How to Connect to a Wireless Headset Again

Bluetooth headphones accept transcended their original purpose of merely delivering sound to the ears. They tin can reduce background dissonance, rails motility, survive underwater, measure out center rate, and even raise hearing. When yous consider all that they tin do, it becomes even more than confusing and frustrating when some Bluetooth headphones seem unable to perform a unproblematic task: connect reliably to a figurer.

We hear from a lot of readers who are perplexed past apparent compatibility issues between computers and Bluetooth headphones, or who demand aid troubleshooting Bluetooth connectivity glitches. When your new pair of headphones doesn't play well with your laptop, it'southward easy to assume that the problem lies with the headphones, but that'due south often non the example. Before you exchange yours for a new pair, cheque out the following tips and tricks, which may help you observe—and solve—your Bluetooth upshot.

The truth nearly Bluetooth compatibility (it's complicated)

Read the fine print for many Bluetooth headphones and earbuds, and you may see the words "optimized for mobile devices" or "reckoner/laptop use is unsupported." Despite what the box might say, nigh Bluetooth headphones will connect with newer Bluetooth-enabled computers, and they should work perfectly well for video chats and music listening. The reason that headphone companies include this caveat is twofold: the rise of app-merely features and the complications of tech support.

Many new Bluetooth headphones include features that require the company'due south app to set up and use—features like adaptable noise cancellation, sound-quality equalization, control customization, firmware updates, and location tracking. If the app isn't available for a computer, yous tin can't admission all the bells and whistles on those headphones without a tablet or phone. In other words, the headphones you fix on your Google Pixel phone, say, will too connect to your Chromebook, but the controls or features may be express on the estimator. The command buttons might let you skip tracks in the Spotify app on your telephone, for case, but not when yous mind to Spotify on your laptop. Or perhaps you can adjust the intensity of the dissonance cancellation via the app when listening to your mobile device, only with a estimator you can only plough noise counterfoil on and off.

For many people (myself included), such limitations are not a big bargain. Merely companies don't want buyers returning their headphones considering they can't call up Alexa on their desktop the same way they tin can through the Amazon app installed on their phone. And so by saying that the headphones are "optimized for mobile devices," the companies can more than hands manage expectations.

The 2nd reason companies desire you to stick with mobile devices has to do with tech back up. If you've always tried to assistance a family fellow member troubleshoot calculator woes over the phone, you lot know what a claiming tech support can exist. Computers are a kaleidoscope of combinations: Operating systems, sound cards, Bluetooth fries, software programs, and peripherals create a tangled spider web of possible pitfalls that can ensnare the audio signal of even the most well-designed headphones. Trying to figure out precisely what went incorrect in any given computer is tricky and fourth dimension-consuming. Headphone companies know this, and so they have decided to focus on tablets and phones, which have internal components that are usually more than consequent and easier to troubleshoot from person to person.

And so, despite the fact that near Bluetooth headphones volition work perfectly well with most Bluetooth-enabled laptops, manufacturers don't want to make promises that could lead to frustration when their customer service isn't intimately familiar with your unique desktop configuration.

How to improve Bluetooth point reliability

For many people who have reached out to Wirecutter, the problem is not that their Bluetooth headphones won't pair with their reckoner, which seems to be less of an issue with newer Bluetooth devices. It'due south that, after pairing the headphones, people experience a lot of bespeak interruptions, in the form of lost connections, stuttering audio, or music that inexplicably pauses. At that place are a few common culprits: dual-device connection, interference, and unexpected changes to the computer'due south internal audio settings. Fortunately, these are often hands addressed.

Dual-device connexion: This feature enables your headphones to simultaneously pair with 2 devices and automatically switch the connection to whichever device is actively in use. When information technology works well, you tin use your earbuds to take a telephone call from your phone, say, and so hang up and get back to listening to music streamed from your laptop—without needing to disconnect the Bluetooth from one device and reconnect to the other. However, if you lot accept a lot of audio notifications popping upward on your phone, your headphones may take problem switching rapidly between the ii signals. For some people, that may sound like stuttering sound; for others, it may manifest as audio that stops playing or looks equally though it'south playing but y'all tin't hear anything.

If this happens, first try putting your phone on vibrate or in silent mode. Sometimes merely eliminating the interrupting beeps and bings will do the trick. If that doesn't work, effort manually disconnecting from the device you aren't using at the moment. You don't demand to unpair; just go into the Bluetooth settings and choose Disconnect. Admittedly this defeats the purpose of having the dual-device-connection function, just it should solve the problem.

Interference: Bluetooth is a form of radio signal, and radio waves tin be disrupted as they travel through space. Newer Bluetooth devices (Bluetooth v.0 and above) are less prone to interference compared with older versions, merely environmental factors tin however cause hiccups. Places where a large number of Bluetooth devices are existence used—such equally a crowded gym, office, or convention center—can cause signal drops. This is usually considering all the Bluetooth devices present are transmitting within the same frequency band.

But sometimes, other devices are really to blame. According to Wirecutter senior staff writer Kimber Streams, "USB devices can interfere with the 2.4 GHz wireless band, which includes Bluetooth connections. USB iii.0 ports and devices have been shown to radiate radio-frequency racket (PDF) that tin can interfere with the functioning of devices using the two.iv GHz wireless band. The noise can radiate from a port on your computer, a port on the continued device, or the cable connecting the two." In other words, if an active USB port, cable, or device is close to the calculator's Bluetooth transmitter, you might lose the connectedness frequently. If your headphones behave perfectly with your phone but commonly stutter when paired to your desktop or laptop reckoner, Kimber recommends unplugging devices (especially external drives) from the USB ports, or if you have an external Bluetooth transmitter, moving information technology to another USB port or trying a USB extension cable.

Sound settings: If you've always connected your headphones to your computer and started a video call but to hear the sound coming from the computer speakers rather than the headphones, the settings are likely to blame. Even if your headphones previously worked flawlessly with your computer, new software or system updates can change the settings unexpectedly. To reconnect your headphones properly, you may need to pop into the organization preferences (here's how to exercise that on Windows and Apple computers). If that doesn't do the play a trick on, try checking the audio settings of the application yous're using. For example, here's how to check the settings in the Zoom video-conferencing software. If you're having trouble finding the software's audio settings, try using the assist tool and search for how to choose your audio-output device.

If you're however having problems

If you've already tried the higher up troubleshooting tips and you're still experiencing dropped signals, you have a few ways to find the source of the problem.

Beginning, make sure your Bluetooth headphones aren't the event. Try reconnecting the headphones to the estimator. This means deleting the headphones from your list of paired Bluetooth devices, restarting the headphones, and performing the pairing process over again. If your headphones have an app, check to make certain the almost recent firmware is installed. If y'all tin, connect the headphones to a different device, such as your phone or tablet, to see if the problems occur there. (When you practise this, if you have headphones that can connect to multiple devices simultaneously, be sure to connect them to only one device at a fourth dimension.) If the trouble persists on more than than i device, especially on a tablet or phone, contact the headphone company for a warranty claim. If your pair is out of warranty, y'all may need new headphones.
If the problem occurs simply on your laptop or reckoner, follow recommended troubleshooting steps. Yous tin effort these steps on a Windows PC. Apple offers basic reconnecting info just beyond that recommends contacting Apple support. For computers with an Intel Bluetooth chip (which many PCs have these days), Wirecutter senior staff writer and computer expert Andrew Cunningham recommends using Intel'due south driver update utility, which he says "works pretty well and automates the process."
Brand sure your computer's operating system is up to date. Sometimes the sound volition act upwardly if the software is outdated. Here's how to bank check for updates on a Mac, in Windows, and on a Chromebook.
Attempt connecting a different pair of Bluetooth headphones. See if the problem continues (maybe you have a fill-in pair lying around or can borrow one from a friend or co-worker). If it does, it could mean your reckoner'due south Bluetooth antenna is damaged or faulty, and y'all may have to schedule a repair.

Most of the time, you can fix Bluetooth connection issues between headphones and computers by taking the above steps. But in rare instances, some computers (specially older models) just don't work well with Bluetooth. Although we tin can't predict every possible issue, nosotros do keep an ear on internet chatter, and we will e'er make you aware of major compatibility bug that ascend with our picks.