Have you encountered a problem connecting your AirPods and wondered, “why won’t my AirPods connect to my phone?” It’s no surprise that AirPods pair seamlessly with most iPhones. If you’re unable to connect your AirPods, you will probably get frustrated. Why is this happening?
You may experience difficulties connecting AirPods to your smartphone for many reasons. Among these are the distance between your AirPods and your phone, low battery life, and malfunction of Bluetooth. If your phone’s software doesn’t update, or if you mistakenly plug in another audio device, you might also experience this problem.
Why Won’t My AirPods Connect to My Phone?
If you are having trouble connecting AirPods to your smartphone, there could be several reasons why this is happening. The first step is to check the following:
- Ensure your phone’s battery is fully charged
- Charge your AirPods and AirPods case completely
- Updated the operating system software on your phone
- Make sure there are no other audio devices plugged in or paired
- Disconnect and reconnect your AirPods
If none of the above basic fixes work and your AirPods are still not connecting, you’ll need to take more drastic measures. You can try the following potential fixes to ensure your AirPods connect with your phone. But it’s advisable to speak to Apple Support before you proceed.
Troubleshooting Why Your AirPods Won’t Connect to Your Phone
1. Ensure the Devices Are in Range
The AirPods and iPhone can’t connect if they are not within range of each other. Apple AirPods connect with your iPhone via Bluetooth. Therefore, you must keep your devices close to one another to ensure they pair.
2. Reset Network Settings
The first time you connect to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on your iPhone, it stores instructions for connecting. If that information changes, connectivity issues may arise. This is especially true when it comes to network settings.
If you’re sure your devices are in good range and your AirPods won’t connect to your phone, it could be a network settings issue. Therefore, the most straightforward approach would be to reset the iPhone’s network settings and give it a fresh start.
3. Reset All Settings
Your devices are close enough to each other, and you’ve tried to reset the network settings. But your AirPods still won’t connect to your phone.
The primary cause of many iPhone problems is often incorrect settings or corrupt files within the Settings application. Therefore, your next option would be to do a factory reset.
There are no guarantees a factory reset will fix every iPhone issue. But it has been proven to solve several issues that would be very difficult to resolve manually.
That said, beware that you will lose any data you have not backed up after doing a factory reset. So, it’s best to ensure that your backups are up to date before trying this fix.
4. DFU Restore the iPhone
If all else fails, there may be an issue with the software on your phone. And severe software issues can usually be fixed with a DFU restore. This will erase the code causing the issue and rewrite it as if your iPhone is completely new.
But take note that you must back up your iPhone before executing the DFU process. A DFU restore will erase everything on your iPhone. If your data is backed up correctly, you can upload it again after completing the restore.
Conclusion
After solving the problem, your AirPods should be communicating with your iPhone once again. If you cannot fix the issue with the above solutions, it may be time to get professional help.
Contact Apple for help in this situation. Alternatively, you can visit an Apple Store or contact Apple support online.
The Apple store will help you fix the connectivity issue of your AirPods. However, if you still have any warranty remaining, they can also replace the product.