Use This 3-Finger Trick to Quickly Share Photos on Apple Devices

[MacRumors]

Apple devices support a relatively unknown three-finger gesture that lets you share a photo across your devices in super-quick time. It's a neat trick to fall back on if AirDrop is playing up or your iCloud Photos are taking ages to sync.

Universal Clipboard is usually associated with copying and pasting text, but by using this gesture, you can make it work really well for sharing images between your devices too.

It can be used to quickly copy images across nearby devices for pasting into Messages, Notes, emails, Pages, and other apps with input fields.

For the following steps to work, you'll need to have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on and your devices signed into the same Apple Account and connected to the same network.

1. Make sure Handoff is enabled on your devices: On Mac, select System Settings ➝ General ➝ AirDrop & Handoff and toggle on the switch next to Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices. On iPhone/iPad, turn on Settings ➝ General ➝ AirDrop & Handoff, then toggle on the switch next to Handoff.
2. On iPhone or iPad, perform a three-finger pinch gesture on a photo. On Mac, use the Command+C keyboard shortcut.
3. Switch to the device you want to share the photo with, and then pinch outward with three fingers to paste it into a text field. If on a Mac, you can perform this gesture on the trackpad or use the Command+V.

That's all there is to it. You will know that your three-finger gestures have been recognized when "Copy" and "Paste" appear at the top of the device's screen.

Tip: You can also cut images to Universal Clipboard using the same three-finger pinch gesture by performing it two times in rapid succession. Just remember to paste your content within a short period of time, as it won't be available for ever.

Article Link: Use This 3-Finger Trick to Quickly Share Photos on Apple Devices

 

[NightFox]

I'll file this in the large "Genuinely really useful, but will have forgotten how to do it next time the need arises" archive area of my brain.

 

[DribbleCastle]

I'll file this in the large "Genuinely really useful, but will have forgotten how to do it next time the need arises" archive area of my brain.

I agree that it's easy to forget, but remembering the action itself is the same as picking up an object with 3 fingers and then putting it down in real life. Doesn't mean you won't fall back to the digital paradigm of tapping on-screen buttons, because you've been doing that for years.

 

[neilw]

What is this sorcery. Will need to try this out tonight.

 

[Polesky]

It's another of those gestures that often doesn't work the first time for me, so I find it simpler to just press share->copy instead.

 

[iBungie]

Tried this out and it works both ways between an iPhone and an iMac Pro
Took a couple of goes each time and the gesture is a bit awkward
It appears useful but I'll probably stick to my usual ways of transferring images

 

[jeboer]

I assume that you guys mean: settings > General > Airplay & Continuity > toggle Handoff to on

AirDrop & Handoff isn’t there in iOS 18.4.1 ( specifically for the less iOS “trained individual “.

My mom is already talking to Siri like talking to a 4 year old and explaining Pythagoras with a couple of beers down the hatch. (I might not be far off with Siri though 😎👻).

Before you know it I get late night “Genius bar” calls why things don’t work.

 

[mattopotamus]

Just tried it with my ipad/iphone. The pinch out gesture is so awkward. I actually think it's faster to share---copy and paste.

 

[TechSpank]

The "three finger trick" you're looking for is in another castle...

 

[appeals.key_0k]

This is close enough to the “open Launchpad” gesture on macOS that I might actually be able to remember it. This makes me wonder which other useful gestures I don’t yet know about; I thought I knew all the good ones!

 

[midkay]

If it's easier, you can also tap 3 fingers to show a floating toolbar with copy/paste buttons.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The "three finger trick" you're looking for is in another castle...

I removed the “c” and it got even funnier.

 

[ApAx]

I find it easier to right click > copy on Mac or long press > copy on iPhone. No awkward gesture.

 

[svish]

Very useful tip. However I don't use it always. I use AirDrop. But yes this is a great tip to copy photos between Apple devices.

 

[GGJstudios]

When I do the 3-finger-pinch on a photo on my iPhone, it copies the pic. However, when I open a Finder folder on my Mac and Command-V to paste, I get a FILENAME.thumb.low file that is only 7KB. If I change the extension from .low to .jpg, I get the picture I copied, but only a very tiny version of it, like 90x120 pixels.

I agree with some of the other comments in that this doesn't seem to be the most elegant method of transferring. Texting or emailing would be much more intuitive if photos weren't already synced via iCloud.

 

[asiga]

I got a real fear feeling by reading this. I always enable the "three finger drag" gesture on Trackpads (I really hate Apple from moving that feature -more necessary for good Mac use than the power cord- from the Trackpad settings and they put it hidden inside a suboption of accessibility), and if this other three finger share thingy becomes popular, they might even remove that from accessibility. I really hope not, but Apple is more antiMac than anybody else in the planet.