How to Fix Continuity Clipboard Issues Between iPhone and Mac?

Apple Continuity is a wonderful feature that helps to work across iOS and Mac devices seamlessly. The feature includes Handoff, AirDrop, Continuity Camera, Universal Clipboard, etc. Unfortunately, most of the time these features will not work due to various reasons. However, you can easily fix the issues by following simple instructions. In our earlier article, we have explained how to fix Continuity Camera and Handoff issues. In this article, let us explain how to fix Continuity Clipboard issues between your iPhone or iPad and MacBook devices.  

What is Continuity Clipboard?

Continuity Clipboard is one of the Apple’s Continuity features that help users to copy on one device and paste the content on another device. For example, you can copy and image, text or video on your iPhone and paste it on the document on your Mac. Below are the supported devices you can use Continuity Clipboard feature.

• iOS 10 or later and from iPhone version 5 or later.
• macOS Sierra or later on MacBook version 2012 or later.

How to Fix Continuity Clipboard Issues Between iPhone and Mac?

1. Enable Bluetooth on iPhone and Mac
2. Delete Bluetooth profile in iPhone
3. Sign in to same iCloud account on both devices
4. Connect to the same Wi-Fi
5. Enable Handoff in both devices
6. Update iOS and macOS operating system 

1. Enable Bluetooth on iPhone and Mac

Continuity Clipboard requires certain requirements like connecting your Mac and iPhone via Bluetooth.

• On you iPhone, tap on the “Settings” app and go to “Bluetooth” option to turn it on.
• On your Mac, go to “Apple Menu > System Preferences”. Click on “Bluetooth” icon and turn it on.

After turning on Bluetooth on both devices, ensure to pair the devices before you try to copy and paste. If you already paired the devices before, unpair them and disable Bluetooth on both devices. Again enable Bluetooth and pair the devices to check the Universal Clipboard function is working.

2. Delete Bluetooth Profile in Mac

Sometimes, the Bluetooth profile on your Mac might have corrupted and preventing you to use Continuity Clipboard feature. You can delete the profile and try to pair the devices again to check copying and pasting is working. Check out our earlier articles, to learn more on how to handle Bluetooth related problems on Mac and iPhone.

3. Sign in to Same iCloud Account

Copying on iPhone and pasting on Mac will work only when you have logged into same iCloud account on both devices. If you are using different iCloud accounts for iPhone and Mac, we strongly recommend not using continuity features. Otherwise, logging out of your iCloud account will create data sync problems when you log back again. Depending upon the data backup size, it may take even days to sync the iCloud data.

If you have free iCloud account with small size of data then you can try by logging out of iCloud account on both devices and login again.

•  On iPhone, you can tap on “Settings” app, then on your Apple ID to log out and login to your iCloud account again.
• On Mac, go to “Apple Menu > System Preferences > iCloud” section to log out and login again.

4. Connect to Same Wi-Fi

Ensure to connect your iPhone and Mac on the same wireless network connection. If you have already connected then try to disconnect and connect back again.

• iPhone – tap on “Settings” and then on “Wi-Fi-” option. Turn it off and enable again.
• Mac – Click on the Wi-Fi icon on the top menu bar and choose “Turn Wi-Fi Off”. Again, click on “Turn Wi-Fi On” to enable it.

Related: How to Wi-Fi connection issues in iPhone and MacBook.

5. Enable Handoff in Both Devices

You should have enabled Handoff on both devices for the Continuity Clipboard to work.

• iPhone – go to “Settings > General > Handoff” and enable the option.
• Mac – go to “Apple Menu > System Preferences > General” and enable the option “Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices”.

6. Update iOS and macOS Operating System

If copying on iPhone and pasting on Mac is not working after ensuring all the above options then the last check is to ensure whether you have latest iOS and macOS software.

• iPhone – go to “Settings > General > Software Update” and update your iOS version.
• Mac – go to “Apple Menu > Software Update” and update your macOS to latest version.

Conclusion

Though Continuity Clipboard feature is very useful, it does not work most of the times even with all the requirements are fulfilled. You can try the above solutions to check whether it fixes the problem. Sometimes, you can restart the devices or disconnect from the network and connect back to resolve the issues.