

It’s highly reliable, and has the greatest range of compatibility between all Macs and versions of Mac OS X. If you’re going to move very large files between Macs the traditional File Sharing approach is probably the best method of transfer. Enter login credentials to connect, and now you can use the other Mac like any other folder in Mac OS X, drag and drop files to copy.From the Mac OS X Finder, hit Command+Shift+K and then click “Browse” to find and connect to the desired Mac.Check to enable “File Sharing” on all Macs you want to share files between.Open System Preferences from the Apple menu, and click on “Sharing” panel.Traditional AFP File SharingĪFP (Appletalk Filing Protocol) is the old-fashioned traditional route to share files between Macs, and though it takes a moment or two to setup it has some major advantages like being able to map network drives for constant access and to transfer files between Macs and Windows PC’s as well as across Macs running any version of MacOS and Mac OS X, whether it’s 10.1 or 10.8.1 or 10.15.įile Sharing needs to be enabled on all Macs that you want to use the feature on, here’s how: An added bonus? iMessage also lets you send the same files to iOS devices like iPhones, iPods, and iPads, so long as iMessage is set up properly in iOS 5 or later. IMessages makes transferring files between remote Macs extremely easy, and Messages will accept just about any file type, whether it’s images, documents, movies, zips, you name it. When finished transferring, the recipient can just double-click the file to open it or right-click to save it.Drag and drop the file into the iMessage window and hit return to send.From Mountain Lion’s Messages app onward, all you need to do is: Want to send a file to your friends Mac in another state? Messages for Mac OS X is the easiest way to go. Send Files Locally or Over the Internet with iMessage On the receiving Mac, accept the file transferĪirDrop is extremely easy to use, and remember if you have an older Mac that doesn’t officially support AirDrop, or if that Mac doesn’t have Wi-Fi, you can enable AirDrop support on old Macs and through wired ethernet connections with a simple command.Wait for the other Mac to appear, then drag and drop the file(s) to the Mac to transfer files to.AirDrop is the fastest way to send files between Macs hands down and there’s virtually no configuration required to use it.įrom the Mac OS Finder, do the following to use AirDrop: The best part? You don’t even need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network, as long as your computers are within range of one another an ad-hoc network will be created between the two Macs to send the file. By far the easiest method for quick file sharing Between Macs is to use AirDrop, and so long as both Macs are running Mac OS X Lion or later you can use the feature.
