How to find lost AirPods

Because AirPods are small and light, they can sometimes be easy to lose. The good news is that before you start tearing your house apart looking for your missing earbuds, you can track them using your iPhone. Here’s how to find your lost AirPods using Apple’s Find My app!

AirPods will automatically appear in Find My

The best thing about tracking AirPods is that there's no setup required. Once you pair your AirPods with your Apple device and Apple ID , they'll automatically appear in the Find My app.

You can access the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or even on the web at iCloud.com. When you use Find My on another device, you need to use the same Apple ID as the device your AirPods are connected to.

How to track AirPods using the Find My app

To track your AirPods, open the Find My app and go to the Devices tab . Select your AirPods from the list of your Apple devices. When you do, you’ll see either No location found or the last known location of your AirPods, along with the time and date they were found. If needed, you can get directions to the last known location using Apple Maps.

If the earbuds aren't in the case, you can also see where each earbud is. With the second-generation AirPods Pro, you can also see where the case is even if the earbuds aren't in the case.

If you can't find the Find My app on your Apple device, it's likely that it's using a managed Apple ID. These IDs are often from schools and universities.

Remember that the Find My app can also find your lost or stolen iPhone and other Apple devices like Apple Watch, Mac, and AirTags.

Find your lost AirPods or AirPods Pro (2nd generation) charging case

As long as one or both AirPods are near your Apple device and can connect via Bluetooth, you have a great way to find them. AirPods can play a loud, piercing sound to help you find them. The sound will get louder over the course of two minutes or until you stop searching for their location.

Launch the Find My iPhone app and go to the Devices tab . Scroll down and select your AirPods. Then, tap Play Sound to see three options: Left , Stop , and Right . You can tap Left or Right to start playing the sound on the corresponding AirPod. At any time before the two-minute playback is complete, just tap Stop to end the sound.

If you're looking for the second-generation AirPods Pro charging case, select it from the list and then select Play Sound . The case's built-in speaker will make a similar noise.

The range of AirPods, AirPods Pro, and the second-generation AirPods Pro charging case is about 100 feet from your iPhone or other Apple device, so if you can hear a noise, look for your lost device within that range.

Don't lose hope if your AirPods or charging case go offline. If your AirPods or charging case reconnects and comes online, you'll automatically get a notification that lets you see where your earbuds are and play a sound if necessary.

How can Precision Finding help locate AirPods or charging case?

If you have an iPhone 11 or later and a pair of AirPods Pro (2nd generation), you can use Precision Finding to track your earbuds or charging case. It locates your AirPods with detailed directions and proximity data. However, your AirPods must still be connected to your iPhone.

When you select your AirPods in the Find My app, you’ll see Find next to Play sound . Start walking around and follow the instructions to locate your headphones. You’ll see the instructions and the distance your AirPods are in feet.

You can also access Find My if you have AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Max, or first-generation AirPods Pro. However, Find My will only tell you whether they're nearby or far away.

Thanks to the excellent integration of hardware and software, Apple makes it easy to locate your lost AirPods or even the charging case (for the second-generation AirPods Pro) with the help of the Find My network. Hopefully, you found your lost AirPods following this guide!