What to do if only one of the AirPods is working?

The AirPods simply work. We take them out of their case, put them in our ears, and they connect to the corresponding devices to start playback. This simplicity is great, but it also leaves us with few options if — admittedly uncommon — something goes wrong. So let’s see what to do if only one of the AirPods is working

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We press a button and we’re ready

Something particularly peculiar that can happen with AirPods is that one of them loses connection intermittently or stops working completely. It’s not common, but it can leave us wondering what we can do. There are several troubleshooting steps we can take to resolve it easily.

First and foremost, it’s important to ensure that both earbuds have sufficient battery. Place them in the charging case for about 5 minutes, assuming the case itself is charged—there should be an orange light when you insert the earbuds—and wait. Meanwhile, you can restart your iPhone or iPad to rule out any errors.

If this isn’t sufficient, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. At the top, tap on the name of your AirPods. If you don’t see it, you can go to Bluetooth and then tap the ‘i’ icon next to your AirPods in the list. Scroll down and tap “Forget This Device” while both AirPods are in their charging case and the case has battery charge.

Next, locate the small button at the back of the case, near the bottom. It’s flush with the case and matches its color, but with enough light, you’ll easily distinguish it. Once found, open the lid of the charging case and press and hold the button for at least 15 seconds.

The case light will blink white and then amber before returning to white, indicating that the AirPods have been reset. Here, close the lid of the case and wait for about 5 seconds. Then, with your iPhone or iPad nearby, open the case lid, and the system will prompt you to re-pair the earbuds.

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Once this is done, we can put them in our ears to continue with playback. Easy, right? The process itself is simple, but knowing it is crucial. Fortunately, it’s quite rare for one of the earbuds to stop working beyond simply running out of battery. In any case, while the Black Friday deals offer the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C at the cheapest prices in history or while we’re eagerly awaiting the new AirPods, AirPods Max, and AirPods Pro, we can easily troubleshoot any issues.