4 Quick Fixes to AirDrop not Showing Contact Name on iPhone 16/15/14/13

Issue with AirDrop names not displaying

I have two iPads. Frequently I’m using them both at the same time and need to airdrop an image from my iPhone to one of the iPads. Both iPads have unique names. However, they both show up as “ iPad” on my iPhone. How do I get my iPhone to see the names given to the two iPads? It’s so frustrating.

- Question from Apple Community

AirDrop provides you with a simple way to share a single item between two iDevices wirelessly. But things are not that simple. As it turned out, you may encounter kinds of issues brought by AirDrop.

If you find AirDrop is not showing contact name, read on to find how you can do some basic troubleshooting.

Part 1. 4 Solutions to AirDrop not Showing Contact Name

The four simple solutions may help you out of the issue that AirDrop name is not displaying. You can try them one after another until your problem is solved with one of them.

Check relative settings

To get rid of the issue iPhone name not showing in AirDrop, you may need to check the relative settings to make sure you have set up AirDrop properly.

Choose to receive from “Everyone”
By default, the receiving setting of your AirDrop will be set to receive files from Contacts Only, it is more suggested to set it as Everyone.

On your iPhone, go to Control Center > Hard press the wireless control box to open AirDrop > Choose Everyone instead.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Since it is a wireless process to transfer files like songs from iPhone to iPhone using AirDrop, the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both iOS devices need to be opened. Besides, the two devices should be within 30 feet.

Reset network settings
If necessary, you can try to reset the network settings, which can fix some unknown network errors, including the error that result in AirDrop not showing contact name. It just erases Wi-Fi passwords and Bluetooth connection history but does no harm to your data.

To reset network settings, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings to make it.

Tip: If you have updated to iOS 15 and later, you may need to go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

Change the name of your AirDrop

Chances are that you can change the name of your iPhone, which is used by iCloud, AirDrop, etc. to avoid iPhone name not showing in AirDrop.

Tutorials about how to change AirDrop name on iPhone are as follow. You can go to Settings on your iPhone > General > About > Name to change the name.

When it is finished, you can restart the iPhone and enable AirDrop again to see if the issue gets fixed.

Remove email address from Contacts

The issue may also happen to you when you are using an email address as your Apple ID and AirDrop on all your iDevices. Then remove email address from Contacts can be a nice try.

Follow the steps to remove email in Contacts. Go to Settings > Contacts > Accounts. Tap the account you will remove > Switch off Contacts > Then tap Delete from My iPhone.

Update iOS to the latest version

Still can’t see contact name on AirDrop? The issue may be caused by a software bug. You can check if there is a new version of operating system.

Go to Settings > General > Software Update to update the latest iOS.

Part 2. Recommended: Share contents via best AirDrop alternatives

Indeed, it is convenient to share single files with others using AirDrop. However, you may find it’s complicated and a waste of time when you intend to airdrop multiple photos or more than one format of files at a time. You may need a more powerful tool to make transfer simpler and avoid troubles like AirDrop nor showing contact name.

 Share contents wirelessly with AOMEI FoneBackup app
You can also download and install the AOMEI FoneBackup app on both of your iPhone from the App Store and share contents between iPhones just like you do using  AirDrop. What is the most different from AirDrop is that you can share files in batch with the AOMEI FoneBackup app.

Step 1. Place the two iPhones close with each other > Make sure Wi-Fi on both iPhone is enabled > In the AOMEI FoneBackup app, go to Clickk to connect device > Establish a connection between two iPhones by tapping the device name.

Step 2. Tap each file types, like Photos, to select the files you'd like to transfer > Tap Send to share the files to the target iPhone.

Step 3. On the target iPhone, receive the files, and you can go to the relative apps to check the transferred files. 

Share files with a USB connection
It is highly recommended you try AOMEI FoneBackup, the professional transfer and backup tool for iOS devices.

What you can benefit from AOMEI FoneBackup
√ Fast Transfer speed. Compared with its wireless counterpart, the USB connection offers you a much faster transfer speed. It just takes no more than 3 seconds to transfer 100 photos.
√ Types of transfer functions. AOMEI FoneBackup supports iPhone to iPhone/iPad transfer, iPhone to computer transfer and vice versa.
√ Wide compatibility. AOMEI FoneBackup can work well with iPhones from iPhone 4 to the latest iPhone 16 series, iPad, and iPods. It is also perfectly compatible with different versions of iOS like iOS 17/18.

Free download AOMEI FoneBackup to enjoy the transfer process with no effort.

For better illustration, assume that you’d like to transfer photos from iPhone to iPhone.  

Transfer from the source iPhone to computer
Step 1. Connect the source iPhone to computer with USB > Launch AOMEI FoneBackup > Click iPhone to PC from its Phone Transfer option.

Step 2. Click the + icon to preview and add selective photos you’d like to transfer > Click OK to confirm.

Step 3. Choose a storage path from Transfer Settings as you like. (You are allowed to save them on local disks or external hard drive) > Click Start Transfer to start.

You’re also able to transfer music, videos, contacts from iPhone to computer. When it is over, unplug the source iPhone.

Transfer from computer to the target iPhone
Step 4. Connect the target iPhone to computer with USB > Click PC to iPhone option.

Step 5. Click + icon to select files you exported before > Click Start Transfer to complete the task.

To optimize the limited storage of your iPhone and protect the data from losing, you can also rely on the function Selective Backup from Phone Backup in AOMEI FoneBackup to backup iPhone to PC.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you can fix the issue AirDrop not showing contact name on iPhone with one of the four solutions above. If not, you may need to contact Apple Support.

When it comes to transferring files between iOS devices, AOMEI FoneBackup may outweigh AirDrop to some degree. For more queries, suggestions, or feedback, please feel free to contact us.