How to Fix When Your AirPods Bluetooth Keep Disconnecting

What causes Bluetooth disconnections on your Apple AirPods?

Disconnecting AirPods' Bluetooth connection can be caused by many factors. Most of the time the culprit is with the Bluetooth range and interference. Sometimes software issues on your AirPods and multi-pairing can also result in your AirPods disconnecting from the iPhone, MacBook, or Apple Watch they're connected.

Likewise, there are other causes why your AirPods or AirPods Pro 2 (review) stop working eventually like a hardware issue, which should require sending your earbuds to a service center.

How to fix Apple AirPods disconnecting from your device

Depending on the cause, the troubleshooting steps to fix frequently disconnecting AirPods may vary from being outright simple to somewhat complex. Most of these solutions should also be applicable to three different AirPod models: AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max (review).

Let’s now take a look at some plausible fixes—starting with the easiest.

Turn off the AirPods headphones and turn on again

Perhaps the most straightforward fix that should solve many AirPods woes like patchy Bluetooth connection is by first turning off the headphones. But since the AirPods or even the latest AirPods Pro 2 don't come with a button or a feature to switch off it entirely. Instead, you can bring them back in the charging case or smart case for the AirPods Max over-ears.

Apple says that putting these AirPods back into their charging case is equivalent to shutting down the headphones.

After stowing, put them back on your ears or head to be automatically connected to your Apple device and see if this solves the issue.

Bring your AirPods closer to your device

The Bluetooth connection between your AirPods and the device has a limited range, so the farther you go and the more interference in between like walls, the connection could become spotty and unstable. The ideal connection between your iPhone should be under 30 to 50 feet (15.24 m), although you can extend this more than 100 feet (30.48 m) depending on the scenario.

To that end, you can ensure that the AirPods work normally by bringing it closer to your paired device such as an iPhone or MacBook.

Turn off Bluetooth from your iPhone

Since AirPods rely on Bluetooth for connecting to your iPhone, it is always a good idea to start looking for possible wireless connection-related issues.

The very first thing you can do is to try turning off Bluetooth on your iPhone and then turning it back on again. Before you do this, it would be a good idea to unpair your AirPods from any other device you might have tethered it to. Once you turn Bluetooth back on again, check if the AirPods reconnect automatically and if the issue is resolved.

Unpair your AirPods from your iPhone

A more drastic method would be to unpair the AirPods from your phone and reconnect them again. Note that this process would also unpair it from other devices linked to the same iCloud account.

Follow the steps below to unpair Apple AirPods from your iPhone.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap Bluetooth.
3. Tap the “i” button next to the AirPods in the list of devices.
4. Tap Forget this device.

To reconnect your AirPods to the iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Make sure your iPhone is unlocked and on the home screen.
2. Put your AirPods in its case, keep the lid open, and hold it next to your iPhone.
3. You will see a setup animation pop up.
4. Tap the Connect option.
5. A setup animation appears on your iPhone.
6. Tap Connect and complete the setup process.

Check the AirPods and charging case's battery

Another possible reason behind frequent disconnections is your AirPods or their case have a low battery charge level. Although the AirPods can still work even if the charging case is dead, once the juice inside the earbuds dies out, it will also disconnect from your device.

The good thing is that you can quickly check the battery life on the AirPods using these simple steps. If you’re using an iPhone, you can do so by accessing the Batteries widget.

1. To open the batteries' widget, tap and hold the home screen until the icons start shaking.
2. Tap on the “+” symbol in the top left corner to access the widget page.
3. Scroll down and look for the Batteries and then select Add Widget.

Now, you can monitor the battery life of the AirPods and be aware well in advance before the battery dips to critical levels and affects the sound quality.

The other way to do this is to simply pop them back into their case and leave the lid open. If you bring your iPhone close to the case, you may see a pop-up window that will display the charge left on both: your case and the individual AirPods. 

If you’re too lazy to do all these, you can simply ask Siri what your AirPods’ battery percentage is! 

Turn off Wi-Fi briefly 

In case you face a disconnection issue on one specific device, it would be a good idea to turn the Wi-Fi off on that device to check if the issue persists. Note that you are performing this as a troubleshooting step just to check if turning off Wi-Fi fixes the issue. You will obviously need to turn it back on again once you establish that the Wi-Fi was the issue.

Once you figure out that the Wi-Fi was, indeed, the culprit, it might be a good idea to reduce the distance between the AirPods and the connected device as much as possible. Also, check if the AirPods are in close proximity to microwave ovens, baby monitors, and even wireless cameras. 

Update firmware on AirPods

Random disconnection issued can also be the result of outdated firmware on the AirPods. To check if there is an updated firmware for your AirPods, here’s what you need to do on your iPhone.

1. Make sure your AirPods are in the case and connected to the iPhone.
2. Open Settings.
3. Tap General and then About.
4. Scroll down to the connected AirPods and tap it.
5. A screen will now show you details about the AirPods—including the firmware version.
6. To update the firmware, connect a lightning cable to the bottom of the charging case and leave the case next to the iPhone for a while (preferably overnight).
7. This is because there is no way to force-install a firmware version to the AirPods.
8. If there is a new software version available, the new update should be automatically installed.

In case your AirPods continue to exhibit the same disconnection issue, it’s time for more drastic steps.

Disable automatic ear detection

Now, automatic ear detection is a nifty feature that basically does what it says. This feature lets your device know when the AirPods are in your ears. However, this feature has also been blamed for causing the auto disconnect issue. In case you are annoyed by random disconnections, it’s a good idea to turn this feature off. Here’s how.

1. Tap Settings.
2. Go to Bluetooth and tap the Info icon next to AirPods.
3. Disable the option that says Automatic Ear Detection.

Disable automatic switching

Automatic switching is a feature that was introduced with iOS 14. It allows AirPods to automatically switch between Apple devices. In case you have multiple Apple devices in your home, this feature is designed to make life easier. Oftentimes, however, enabling this feature could lead to random disconnections and the AirPods connecting to a wrong device. Anyway, this is how you can disable automatic switching on Apple AirPods.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Bluetooth and tap the Info icon next to AirPods.
3. Tap the option that says Connect to this iPhone.
4. Make sure the option Automatically is not selected.
5. Select the option that says When last connected to this iPhone.

Other fixes to your Apple AirPods disconnection problems

We have tried to address most of the causes, and possible solutions behind Apple AirPods keeps on disconnecting. In fact, there is a good chance that you may have solved the issue using one of the methods above. We believe most of the steps are relatively easy to perform.

However, there might be instances wherein you're still left with a problematic set of AirPods even after performing the aforementioned steps. In this scenario, it is a good idea to also check our dedicated article that deals with common issues faced by users of wireless headphones.

• Also read: Some solutions for wireless Bluetooth headphones common problems

However, in case the issue still hasn't been solved, this could mean an issue that needs more attention and could point to a more serious hardware issue. This could especially be the case if you recall dropping one of your AirPods recently. In such a scenario, it is a better idea to get in touch with the nearest Apple Store and let them take a look at it.

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Article updated in July 2024.