AirPods Not Connecting To Mac? Here’s How To Fix

Published 2020-12-29

If you can’t use your Apple AirPods in a way you’d expect, because they are not connecting to your device, here are a few steps you can take to resolve ‘AirPods not connecting to Mac’ and other common issues. In this guide, we’ll cover six different ways on how to fix Airpods not connecting to Mac issues?

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

AirPods Are Not Connecting Properly – Here’s What To Do

Honestly, there’s no single fix that guarantees positive results, so may your way through all these solutions until you get the problem resolved.

Charge Your AirPods	Keep macOS Up-To-Date	Enable Bluetooth
Restart Mac	Forget & Reconnect	Reset AirPods

1. Charge Your AirPods

Obviously, without battery power, there’s no chance of establishing a secure connection between your AirPods and Mac. Hence, make sure your AirPods have a great amount of battery before you try connecting to your Mac.

Try putting your AirPods into the charging case for at least 15 minutes.
You need to make sure that your Charging case is also fully charged if the status indicator isn’t showing any light.

Now, try connecting your AirPods to Mac and see if get connected easily!

2. Keep macOS Up-To-Date

It’s important to note that your AirPods will only work with Macs that are running the latest versions. If you are using the older OS version, below macOS Catalina, then there’s a high probability that you can’t connect your AirPods to Mac. To resolve the issue, follow the steps below:

Click on the Apple logo.
Hit the option – About This Mac.
As soon as the pop-up appears on your screen, you’ll be notified which version of macOS you are currently running.
Hit the option Software Update > Update Now, to get the latest version.

If you’ve already updated your OS version and still not able to connect your AirPods to Mac, proceed with the next solution.

3. Enable Bluetooth

To properly connect your AirPods to Mac, ensure the Bluetooth functionality is turned on. If you are new to this, follow the steps below and enable Bluetooth settings and pair them with AirPods properly to establish a secure connection.

Launch System Preferences. (From the right-side)
Locate and click on the Bluetooth functionality.
Toggle on the Bluetooth option, if it is disabled by any chance.

AirPods can automatically pair and connect to respective devices. To check whether your AirPods are into Bluetooth Pairing Mode or not, all you have to do is:

Place your AirPods in the case & don’t close the lid.
Press and hold the Set-up button, present on the charging case.
As soon as you notice the white light appears, it means AirPods are already in Pairing Mode.

If you are unable to resolve the issue, don’t panic and try the next workaround ahead!

4. Restart Mac

This is undoubtedly the simplest yet the most effective way to resolve all the background conflicts. If there are any, it would be eliminated and you can connect your AirPods to Mac easily.

Click on the Apple menu.
Hit the Restart button!

Some users reported that restarting their Mac twice has resolved their problem of AirPods not connecting to Mac. Hence, you can try the same and see if it helps you too!

5. Forget & Reconnect

Removing your AirPods from the list of Connected Bluetooth Devices, and reconnecting them from the beginning can also resolve the connection issues between your AirPods and Mac. To start the process all you have to do is:

Place your AirPods in the charging case & close the lid.
Open the Bluetooth menu and navigate to the option ‘Open Bluetooth Preferences’.
Locate AirPods and simply hit the ‘X’ icon right next to it.
You need to choose the ‘Forget Device’ option here.
Now open the charging case and let your AirPods connect to Bluetooth automatically.
You need to hit the Connect option in your Bluetooth Preferences pane to complete the reconnection process.

Hopefully, this should fix AirPods not connecting to Mac issues. If it didn’t help, read on!

6. Reset AirPods

The entire procedure is quite similar to forgetting the AirPods device and reconnecting. But you might need to follow some extra steps to reset AirPods and fix the connection issues, occurring between your AirPods and Mac.

Place your AirPods in the charging case & close the lid. Wait for at least 30 seconds and then open the lid.
Open the Bluetooth menu and navigate to the option ‘Open Bluetooth Preferences’.
Locate AirPods and simply hit the ‘X’ icon right next to it.
You need to choose the ‘Forget Device’ option here.
While the charging case lid is open, press and hold the set-up button for at least 15 seconds.
As soon as you observe the white light. Close it and re-open!
Now, you need to click the Connect button when the AirPods appear in the Bluetooth Preferences section.

AirPods not connected to the Mac problem should be resolved by now!

There you go! Hopefully, this set of solutions helped you to fix the connection problems between your AirPods and MacBook. If you know any other workaround or dealing with any AirPods or Mac issues, do mention them in the comments section below! We’ll try our best to come up with the most effective fixes to your problem. You can always write to us at support@systweak.com

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