Basic Fixes

• Turn on hotspot and mobile data manually: You can check and manually enable the Hotspot and Mobile Data on your iPhone and Mac, which go hand-in-hand.
• Keep iPhone closer to Mac: Keeping both devices in closer proximity helps connect them quickly.
• Use the same Apple account on iPhone and Mac: It is important to link both devices to the same Apple account.
• Disconnect other Bluetooth devices: Your Bluetooth devices should not be connected to your Mac.

Fix 1: Enable Handoff on iPhone and Mac

Handoff lets you pick up something from one Apple device and share it with another Apple device connected to your iCloud. To make iPhone Hotspot work on your Mac, you must enable this feature on your iPhone and Mac.

On iPhone

Go to Settings > General > AirPlay and Handoff and enable Handoff.

On Mac

Step 1: Click the Apple logo at the top-left corner and select System Settings.

Step 2: Select General > go to AirPlay and Handoff.

Step 3: Enable Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices.

Fix 2: Disable Low Data Mode on iPhone

Low Data Mode prevents excessive mobile data usage on your iPhone and can prevent you from using the internet on your Mac.

Open Settings > Mobile Service > Mobile Data Options > Data Mode > disable Low Data Mode.

Fix 3: Disable VPN on Mac

VPNs are great for connecting to websites that are inaccessible in your region. But you should try turning it off if you can’t connect your Mac with your iPhone Hotspot.

Step 1: Open System Settings > click on VPN from the left menu.

Step 2: Disable the VPN connection on your Mac.

Fix 4: Reset Network Settings

If you face network-related issues on your iPhone, the device hotspot won’t work on your Mac. You must reset the network settings on your iPhone.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone > scroll down to General.

Step 2: Scroll down and select Transfer or Reset iPhone.

Step 3: Tap Reset > select Reset Network Settings from the following menu.

Note: Resetting network settings won’t touch your personal data.