" Hi all, I've been looking for a solution couple hours but still couldn't find a clear answer. Is there anyone having a difficulty to share an mp3 file from Mac to iPhone? When I receive it on my iPhone, it seems like it doesn't find a right app to open a file. My phone opens up one of my messenger app and asks me to send the mp3 to other through that app. I had no problem receiving a photo from Mac to iPhone photo. Anybody knows how to AirDrop music from Mac to iPhone and also can you AirDrop music from iPhone to Mac?"

- Hazel Nutlatte posted on Apple Communities

Can you AirDrop music from iPhone to Mac? I believe there are quite a lot of people having the same question. Here are a few troubleshooting ways to teach you how to AirDrop music from Mac to iPhone and how to AirDrop from iPhone to Mac. To transfer purchased and non-purchased music from iPod to Mac, please read the tutorial below:
How to Transfer Music from iPod to Mac

Part 1: How to AirDrop Music from Mac to iPhone

AirDrop is a powerful tool to help to transfer a wide range of files between iPad, iPod, iPhone and Mac. You can share your photos and videos with your Mac or friends via AirDrop. You can also Airdrop music from Mac to iPhone for the convenience of playing it. However, AirDrop can only transfer purchased music between Mac and iPhone, which seems not so wonderful. As for how to AirDrop music from Mac to iPhone, we can read the following steps in detail.

1. On your iPhone, swipe up to activate the "Control Center" panel. Press "AirDrop" to turn it on. A prompt from the bottom will ask you to choose "Contact Only/Everyone". You can tap on "Everyone" here. Generally speaking, your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will be automatically active. If not, you can turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on manually.

choose Contact Only or Everyone

2. On your Mac, connect the same Wi-Fi as the iPhone connects and go to "Finder" menu bar at the top. Head to "Go > AirDrop" to open AirDrop and choose "Allow me to be discovered No One/Contacts Only/Everyone". You can select one of them based on your need.

open AirDrop

3. On the AirDrop interface, you can see your iPhone device. Directly drag music from your Mac to the icon representing iPhone and press "Send". At this time, a prompt on iPhone will ask you to accept the transfer. You can choose to accept the transfer and it starts to AirDrop music from Mac to iPhone.

starts to AirDrop music from Mac to iPhone

Part 2: How to AirDrop Music from iPhone to Mac

Can you AirDrop music from iPhone to Mac? Of course, it is really a piece of cake to AirDrop music from iPhone to Mac. Let's learn from this step-by-step guidance.

1. Make sure Mac and iPhone both connected to the same Wi-Fi account and open Bluetooth. On your iPhone, swipe upward to open "Control Center". Tap on AirDrop and select "Contacts Only/Everyone"(we have already recommended you to choose "Everyone" the above).

choose Contact Only or Everyone

2. On your Mac, go to "Finder > Go > AirDrop" and launch it. Choose "Allow to be discovered by No One/Contacts Only/Everyone" at the bottom. To make Mac easily detected by iPhone, you'd better choose "Everyone".

open AirDrop

3. Launch your music app on iPhone and find the music you want to AirDrop, then click the Share icon. In the pop-up window, choose Mac device to AirDrop with. Mac has to approve the transfer, then it starts to send music from iPhone to Mac.

starts to send music from iPhone to Mac

Part 3: How to Airdrop Music between iPhone and Mac with iTunes

Can you AirDrop music from iPhone to Mac or from Mac to iPhone with other transferring tools? The answer is yes. iTunes is an easy-to-use gadget to transfer a plethora of files like music, photos, movies, podcasts, e-books, etc. between computer and iOS devices. It greatly guarantees the safety of your iOS devices files. Whenever you buy a new iPhone, you can use iTunes to sync old iPhone data with new one. However, when iTunes AirDrop music from iPhone to Mac, it can only transfer purchased items, not limited to purchased music. Next, read the steps below to learn how to AirDrop music between iPhone and Mac.

1. How to transfer music from iPhone to Mac

Step 1. Launch iTunes and make sure it is the latest version. Go to "iTunes > Preferences > Devices" and tick “Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically" to avoid iTunes being automatically synced with iPhone.

How to transfer music from iPhone to Mac

Step 2. Connect your iPhone to Mac via USB cable. iPhone will be automatically detected and show an iPhone icon at top left corner.

Step 3. Go to "File > Devices > Transfer Purchases from iPhone" to transfer purchased music from iPhone to Mac.

transfer purchased music from iPhone to Mac

2. How to transfer music from Mac to iPhone

Step 1. Open iTunes and ensure you have the latest iTunes on Mac. Plug your iPhone to Mac with USB cable. iTunes will automatically recognize your device.

Step 2. In the top left corner, tap on the iPhone icon and go to "Settings > Music" in the left sidebar. In the right interface, check "Sync Music". You can choose sync "Entire Music Library" or "Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genre". After that, click "Apply" at bottom right corner. iTunes will start to sync Mac music with iPhone.

How to transfer music from Mac to iPhone

Part 4: The Best AirDrop Alternative – Leawo iTransfer Mac

As the best AirDrop Alternative, Leawo iTransfer for Mac is able to transfer 12 kinds of contents like music, photos, movies, contacts and so on between iTunes, computer and iOS devices. You can also adopt it to back up all your iOS devices files to iTunes and computer. In this way, you don't need to worry that your files will lose mistakenly. The biggest advantage of Leawo iTransfer is that it offers access to the transfer of non-purchased and purchased items. Now let's see how to transfer music between iPhone and Mac.

iTransfer

Leawo iTransfer for Mac 

☉ copy files among iOS devices, iTunes and PCs with ease.
☉ copy up to 14 kinds of data and files without iTunes.
☉ Support the latest iOS devices like iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, etc.
☉ Play back, view, and delete data and files on iOS devices.

1. How to transfer music from Mac to iPhone

Step 1. Run Leawo iTransfer and connect iPhone to computer via USB cable. The software will automatically recognize your iPhone.

How to transfer music from Mac to iPhone

Step 2. In the left sidebar, click "iPhone > LIBRARY > Music" and you will see a list of music from your iPhone.

a list of music from your iPhone

Step 3. Click the Add button at the top middle to select music you want to transfer from Mac to iPhone, then the software will start to transfer music from Mac to iPhone.

Click the Add button

2. How to transfer music from iPhone to Mac

Step 1. Connect iPhone to Mac and launch Leawo iTransfer. You can see some basic information about iPhone in the right interface.

Connect iPhone to Mac and launch Leawo iTransfer

Step 2 Press the name of "iPhone" and open "LIBRARY". In the list, click "Music" to view iPhone music in the right interface. Hold "Command" and select music to right click one of them and choose "Transfer to > My Computer".

select music

Step 3 In the pop-up window, check "Save to folder" and click "Change" to change a destination folder. After that, choose "Transfer Now" to transfer music from iPhone to Mac.

change a destination folder

In conclusion, the above three methods are highly efficient in transferring music between Mac and iPhone. Compared to iTunes, AirDrop and Leawo iTransfer allows you to choose different categories like music, photos, movies, etc. Besides, iTunes and AirDrop can only transfer purchased items, while Leawo iTransfer allows you to transfer purchased and non-purchased items without limitation. Hence, I strongly recommend you to try Leawo iTransfer to transfer music between Mac and iPhone.