AirPod not working: What to do if your left or right AirPod isn’t working

Although Apple AirPods were not the first true wireless earbuds, they quickly came to dominate the category because of their ease of use and sublime design. In an exciting development, Apple late last year released the £249 AirPod Pro, offering a significant step forward for the headphone tech. Some common problems concerning AirPods are not necessarily the fault of the Apple technology – here is what to do if they are not working.

How to reset Apple AirPods:

Completely resetting Apple AirPods can fix several issues and is very quick to do.

Start by returning the Apple AirPods to the charging case.

Next, hold the button on the back of the case for approximately 15 seconds until the orange LED flashes.

Now open the case next to your phone and wait for the AirPods to reconnect.

For those using an Apple iPhone, iCloud will sync the connection to your other devices at this point.

Those using Android or another device will have to pair manually as they would with any other Bluetooth device.

READ MORE: Samsung Galaxy Buds+ have one big advantage over AirPods Pro

Put the AirPods back into their case for 10 seconds before removing again and inserting into your ears.

If this fails, you will want to unpair and pair them again, which can be done by turning Bluetooth on and off, but this could be a problem if you use a Bluetooth mouse on your computer.

In this case, head to your Bluetooth settings, find the AirPods and disconnect them.

Then go through the same steps you used to pair the AirPods to your computer in the first place.

AirPod call drops:

Intermittent call drops have long plagued Apple AirPods.

One solution is to open the Settings app and go to the Bluetooth section.

Then to the AirPods entry on the list of devices, you should see an “i” icon inside of a circle. Tap this, then select microphone, and set it to either left or right.

Another option is to turn off Automatic Ear Detection in the same section, although this disables one of the AirPods’ most convenient features, and will also run down the battery faster.

How to find lost AirPods:

This may not be an actual issue with the buds themselves, but considering the size and wireless nature of the AirPods, losing them is a fairly common complaint.

Fortunately, this is easily fixed using Apple’s Find My tracking software.

To get started, launch the Find My iPhone app on your iOS device or head to the iCloud website, sign in with your Apple ID, and select Find My iPhone.

Next, select your AirPods and you will see a map showing where they are, or their last location before they were powered off.

If you see a green dot next to the icon for your AirPods, it means they are turned on, and you can play a sound to easily find them.

If the AirPods are turned off, the map should hopefully provide a helpful starting point.