How to set up and use your brand-new AirPods

If you’re a super lucky duck, then Santa may have left you a pair of AirPods. They are truly one of the best products Apple ever made, because they really do offer a huge upgrade on all previous headphones. Here’s how to set up your new AirPods.

How to set up AirPods: Pair them only once

AirPods are easy to use, and they sound amazing. This article will show you everything you need to know.

One of AirPods best features is something you’ll only see once — the easy pairing. It’s so easy that you might not know you’ve done it, and once you have paired your AirPods with one device, it will automatically be paired with all your other devices, thanks to iCloud.

How to pair AirPods to iPhone

Here’s how to connect your AirPods to iPhone for the first time:

1. Unlock your iPhone.
2. Pop open the AirPods case (no need to take them out yet), and hold it next to your iPhone.
3. When the popup appears on the screen, tap Connect, then tap Done.

That’s it. You can now go ahead and put the AirPods in your ears.

How to use AirPods

To use your AirPods, just shove them in your ears. They will connect automatically, and when you press play on music or a video, the sounds will be routed to the AirPods.

To pause playback, remove one AirPod. To resume playback, put it back in your ear. This lets you pause the music when you take out a bud to listen to someone — when paying in a supermarket, for example. If you take out both AirPods, then playback will stop, and audio will be routed back to the iPhone’s own speaker the next time you press play.

Another neat trick is to put one bud in your ear, and keep the other in the case. The iPhone will then mix both left and right tracks into one mono track, so you can listen to all of a stereo track in one ear. This can be handy for podcasts. Bonus: When one AirPod’s battery runs down, you can switch to the other, while the first one recharges in the case. This doubles usage time.

Set up AirPods with other devices

To use your AirPods on another Apple device, tap the standard AirPlay box to select them as an output. AirPlay can be found in Control Center, or by tapping the AirPlay icon in any video or music playback view. Your AirPods will be listed, alongside any other available AirPlay speakers.

Check AirPods battery level

To see how much charge remains in your AirPods, just open the lid of the case and hold it near an iPhone or iPad that has been paired with them. After a few seconds, a panel will pop up on the screen with the charge levels for the AirPods themselves, and for the charging case.

If you’re using the AirPods, then you can also use the battery widget on your iPhone or iPad to check the levels.

Pair AirPods with regular Bluetooth

You can also use AirPods with any other device that works with Bluetooth speakers and headphones. You lose the cool extra features that work with modern Apple devices, but they will function just fine. Just go ahead and pair the AirPods like you would pair any other Bluetooth audio receiver. The exact method depends on the device you’re using. To put the AirPods in pairing mode, just press and hold the setup button on the back until the LED pulses white.

Set up and customize AirPods gestures

You control AirPods by interacting with the earbuds’ stems. On the latest AirPods and AirPods Pro, you can click the stem. On older models, you can tap them.

Clicking and holding the AirPods will adjust the noise cancellation mode, on supported models.

By default, the double-click gestures for controlling your AirPods are play/pause (right AirPod), and summon Siri (left AirPod). You can customize these on your iPhone, in the Settings app. The available choices are Siri, play/pause, next track, previous track, and off.

Siri is handy, but I find I prefer next track on the left, and play/pause on the right. After all, with “Hey Siri,” you don’t really need a physical gesture for it. Next track is particularly good, because it also works with the skip function in audiobook and podcasts apps.

Apple gives you plenty of ways to customize what your AirPods or AirPods Pro do when you double tap or press and hold their stems. Here’s Apple’s complete guide to changing the settings on your AirPods.

Reset your AirPods

If you have trouble with your AirPods, there are a few tricks to get them working again. Apple has a support page with instructions, but the basics are that you should make sure they’re charged, then try closing the lid, and waiting for 15 seconds before opening it again.

If that doesn’t work, hold the button on the AirPods’ case until the status light flashes white.

• On fourth-generation AirPods, this is a capacitive sensor on the front, below the light. (Pictured on the left.)
• On AirPods Pro, this is a button on the back of the case. (Pictured on the right.)
• On first-generation, second-generation or third-generation AirPods, this is also a button on the back of the case.

And if that doesn’t work, hold the same button down for at least 15 seconds to perform a reset. You’ll know it worked when you see the status lamp “flash amber a few times and then flash white.”

Enjoy your AirPods

To be honest, you don’t need to go beyond the first step in this list to set up your AirPods. And enjoy them you will. No more cable tangles, snags, or booming noises from cables rubbing or banging on your clothes as you move. No more forgetting to pause an audiobook when you take out your earbuds. and no more finding your wireless headphones without charge. Happy New Year.

How to connect AirPods to laptop

You can use AirPods with a Windows PC or laptop. They’ll work like any other Bluetooth headphones or earbuds, and setting them up is easy.

To connect AirPods to a laptop, do the following:

1. Put AirPods in pairing mode: Open the AirPods case. Press and hold the setup button on the back of the case until the LED light starts blinking white.
2. Turn on Bluetooth: On your laptop, go to Settings, then Bluetooth & devices, and click Devices.
3. Add Bluetooth or other device: Click the plus sign where it says “Add Bluetooth or other device.”
4. Select your AirPods: Select your AirPods from the list of devices.
5. Click “Connect”: If your AirPods don’t connect automatically, click Connect.
6. Test the audio: Make sure they work by testing the audio.

How to connect AirPods to Android

AirPods also work great with Android but some features, like Siri and the battery life indicator, won’t work on Android devices. However, you can use third-party apps like MaterialPods to display battery life and launch Google Assistant.

To connect AirPods to an Android device, do the following:

1. Turn on Bluetooth: On your Android device go to Settings > Connections > Bluetooth. Or swipe down from the top of the screen and touch and hold Bluetooth
2. Put AirPods in pairing mode: Put your AirPods in their charging case and open the lid. Press and hold the setup button on the back of the case until the status light flashes white.
3. Select your AirPods from the list of Bluetooth devices.

If you’re having trouble connecting your AirPods to your Android device, try resetting the connection. Put your AirPods back in their charging case, wait a second, and then take them out again. If that doesn’t work, they may be connecting automatically to another nearby device. To stop this, turn off Bluetooth on any other devices they might be trying to connect to.

D. Griffin Jones and Leander Kahney also contributed to this article. This article on how to set up AirPods was originally published on December 27, 2017. It was updated with the latest information.