best to choose the former. On your Mac, choose Go > AirDrop in the Finder, and then, on your iOS device, make sure AirDrop is activated in the Control Center (swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access this setting). You can use it to transfer files from one Mac to another, and also use it to transfer files from a Mac to an iOS device, or from one iOS device to another. Here, I’ve sent a PDF file to my iPhone, and all of the above apps can display it.ĪirDrop is Apple’s technology for sharing files across devices. AirDropĬhoose which app to open a file you receive with AirDrop. In this article, I’m going to show you 6 ways you can move files of various types to your iOS devices. But you may also need to transfer files from your Mac to your iOS device, which isn’t as simple: iOS isn’t designed to accept just any file, and you don’t have the same options to open files with different apps. 9 ways you can transfer files from one Mac to another, which is useful if you have, say, an iMac and a laptop, and need to pass files back and forth.

How to use airdrop to transfer files