How to get iOS and iPadOS devices that can sync via Wi-Fi to show up again under “Locations” in macOS 13 (Ventura) after ejecting the device?

Question

I am running macOS 13 (Ventura) on a 2020 Intel MacBook Air with an iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 16.1 and a iPad mini running iPadOS 16.1.

I started to use Wi-Fi syncing for my iPhone and iPad again after years of not doing that. Just decided, “Hey! Why not try it again?”

Turned it on while hooked up via USB cables, have successfully synced a few times with purely Wi-Fi and no issues. Great! Smooth syncing and backups with no wires!

But I experienced an odd issue: If I “eject” the iPhone and iPad mini I can only get them to show up after rebooting the MacBook or oddly just waiting a while. No real logic as to what triggers them to show up again.

Is there any explicit way to get an iPhone or iPad that are set up for Wi-Fi syncing to show up again under “Locations” after ejecting them?

FWIW, I found this official Apple doc titled “Sync content between your Mac and iPhone, iPad or iPod touch over Wi-Fi” which states:

“Important: If you don’t see your device in the sidebar, choose Finder > Settings, then select the CDs, DVDs and iOS Devices tickbox.”

But when I go to settings, I get this crazy situation where a search shows “DVD or CD Sharing” in the search results but when I go to the actual “Sharing” settings I see tons of options and 100% no “DVD or CD Sharing” item? What’s up with that? Screenshot below.

Answer 1

Open up the TV or Music app in macOS and start the sync from there.

First, I consider this more of a kludge/workaround instead of a clear fix, but it works for me and hopefully can hopefully help others!

Launch the TV or Music app in macOS, look for the device you want to sync under “Devices” in the left-hand sidebar, right click the device and start the sync from there.

Once that’s done, the Wi-Fi sync will begin and you can see the device show up again in the sidebar in the Finder. Hooray!

But hopefully there is a cleaner way to do this so the devices show up again in the Finder without launching another app. Maybe a new macOS patch update will solve this?

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If anyone else has a cleaner way to do this or notices this issue is “fixed” with a macOS update, feel free to post your own answer. This answer is about a kludge in my mind; green check will be shifted to a real answer when that comes along.