The Apple iPhone is one of the most revolutionary devices of all time. Considering how many smartphone brands are available globally. And it feels funny to realize that these devices make up 13.5% of smartphones worldwide. Narrowing things down to just the United States, that becomes 47% of all smartphones in the country!
With such a significant presence with their smartphones, Apple also gets a large share of the audio hardware market thanks to their stylish and portable Airpods. In 2019 alone, almost 60 million Airpods were sold in the world, which is incredible. That’s 71% of all money made from wireless headphones in the same year!
That’s a lot of Airpods being manufactured and used around the world. With such extensive production, it is hard to make sure that products are flawless. There can be manufacturing defects, issues on the production line that require recalls, and software bugs which can sometimes be fixed with an update or a little tweak.
One of these issues is that the Airpods not playing sound for some reason. Sometimes you confirm that the Airpods connected, but no sound is coming out.
Worry not, this article will show you all the solutions to this problem!
Do you have a particular question about fixing Airpods that don’t play music? Then use the table of contents below to jump to the most relevant section. And you can always go back by clicking on the black arrow in the right bottom corner of the page. Also, please note that some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. For more details, check the Disclosure section at the bottom of the page.
Here's what we'll cover:
Why do my Airpods say connected but not working?
Connecting your Airpods to your iPhone is a very straightforward process. All you really need to do is open the case, so it’s not something that most people will mess up. A lot of people realize their Airpods are connected but not working.
It’s hard to say what exactly causes this problem. Several reasons can lead to this, which can include ear detection failing to work as intended, it can be a bug due to outdated software, it might be that your volume is too low. Read further for some solutions to fix the situation when you are getting no sound from Airpods.
How to fix Airpods sound?
If you are tired of your Airpods not playing, then this is what you’ve been looking for. This section will show you some of the most likely solutions to fix your problem! Here we go straight into it!
Reset Airpods
Resetting any device when it isn’t working well is one of the most common solutions, but many see it as a last resort. Luckily, with Airpods, you won’t lose data or files, and it is a very quick fix.
To reset your Airpods, all you need to do is follow these steps. A lot of the time, this will be enough to fix the problem entirely.
- Disconnect your AirPods first. This will make the process more thorough. This isn’t difficult to get done. Go to “Settings” on your Apple device, whether an iPhone or iPad. After that, tap on “Bluetooth.” Look for your Airpods and press “Forget This Device.”
- Now that you’ve removed your Airpods from the device, you can reset them and re-add them.
- To reset your Airpods, first, you need to put them back in the case and close the lid.
- Then open the lid, and hold the button on the case for about five seconds or more, or until the light starts flashing amber and then finally white.
Once you’ve done that, connect your Airpods back to your phone, and the problem should likely be fixed! If it’s not, then follow the solutions below.
Clean your Airpods
If you’ve had your Airpods long enough, it is absolutely normal for them to get dirty and gather some earwax. However, it is up to you to make sure that they stay clean. They can actually get clogged with enough dirt and debris to completely block out the sound.
You shouldn’t clean your Airpods with water. You can use disinfecting or alcohol wipes to clean the plastic and exterior parts. However, avoid using it on the mesh or on any of the openings. If you want to clean the mesh, use a dry cotton bud for those.
Here are the Apple-approved things to do and not do when cleaning your Airpods.
Turn the Volume Up
This might seem quite obvious. But always make sure your volume is cranked up, as it might simply be your volume being low. That could be why you have no sound coming from Airpods.
Update your Devices
The firmware for Airpods gets updated automatically once you are connected to an iPhone. So, you don’t need to worry about that. Instead, you can update the software on your iPhone or iPad. This can help work out any software issues that are causing no sound from Airpods.
Restart your Device
This may take a few minutes, but it is one of the easiest potential fixes. All you need to do is restart whichever device you’re listening to your music through. This might be all you need to fix the issue.
Check Automatic Ear Detection
This is a feature that Airpods have that will play music through the device once they detect that they are in your ears. This is typically enabled. If you notice your Airpods not playing audio, though, you might want to turn this feature off. It might not be detecting that the Airpods are in your ears, which is why it doesn’t play through them despite being connected.
To turn off Automatic Ear Detection, simply follow these steps:
- Go to “Settings” on your iPhone or iPad.
- Go to “Bluetooth.”
- Select your AirPods at this point.
- The option for Automatic Ear Detection should be right there, turned on by default. Simply switch this off and see if it fixes the issue for you!
There are a lot of potential fixes when you realize your Airpods are not playing sound. Hopefully, one of these above will fix the issue perfectly for you. If none of them do the trick for your Airpods not playing audio, then you may need to schedule a visit to the Apple Store!
Credits: Thanks for the photo to Canva.
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