Sep 16(ABC): For the most part, AirPods provide a seamless experience from the moment you put them on to the moment you take them off. The earbuds pair automatically to your Apple devices, sound great, and are comfortable to wear for long periods of time. However, things aren’t always rainbows and daisies. As is the case with most tech, sometimes your AirPods may not work as you expected. The issue could be for a number of reasons including hardware or firmware-related problems. Whether you have the original AirPods or the third-generation AirPods, the troubleshooting steps are practically the same.
What To Do When One Of Your AirPods Isn’t Working
For the most part, AirPods provide a seamless experience from the moment you put them on to the moment you take them off. The earbuds pair automatically to your Apple devices, sound great, and are comfortable to wear for long periods of time. However, things aren’t always rainbows and daisies. As is the case with most tech, sometimes your AirPods may not work as you expected. The issue could be for a number of reasons including hardware or firmware-related problems. Whether you have the original AirPods or the third-generation AirPods, the troubleshooting steps are practically the same.
One thing you should try before anything else is putting your AirPods in their case and either plug it in to charge with a Lightning cable or place it on a Qi wireless charger. Apple doesn’t have a notification system in place that alerts you when your AirPods case is dying, so sometimes you’ll have dead earbuds because the last time you put them in their case, it had less than 5% battery left.
Clean your AirPods
You’ve probably heard it a million times by now, but yes, you do need to clean your AirPods often, as these are small devices that oftentimes get filled with gunk. AirPods are designed to go in your ears and let’s face it, not everyone cleans out their earwax. This is especially true if you have the AirPods Pro, which has rubber ear tips, as those have a tendency to collect ear wax and debris. The earpiece may be working properly but is dirty enough that the audio is very low or blocked entirely.
According to Apple, you’re welcome to use alcohol wipes on your AirPods. The company recommends you gently wipe the exterior of the buds, but as we explain in our guide, not to use them on the AirPod Max’s ear cups or on the speaker mesh on your AirPods or AirPods Pro.
Likewise, your AirPods not working could be because of dirty contact pins either on the buds themselves or in the case that prevents them from charging. The bottom of the area where you put the earbuds in the case can get dirty as it’s such a tight space. If your case isn’t too terribly dirty, just use a cotton swab and gently clean around the gold contact pins. Cleaning your AirPods and AirPods case is something you should do often regardless.