How to connect AirPods to Find My iPhone

If you’d like to track your AirPods’ location when you lose them or when you can’t find them, add your AirPods to Apple’s Find My feature. You can then use your iPhone as well as the iCloud website to find your AirPods’ whereabouts. Here’s how to do that.

Once you activate Find My for your AirPods, you can locate your AirPods on a map (and your case too if it’s holding your AirPods), find your AirPods’ last known location, play a sound on your AirPods, and enable Lost Mode to engage Apple’s huge finding network to locate your lost AirPods.

RELATED: What Is Apple's Find My Network?

Step 1: Enable Find My on Your iPhone

The first thing to do is turn on Find My on your iPhone. To do that, first, launch Settings on your iPhone.

In Settings, tap your iCloud name at the top.

On the “Apple ID” page, choose iCloud > Find My iPhone.

Turn on the “Find My iPhone” option. Then, enable the “Send Last Location” option as well.

If asked, enter your iCloud password to confirm your action.

Step 2: Turn On Location Services on Your iPhone

Find My requires access to your phone’s and AirPods’ location to track them. For this, you must turn on Location Services on your iPhone, as follows.

Launch Settings on your iPhone and tap “Privacy.”

Select “Location Services” and turn on “Location Services.”

Step 3: Pair Your AirPods With Your iPhone

Now that you’ve turned on both Find My and Location Services, pair your AirPods with your iPhone so you can locate your AirPods when they’re lost.

To do that, open Settings on your iPhone and tap “Bluetooth.” Then, toggle on the “Bluetooth” option if it isn’t already.

With your AirPods in their case, open the case’s lid and bring the case near your iPhone. You’ll see a prompt on your iPhone. Tap “Connect” in the prompt.

Follow the on-screen instructions and your AirPods will be paired with your iPhone. Then, you’ll be ready to locate your AirPods’ location with Apple’s Find My feature.

RELATED: How to Pair the Apple AirPods Pro With Any Device

Find Your AirPods’ Location Using Find My

To confirm your AirPods are indeed trackable, launch the Find My app on your iPhone.

In the Find My app, tap “Devices” and choose your AirPods.

You’ll see the current location of your AirPods on a map.

If you’d like to locate your AirPods on the web, then head over to the Find My website and sign in to your iCloud account. Then, select All Devices > [Your AirPods] and you’ll see their location.

This article explains four different ways to find lost AirPods. Instructions apply to both AirPods and AirPods Pro and iOS devices with iOS 10.3 and higher.

How to Find Lost AirPods on iOS and iPadOS Devices

Here's how to find your lost AirPods using your iPhone or another iOS or iPadOS device with Find My enabled.

The Find My feature must be enabled on your iOS device before you lose your AirPods. There's no way to turn it on after you've lost a device. When you set up Find My on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, the feature is automatically enabled for your AirPods, too. 

1. Open the pre-installed Find My app on your iOS device and tap Devices.

2. Scroll through your list of devices and tap your AirPods.

3. You'll see your AirPods plotted on a map in their current location or last known location. Tap Directions to get driving directions in Apple Maps to their location.

   If the lost AirPods can't be found, you'll see No Location Found (more on this below).

   
   

   If your AirPods aren't in the same place, the map will only show one of them at a time. Find the AirPod shown on the map and put back in the case. Then, refresh the map, and the map will show the other AirPod to help you find it.

How to Find Lost AirPods Using iCloud

Don't have an iOS device handy? Locate your lost AirPods from a computer using iCloud by following these steps:

1. Go to iCloud and sign in with your Apple ID.

   
   

2. Tap Find iPhone.

   
   

3. Choose All Devices. (You may be required to sign in again.)

   
   

4. Choose your AirPods.

   
   

5. The current, or last known, location of your AirPods is plotted on a map.

   
   

   You can also use the Find My application installed on your Mac to find your AirPods. Launch the app, tap your AirPods, and view their location on a map.

How to Find Your AirPods on a Mac

You can also use the Find My application installed on your Mac to find your AirPods.

1. Launch Find My on Your Mac through Spotlight Search, Launchpad, or your applications folder.

   
   

2. Tap Devices.

   
   

3. Tap your AirPods. You'll see their location on a map.

   
   

How to Make Lost AirPods Play a Sound

If your lost AirPods are near any of your Apple devices and connected to Bluetooth, you can play a sound to help find them. Here's how:

1. In either the Find My app (on iOS and iPadOS devices or on a Mac) or in the Find iPhone section of iCloud, choose your AirPods.

2. On iOS, tap Devices > [your AirPods] > Play Sound.

   
   

3. On iCloud, select All Devices > [your AirPods] > Play Sound.

   
   

4. In the Find My app on a Mac, tap your AirPods on the map and then tap Play Sound.

   
   

5. A sound will play from your AirPods to help you locate them if they're nearby. You can choose to play the sound to either the Left or Right AirPod. Tap Stop to end the sound.

What to Do if You Can't Locate Lost AirPods

There are a few reasons why you'll get a No Location Found message when you're trying to find your lost AirPods.

If you didn't turn on Find My before your AirPods went missing, you won't be able to locate them. If your AirPods aren't charged, they won't be found until they're recharged. If they're out of range of your iOS device, they won't appear.

If you see the No Location Found message, you can't play a sound to find your AirPods, but you might be able to get directions to the location where they were last connected.

We hate to say it, but if all of this doesn't work, you might need to look at purchasing new AirPods. If you're over it with Apple, however, there are plenty of other great wireless earbuds on the market to get you back on track, too. If you've only lost one AirPod, you can buy a replacement from Apple and then connect the replacement AirPod.

FAQ

• How do I find my AirPods case?

  If your AirPods aren't in your case, there's no precise way to find the case. You can do some sleuthing, however. Go to Find My > Devices and find your AirPods. Look for a green or grey light by the AirPods. Green means the case is near, while grey means it isn't.
  

• Can I find my AirPods if they're in their case?

  If you have AirPods Max, you'll be able to see them in Find My for up to 18 hours while in their case.

  Why won't my AirPods connect to Find My iPhone?

  If you can't connect to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch Put both AirPods in the charging case and make sure that both AirPods are charging. To make sure that Bluetooth is on, go to Settings > Bluetooth. If your AirPods are connected, make sure that they're selected as your audio device.

  How do I connect my AirPods to my Find My?

  How do you add your AirPods to the Find My app?.

  Open the Settings app..

  Tap on your name, and then select Find My..

  Activate Find My [type of device you're using] and then turn on Find My [device].

  If you wish to find items even when they're offline, activate Find my network (explained in more detail a little later).

  Why are my AirPods Pro not on Find My?

  If you have AirPods Pro (2nd generation), you need iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, macOS Ventura, or later to use the Find My network. Important: To use the Find My app to locate AirPods when they're offline, the Find My network must be on before they're lost.