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Transferring Files To And From Your Mac Using Bluetooth

Posted: 30 Dec 2012 09:00 AM PST

Hey,

Bluetooth is a technology that has moved out of the limelight in recent years, however I think it is still a good technology for sending small files around between phones and your laptop. This post is going to show you how to transfer files between your phone, in my case a blackberry, and your Mac. This technique will probably work with a variety of other phones and providers. It is still a little bit clunky, but once you get the hand of it, it is rather simple. If you don’t have bluetooth, I recommend you pick up a bluetooth dongle from Amazon.

Turn On Bluetooth Sharing

Before you do anything you have to turn on Bluetooth sharing within System Preferences. You can do all the other steps within the process, however if you don’t turn on the sharing option you will not get anywhere. If you can’t transfer files it is probably due to the bluetooth sharing option being turned off.

To turn it on open System Preferences within your Applications folder, select Sharing and then Bluetooth sharing. Within this option you can change the options on how your Mac reacts when presented with a bluetooth file.

Before you can transfer any files you must enable the sharing option.

Transferring Files From Your Phone / Device

Once you have enabled bluetooth sharing you can now transfer files from your phone or other device, such as another laptop. This process may vary slightly between phones however it is generally the same. Within your phone select the file you want to send and select ‘Send using bluetooth’. Within your Mac open the bluetooth menu on your menu bar. If you don’t have the bluetooth menu, go to System Preferences and enable it under the bluetooth preference option.

The bluetooth menu bar will show you an option saying browse device. Select this option, you can then select your phone. If this is the first time browsing the device, it will take you through the options to set up the device. If all goes well the file will begin transferring. If you were too slow, resend the file from your phone. There is a time out option when using bluetooth and it may have been triggered. The download once sent will appear within the download folder specified within your sharing system preferences.

Browse your phone to transfer the file.

Transferring To Your Phone / Device

If you want to transfer files to your phone, you do the same process but in reverse. On your phone select, ‘receive using bluetooth’. Then within the bluetooth menu select ‘Send File’, browse for the file you want to send. Your phone should pick up the transfer and it will be made with your mac and laptop.

Transferring a file only takes a moment to set up.

Conclusion

Sending between you phone and laptop is rather simple. Laptop to laptop transfers are just as quick, however you simply select within the bluetooth menu, send file and select the device you want to send it too. This can be another Mac or laptop.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

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Sunday, December 30, 2012