How To Find Lost AirPods With The Find My iPhone app
This article explains how to use the Find My function to locate lost AirPods using an iOS device with Find My enabled or via iCloud on a computer.
Author:Daniel BarrettAug 03, 202227299 Shares974980 Views
As cool as cutting the cord can be, there’s going to be a time when you misplace one or both AirPods, or heaven forbid your $549 AirPods Max. Don’t panic! Apple has something set up for just this situation.
There’s no getting around it: the AirPods are small. It’s what happens when you chop the cord off a set of in-ear buds; they don’t have much mass, and if you don’t remember to store them in their case, you may find yourself frantically searching for an earbud or two.
Thankfully, if you’ve accidentally misplaced one of your AirPods, iOS 10.3 and Apple’s Find My iPhoneapp will let you hunt it down as long as you’re within Bluetooth range.
What to Know
- You’ll need an iOS device with Find My functionality enabled before you lose your AirPods, or the feature won’t work.
- On your iOS device, tap Find My > Devices and tap your AirPods. You’ll see their current location on a map.
- Or, sign in to iCloud.com, click Find iPhone > All Devices and choose your AirPods.
This article explains how to use the Find My function to locate lost AirPods using an iOS device with Find My enabled or via iCloud on a computer. Instructions apply to both AirPods and AirPods Pro, and iOS devices with iOS 10.3 and higher.
How To Use Find My To Find Lost AirPods
Here’s how to find your lost AirPods using your iPhone or another iOS or iPadOS device with Find My enabled.
Note: This feature is primarily to locate individual missing AirPods earbuds — the AirPods case itself doesn’t have speakers, and the earbuds themselves won’t make a sound until they come within range of your iPhone.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
Launch the Find My iPhone app.Sign in with your Apple ID and password.Tap your AirPods in the listing.
Don’t have an iOS device handy? Locate your lost AirPods from a computer using iCloud by following these steps:
- Go to your iCloud and sign in with your Apple ID.
- Open Find iPhone.
- Click All Devices.
- Scroll through your list of devices and tap your AirPods.
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).
Find My AirPods
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 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:
In either the Find My app (on iOS and iPadOS devices) or in the Find iPhone section of iCloud, choose your AirPods, as described in the last two sections.
Open the Find My app.
- On iOS, tap Play Sound.
- On iCloud, click Play Sound.
Both earbuds will start making a triplicate chirp — quietly at first, then increasing in volume. If you’re trying to find just one of the buds, you can mute the left or right earbud to focus in on finding the other earbud.
Still Can’t Find Your Earbuds?
If your missing AirPods earbud is out of charge, you may be out of luck in locating it via the Find My iPhone app. That said, you can still go about finding it the old-fashioned way — back-tracking where you had them previously.
And if you’ve exhausted all other options, you can always pay a lost AirPods fee to Apple to get a new earbud — it’s just $69 per lost bud.
What To Do If You Can’t Find 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. And If your AirPods aren’t charged, they won’t be found until they’re recharged. Also, they won’t appear if they’re out of range of your iOS device.
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.
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