Do you want to know how to fix the issue of Airpods not playing sound? It can be very frustrating when you have to deal with technical problems. Perhaps you were just sitting down to listen to your favorite band’s new album when you discovered that your Airpods aren’t working properly.
The first thing that you feel will be frustration and the next sensation is likely going to be dread. Your Airpods were fairly expensive and you certainly don’t want to have to buy another pair.
What can you do to fix things up when your Airpods aren’t playing any sound? There are actually several things that you can do to troubleshoot the problem. Take a deep breath and keep reading on to figure out how to handle this problem. You should be able to get things working again so that you can start enjoying songs or podcasts at your leisure once more.
Airpods Not Playing Sound? How To Fix
Is it Possible That the Airpods Are Broken?
The biggest worry that you likely have is that your Airpods are now broken. It is possible that the Airpods could be broken, but it’s not something that you should assume right away. Most of the time, these little Airpod problems are caused by simple connection errors. You might be able to get things working again just by doing a little troubleshooting.
Keep reading to look at some common troubleshooting steps that will help you to get things back on track. You should be able to use this information to help troubleshoot the problem in a timely fashion. If you still can’t get the sound to work after everything else is done, then you’ll be able to get some information about getting the Airpods repaired toward the end of the article. It isn’t likely that it will come to that, though.
Volume Issues
You might be surprised to hear that many people thought their Airpods were broken when they really just didn’t have the volume turned up. Take the time to turn your volume all the way up on your smartphone. Typically, phones will have a volume button on the side that will allow you to adjust things up and down. Many people keep the volume on very low settings or they have it set to silent because they don’t like being bombarded by notification sounds all the time.
The simple act of turning the sound back up might get the sound working for your Airpods once more. Remember that you can also access sound settings inside your phone by tapping through your settings menu. Give this a shot just to see if it solves your problems. If it didn’t do the trick, then there are still more options to consider.
Clean the Airpods and the Charging Case
There have also been instances where the Airpods are too dirty and they aren’t charging properly. You might be able to solve this issue by simply taking the time to clean both the Airpods and the charging case. Debris can certainly keep your Airpods from charging properly and eliminating this should make a world of difference. The best thing to do is to clean the Airpods and the charging case with a soft lint-free cloth.
Remember to wipe things down gently so that you do not accidentally damage the Airpods or the charging case. If there is compact debris that the lint-free cloth can’t get properly, then you might want to use a new toothbrush for the cleaning process. This should make it possible to fix things up and you can finish the cleaning. If dirt or debris were to blame for your sound issue, then the Airpods should start charging and you can then get them to work once they’re all charged up.
Restart Your Phone
So many people go months without restarting their phones due to constantly using them. It might have been a long time since you restarted your phone and the simple act of doing this could help to solve a connection issue. Take the time to restart your phone to see if this makes a difference. For some people, a simple restart is enough to get the Airpods to connect and start working again.
You can restart your phone by pressing and holding the power button. After the phone has shut off, you’re going to want to wait 30 seconds before using the power button to turn it back on again. If your power button doesn’t work for some reason, then you can restart the phone from inside the phone menu. Go to your settings, tap general, and then scroll to the bottom to hit shut down.
It’s possible to turn the phone back on by connecting it to the charger. This will give you the option to touch the screen and get it to come back on again. You might want to consider getting your phone repaired if you need to do this to turn it back on, but it isn’t a deal-breaker or anything. If you’re lucky, then your phone restart could solve a glitch that was preventing your Airpods from working as intended.
Update Your Phone
Those who go a long time without updating their phones could encounter problems with their Airpods, too. If you haven’t clicked through and let an update happen, then you could be preventing your phone from working as intended. Simply updating your phone might fix several glitches that you have been experiencing. Updating a phone is very simple and it shouldn’t take too long for the update to go through.
Open up your settings app and then tap on the general tab. Next, you’re going to need to tap “software update.” You should then see if a software update is available to you. If there is a software update available, then you can tap install now to get things going.
It’s also possible to connect your phone to your computer and update it through iTunes. This would be a more convoluted way to go about things, but it is an option if you want to do that for some reason. Connect your phone to the computer using your lightning cable and then click the phone button in the upper-left corner. Click to check for update and then install it whenever you’re ready.
Make Your Device Forget Your Airpods
Another possible error could be occurring that is causing your phone not to recognize your Airpods. The best way to deal with this glitch is to make your phone forget your Airpods so that you can set them up again like new. Open the settings menu and tap the information button. Look for the blue “i” that is to the right of your Airpods under My Devices.
Simply tap “forget this device” and you should be able to move forward. Now you just need to pair the Airpods with your phone once again to see if this does the trick. It might get things working like they were intended to without it being a big deal. This is a common error and it’s definitely worth trying out to see if it’ll fix things for you.
Know How to Set the Airpods up
Perhaps you don’t really know how to set the Airpods up and this could be the issue. Thankfully, these are easy to set up and you just need to unlock your phone before opening the charging case for your Airpods. Hold your charging case next to your phone and a setup animation should appear. You can then tap connect and tap done once everything is finished.
Reset Your Airpods
Resetting your Airpods is another thing that you should look into. This is a simple task and you can fix software bugs by doing this in some instances. Press and hold the setup button that is located on the back of the charging case. Release it once the status light flashes amber and then flashes white a few times. This successfully resets your Airpods and your sound issues could be fixed because of this simple step.
Reset Your Network Settings
Your network settings could be causing issues that are making your Airpods not work right. Resetting the networking settings could help your phone to recognize your Airpods and other devices properly again. All you need to do is open the settings app and tap general. Scroll down to reset and tap it to proceed through the process.
Getting Your Airpods Repaired
If you did all of this and still can’t get your Airpods to work, then you might have broken Airpods. The Airpods might still be under warranty and you can then get them repaired for free. Bring them to the store to have them repaired or replaced at no charge. If you’re outside of the warranty, you can contact Apple support to get your Airpods repaired. This can be accomplished through the Apple Online Support or going to a local Apple Store.
Get Back to Enjoying Music
As you can see, the issue of Airpods not playing sound can be fixed quite easily and you can get back to enjoying music now that your Airpods are working like they should again. Airpods are really great, but it is frustrating when you encounter problems.
This guide should have helped you to get your problems solved, but know that the repair process is fairly straightforward if you wind up determining that your Airpods are truly broken. Just reach out to professionals and it’ll be taken care of swiftly.
