From adding music to updating or restoring deviceslearn all the important things you can do on your iPhone or iPad using Finder on Mac.
Connect the device to your Mac
Finder is a built-in application on your Macwhich in addition to managing your computer filesalso lets your manage your iOS devices.
Sostart by connecting your iPhoneiPador iPod to your Mac. An alert may pop up on your Mac’s screen asking permission to connect to the device. Click Allow. Nextlook at your iPhone or iPad’s screen and Trust the computer when prompted.
With your iOS device and Mac connectedopen Finder and select the device from the left sidebar.
Here’s everything you can do now.
Note: iTunes is a thing of the past on both Mac and Windows PCbut if your computer still has ityou can use many of the tips listed below.
See device details
At the top of the screenyou will see the following details. Remember to click the section under the device name to see everything:
- Current device name. You can also change it from here
- Device model
- Total storage capacity and what’s available
- Current battery percentage
- Serial Number
- Model Number
- Product Type
- UDID and EID
- SIM number currently on the iPhone or cellular iPad
- IMEI number
- ICCID
- After thisif you’re in the General tabyou can also see the current software version (i.e.iOS or iPadOS)
Sync media
If you do not use iCloud Music LibraryiCloud Photosor iCloud Contacts and CalendarFinder is your best way to add songsphotosand other media from your Mac to your iPhone.
To do thatclick Music, Movies, TV Shows, Books, Podcastsand other options from the top. Nextcheck the Sync boxselect what you want to sync. Finallyhit the Sync or Apply button from the bottom right.
You can learn more our dedicated tutorial that goes over how to sync music from Mac to iPhone.
Add ringtones
The Music app on Mac lets you create custom ringtones. And once you have done thatyou can simply drag and drop the ringtone file to the iPhone or iPad interface in Finder to transfer to it.
Copy data to specific iOS apps like VLC
I love transferring my old videos or MKV files to VLCInfuseor PLAYit app on my iPhone or iPad. You can go to the Files section and drag items from your Mac’s desktop or folder over an iOS app name to add to it.
Use iPhone as a pen drive
This one is related to the above tip. With the right appsyou can use your iOS device as a pen drive to store files of any kind – even if iOS does not support that file format.
Manage phone storage
If you’re on the most recent version of iOS and macOSyou can hit Manage Storage from the top right of the iPhone Finder screen and then delete files to free space.
Turn some Accessibility settings on or off
iOS has over 40 helpful accessibility features. Though you can’t manage them all from Finderyou can go to the General tab and click Configure Accessibility to activate or deactivate a few important ones.
This is particularly helpful if you zoom your iPhone or iPad screen and can’t unzoom it right from the device.
Update your iOS device
Use the Check for Update button in the General tab to ensure your iPhoneiPador iPod is running the most recent version of its respective software.
Back up iPhone data to Mac
While backing up your iPhone or iPad to iCloud is effortlessyou can also just as easily back them up to your Mac.
Backing up and archiving the computer backup file (which by the way you can’t do on iCloud) is especially important if you update to beta software and then want to go back to the previous non-beta version.
Set up a new iPhone
You can connect your new iPhone or iPad to Finder on Mac and set up the device. If you had backed up your old iPhoneyou can move that data to your new device.
Restore the software
Turn off Find My and then use the Restore iPhone/iPad button to install a fresh copy of the software.
In case your iPhoneiPador iPod is brickedfrozenor acting upyou can put the device in recovery mode and then reinstall its software to fix these issues. This method is also helpful if you happen to forget your device passcode.
Manage iPhone or iPad without cable
Go to the General sectioncheck the box for “Show this iPhone/iPad when on Wi-Fi,” and hit Apply.
After thiswhen your iPhone/iPad and Mac are on the same Wi-Fi networkthe iOS device will appear in the Finder sidebar. You can do most of the thingslike syncing media and changing settingswithout connecting with a cable.
Some thingslike restoring the device and updating will still require a wired connection.
Eject the device
Once you finish working with your iPhone or iPad in Finderclick the eject icon. Nowyou can’t do the above things unless you unplug and reconnect. Howeverthe device will continue to charge even after ejecting.
Check out next: How to set your Mac’s Finder to show folder sizes