Yesterday was an unusually bright and pleasant morning for me. Not particularly because the sun was kind but for the surprise I received from my girlfriend. She had been nudging me since the previous evening that she had something big for me which would light up my eyes in a jiffy.
So, she handed me over a small fist-size box. To the delight of my heart, it had Apple AirPods for me. No, she didn’t buy a new one, but they were the ones which had me scratch every corner of the house, almost giving me a panic attack. Still, I wasn’t able to figure out how to find missing AirPods.
I thoroughly checked my bags, car, gym shorts, each behind-the-cabinet space but there was no relief! It had been pretty long since I had been looking for them. For sure, they would have been dead or out-of-battery.
She decided to help me when I began to play Sherlock Holmes in her house as well. No way she would have allowed me to move her things. That’s how the two of us began our unending search for my lost AirPods.
There wasn’t a chance that I could have traced them because she found them drained and dead in my laundry basket. Duh!
To find lost AirPods, use Apple’s Find My App. If your AirPods are charged and out of the charging case, use Play Sound feature on Find My App. However if the AirPods are dead and offline, you can still find their last location from the App.
Nevertheless, I am glad they are back! Meanwhile, I had been researching these entire days about how to find lost AirPods. So, I decided to pen it down for you in case you also have been struggling with how to track your AirPods.
Also, I’ll be sharing a few tips and tricks with you that will come in handy in never losing your AirPods again and you’ll not have to deal with lost AirPods.
How to Find Missing AirPods
The reason why I misplace my AirPods each time is because they are tiny and if I have forgotten to charge them, they’ll be impossible to trace. It’s quite a task when all I have in mind is how to find lost AirPods that are offline.
While you are worried about how to track AirPods, I will be sharing tips with you to easily track your missing AirPods whether they’re charged or dead, in the AirPod case or out of it or, to say the least, totally offline and not even in the Bluetooth range. Let’s see how this works.
Case 1: How to Find AirPods Using the Find My App on Your Phone
This is the easiest and the most ideal scenario, isn’t it! No, it’s not. You can track your missing AirPods using Apple’s ‘Find My’ app when they aren’t dead, meaning they are charged and they are out of their AirPods case, but it actually interferes with the most useful feature of the ‘Find My’ app i.e. the ‘Play Sound’ feature.
Since the AirPods are still in their case, you cannot utilise the speakers of the AirPods to play a sound using the ‘Play Sound’ feature and let your ears guide you to their location.
However, you can still locate them online on the map in your phone. That is most probably the last place where you left them.
Now, let’s see how does Find My AirPods work.
I am already taking a ‘yes’ for having the Find My app enabled on your phone because if it isn’t, you’ll not be able to locate your missing AirPods using this app.
1. You’ll find the Find My app on your phone. Open it.
This app comes pre-installed in your phone and can’t be deleted. If you can’t find it, swipe down to your home screen and write ‘ Find My’ in the search bar located at the top of the screen in the phone.
2. Now, tap on ‘devices’ at the bottom of the screen and choose your AirPods from the list.
3. Check the map to see where they were connected the last time.
You’ll also be able to see the nearest street address near your AirPods name.
4. If your AirPods are nearby, tap on ‘Play Sound’.
This feature in the Find My app will make your AirPods play a ‘ beep’ sound, not a very loud sound though but if they’re nearby, you’ll be able to hear it.
Note: Meanwhile, if you have been thinking about how to find a single Airpod at a time, you can tap left or right to mute one AirPod at a time. Once you locate your AirPods, you can tap ‘Mute’ or ‘stop’ to stop them from beeping by putting them back in the AirPod case.
5. If your AirPods are far off, tap on ‘Directions’.
This will guide you with directions for your way to your Airpods where they were connected for the last time. Then, you will have to tap on ‘Go’ to get turn-by-turn directions for driving, walking, whichever way you like.
6. Tap ‘Find’ to locate them closely.
With this new feature, you’ll be told whether you’re moving closer or farther away from your AirPods so that you can get close enough for beeping when you are nearing them.
Once you tap on ‘Find’, your Iphone will connect you to the AirPods. Make sure that your camera is uncovered and walk around till they connect. Then, this Find My app will tell you how close or far you are from your AirPods. Keep following and moving closer until it says Here.
Case 2: How to Find Airpods When Dead and Offline
This is the case when your AirPods are lost and have also run out of battery. You have been trying to locate them and all this while, for sure they must have been drained out of charge.
Your head must have been throbbing with questions like-” How to find lost AirPods that are offline and dead”.
In this case when you are worrying about how to find AirPods when dead, or how to find AirPods when offline, getting to know their last location where they were connected for the last one time will be of great help. The ‘Find My’ will not be able to locate it exactly for you but it will take you to their last location. Here’s how you can use the app-
- Open the ‘ Find My’ app on your phone and click on the ‘ Devices’,
- Select your AirPods.
- The map will show you their last location.
Since it has been sometime looking for them and they are dead, the AirPods will be shown with a message ‘ Offline’.
In the best case scenario, after tracing their last location, you’ll be able to guess where you left them the last time. And, if you just cannot dig into your memory, you’ll have to buy a new pair of AirPods.
The ‘Find My’ app can only help you trace their last location. Since they are offline and out of battery, you will not be able to use the speakers of the AirPods to catch them.
How to Find AirPods in House
If you tell me, you have lost your Airpods, Aha!! This is the way you should be losing it !!!
The most ideal case scenario – losing AirPods in the house, still charged and out of their case.
Even if your cause of worry is how to find AirPods when offline, it’s still under control if it’s in your house.
So to relieve you of this, I, along with the ‘Find My’ app, are happy to help.
In case you have dropped the AirPods somewhere in your house, this app is going to provide you assistance.
- Once again, open the Find My app.
- Reach the ‘Devices’ tab and select your AirPods.
- Click on ‘Play Sound.’ This will work if the AirPods are in the range and out of the case.
- You’ll have the option to play the sound from either Left, or Right, or both the AirPods.
- Once you’ve located them, press ‘Stop’ to pause the sound and go, grab them!
How to Find AirPod Case
If you can’t feel the weight of the AirPod case in your pocket anymore, I know your heart skipped a beat !! Misplacing your Airpod Case can be a total nightmare, let alone with the Airpods in them.
The damage is done and retrieving them isn’t a cake walk. Every time you have trouble locating your AirPods or the AirPods case, you drown yourself into the question – “How to find AirPod Case”.
In case your AirPod Case is missing with the AirPods in them, I am certain by now, you are aware how to find dead AirPods with the help of the steps given above in this article.
When your AirPods are located with the help of Find My app, you’ll also have your AirPod Case in your hands.
How to Find your AirPod Case only
You’ll require a piece of luck for this one. Tracing your AirPod Case is easier with the AirPods in them but worry no more! There is still one solution up my sleeve for this.
Follow the steps mentioned below to trace your AirPods case :
- Open the ‘Find My’ app on the phone.
- From the list of paired devices, select your AirPods.
- Check if it’s showing a green light near your AirPods.
- If yes, the AirPods case is nearby.
- If the light is grey, then unfortunately it’s out of range or dead.
Sorry to say, if this is the case, then you have lost it forever.
Don’t worry. You can easily get your hands on some quirky and latest AirPod cases available.
How to Find One AirPod
This is so relatable with me. Most of the time, I take one AirPod out when I observe my girlfriend staring at me and I have to make a genuine effort to listen to her. Then, I remember putting it back in my pocket but alas !! it falls out.
If only one of your AirPod is missing and the two of them are separated from each other, you’ll see only one location at a time on the map.
To locate one AirPod, follow the same steps mentioned previously in the article.
- Go to the Find My app.
- Tap Devices and select your AirPods.
- You’ll be able to see one AirPod on the map.
- Tap on ‘Play Sound’.
You’ll be able to locate it easily this way. Now, if you lost another one as well individually in some other corner of the house, follow the same steps to obtain the second one. Some of the users have also asked me about why their Airpods go quiet over time, I did an article for that too.
Turn On Lost Mode for your AirPods
When the ‘Lost Mode’ is turned on for your AirPods on your phone, you can send a message with your phone number or your email address. If someone find your AirPods, they will receive a notification for it.
To enable it-
- Open the Find My app.
- Find the ‘Devices’ tab and choose your AirPods.
- Scroll down to the option ‘Lost’ and select Activate.
- There will be easy steps on screen to display your contact information for your missing AirPods.
I hope this article will not let you worry about how to find lost Airpods that are offline and dead anymore.
How to Never lose your AirPods Again
After I have shared all my research about tracking the lost and offline AirPods when they misbehave, I still vowed to myself that I will practice extra caution and will try my best never to lose them again.
Buy an AirTag
AirTags work in the same manner as the Find My app but there is a difference between them. AirTags also establish a Bluetooth connection between the AirPod and your phone which makes it easier for you to locate them.
However, they are different because –
- The battery life of an AirTag lasts for about a whole year. You’ll have to charge it once every 24 hours. It plays an alert sound when it’s nearing discharge. After using it for a year or so, you don’t have to throw it away. You’ll just need to replace the battery.
The battery is easily replaceable with another CR2032 Lithium coin battery.
Click here to buy this amazing pack of batteries for your AirTag
- AirTags function with the global network of Apple Devices to provide the data for location no matter where on earth your AirTag is! If it is in the range of any Find-My connected Bluetooth device, your Airpods can very easily be found.
So, if you have found your AirPods, buy an AirTag for them to never lose them again. It will cost you around $12 but will save you from a whole lot of trouble and panic attacks.
FAQs
Q1. Can I track dead AirPods using the Find My app?
Answer – No, you can only get to know the last location of the AirPods using the Find My app if your AirPods are dead and offline. AirPods can be tracked actively if they still have some life left in them.
Q2. Can AirPods be tracked while they are still in their charging case?
Answer – No, AirPods can’t be tracked while they are still inside their charging case. To be located, they must be outside their charging case.
When they are inside the charging case, they cannot be connected to Bluetooth and their location is not updated which makes it difficult to track them.
Only the AirPod Max can maintain a connection outside their charging case which can last upto 12 hours.
Last Few Words
Searching for AirPods that are dead and offline ain’t easy. Ofcourse, the Find My app will assist you to the best of its possibility but you’ll have to dig deeper into your memory too.
Be patient, don’t panic and search with your eyes and ears open. You’ll find them eventually.
Also, don’t forget to buy an AirTag. You’ll never have to guess the location then!
Happy reading! Take care!
As an engineering graduate (and a full-time layabout), I am always looking for smart technological innovations to make my life simpler and more automated so that I can be even lazier than usual.
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