Software tower · floor

How to pair Bluetooth headphones on Windows or iPhone

How to pair Bluetooth headphones has two halves, and both vendors document exactly one of them. The published half is short. The other one they hand to somebody else, in writing.

On Windows

windows 11
  1. Settings → Bluetooth & devices, and make sure Bluetooth is On.
  2. Make the headphones discoverable — see below.
  3. On the taskbar, select the Network, Sound or Battery icon.
  4. Select the Manage Bluetooth devices chevron, then the device under New devices. “You might need to scroll through Your devices for New devices to become available.”
  5. “Follow additional instructions if they appear, then select Done.”

On iPhone or iPad

ios
  1. Settings → Bluetooth, and turn Bluetooth on.
  2. Make the headphones discoverable — see below.
  3. “Under My Devices, look for the accessory that you want to pair.”
  4. “Tap the name of your accessory when it appears. You might need to enter your PIN or passcode.”

Both vendors stop at the same word, and both say so plainly
  • Microsoft: “Turn on the Bluetooth device and make it discoverable. The way to make the Bluetooth device discoverable depends on the device. To learn how… check the device’s documentation or visit the manufacturer’s website.”
  • Apple: “If you don’t see it listed, consult the accessory’s manual or online instructions about how to make a device discoverable in Bluetooth.”

Two companies, one sentence apiece, saying the same thing: the half of this job that actually goes wrong is not theirs to document. Turning Bluetooth on and opening the list is published in detail. Getting the headphones to announce themselves is a button, a hold, a flashing light and a timeout that the manufacturer chose — and a page that gave you one combination as though it worked on everything would be more confident than either operating system.

That is not evasion, it is accuracy, and it changes what to do when this fails. If the headphones never appear in the list, the problem is almost certainly on their side of the line — not paired yet, not in pairing mode, already connected to something else, or out of a battery. The operating system is doing its part correctly by showing you an empty list.

“If the Bluetooth device isn’t displayed in the list, the Bluetooth devices discovery setting might need to be set to Advanced.”

Microsoft’s tip, and the most useful line on either page for anyone stuck. Windows filters the list by default, so a device can be discoverable, in range, and simply not shown. It is a setting rather than a fault, and it is worth trying before you conclude the headphones are broken or the laptop’s Bluetooth is.

With that said, there is one thing Windows does that is worth knowing about before you blame the headphones.

Reading the Bluetooth tile before you start. On Windows the quick-settings tile says more than on or off. Microsoft: if Bluetooth is off “the tile isn’t highlighted and might say Off”; if it is on, the tile is highlighted and “either says Connected, Not connected, or shows the device it’s connected to”. That middle state is the one to notice — Bluetooth on and nothing attached is a different situation from Bluetooth off, and the two look similar at a glance. And if the tile is not there at all, Microsoft says the Bluetooth action may need adding to quick settings.

Once a pairing succeeds, both systems behave the same way and it is the good kind of boring. Microsoft: “When Bluetooth is turned on, the Bluetooth device and the Windows device automatically connect anytime the two devices are in range of each other.” Pairing is a one-off; connecting afterwards is not something you do.

“When you unpair an accessory, it unpairs on all devices signed in to your Apple Account.”

Forgetting a device is the standard fix when pairing has gone wrong, and on Apple hardware it is not a local action. Tap Forget this Device on the iPhone and the iPad and the Mac forget it too. Apple states it in one line inside the unpairing steps. Worth knowing before you use it as a troubleshooting move on the device in your hand — you may be re-pairing three things afterwards rather than one.

One more practical note from Apple’s page, for anyone who owns more than one pair. You can “repeat these steps to pair multiple Bluetooth accessories”, and where several are paired you can choose which audio source to use rather than unpairing one to reach another — which is the mistake that leads to the situation the box above describes.

What this page will not do is tell you which buttons to hold on your headphones. Microsoft and Apple both decline to, and they have more reason to know than anybody writing about it.

It also will not recommend a Bluetooth adapter. Microsoft notes that a USB Bluetooth adapter can add Bluetooth to a Windows device that lacks it, and names no product; neither does this page, because nothing here has been tested.

And it will not diagnose headphones that pair and then keep dropping. That is a different question, it usually belongs to the hardware or the driver, and guessing at it here would be padding.

Where to start

Three ways in. If the headphones never appear in the list, take the second.

“What are the steps?”
Windows and iPhone — the published half
“They never show up.”
Two things to check — when nothing appears
“Should I forget the device?”
Not lightly, on Apple — unpairing

The published half

Turning Bluetooth on and opening the list, documented in detail by both companies. It is the shorter half and the one that rarely goes wrong.

A phone speaker with no soundTwo published tests whose outcome is a verdict — and one setting that silences a working speaker.Open this floor → Connecting AirPods to a laptopThe same job with Apple’s own headphones on somebody else’s computer.Open this floor → Resetting AirPodsWhat a reset actually clears, and the order Apple publishes.Open this floor → Connecting to Wi-FiThe other radio, and the other list that sometimes comes up empty.Open this floor →

When nothing appears

A Windows setting that filters the list, and a device that has not been made discoverable. Microsoft and Apple both point at the manufacturer for the second.

Wi-Fi not workingWhen the radio itself is the reason nothing can find anything.Open this floor → A printer that says offlineMicrosoft puts reinstalling sixth of seven — and names the setting that hides step three.Open this floor → Why a computer is slowThe same question on any machine, in the order the causes actually occur.Open this floor →

Unpairing

On Apple hardware, forgetting a device forgets it everywhere you are signed in. It is a bigger action than the button suggests.

iCloud syncing pausedAnother setting that reaches further than the device you changed it on.Open this floor → Turning off an Apple WatchA neighbouring device where the obvious control is not where you expect it.Open this floor → Recording a phone callWhat everyone in the call is told, and by whom.Open this floor →

What this tower will not do

It will not tell you which buttons to hold on your headphones. Both Microsoft and Apple decline to, and they are better placed than anybody to know why.

It will not recommend a USB Bluetooth adapter. Microsoft says one can be used and names nothing; nothing here has been tested either.

And it will not diagnose headphones that pair and then keep dropping. That is a different question and it does not belong to this page. What holds instead is simple: the Windows route through Settings, Bluetooth & devices and the taskbar quick setting to Manage Bluetooth devices and New devices, the Bluetooth tile states Off, Connected and Not connected, the instruction that a device must be made discoverable and that how to do so depends on the device and belongs to its manufacturer, the tip that the Bluetooth devices discovery setting may need to be set to Advanced, the statement that paired devices reconnect automatically when in range, the note that a USB Bluetooth adapter can add Bluetooth to a Windows device, the iPhone route through Settings and Bluetooth to My Devices with a possible PIN or passcode, and the unpairing steps together with the statement that unpairing an accessory unpairs it on all devices signed in to the same Apple Account are quoted from the vendor documentation listed below.

Where this page got its facts

  1. Microsoft, Pair a Bluetooth device in Windows — Microsoft Support, applies to Windows 11 and Windows 10 (the kinds of device that can be paired; that the Windows device needs Bluetooth and that a USB Bluetooth adapter can add it; the routes to turn Bluetooth on through Settings and Bluetooth & devices and through the quick setting reached from the Network, Sound or Battery icon; the tile states, unhighlighted and possibly reading Off when Bluetooth is off, and highlighted and reading Connected, Not connected or the connected device when it is on, together with the note that the Bluetooth action might need to be added to quick settings; the pairing steps of turning the device on and making it discoverable, with the statement that how to make a device discoverable depends on the device and the instruction to check the device’s documentation or the manufacturer’s website; selecting the Manage Bluetooth devices chevron on the Bluetooth quick setting and choosing the device under New devices, with the note that it may be necessary to scroll through Your devices; following any additional instructions and selecting Done; the statement that a paired Bluetooth device and the Windows device automatically connect whenever they are in range; and the tip that if the device is not displayed the Bluetooth devices discovery setting might need to be set to Advanced) — support.microsoft.com, read 22 August 2026.
  2. Apple, Connect a third-party Bluetooth accessory to your iPhone or iPad — Apple Support, published 18 December 2025 (the pairing steps of going to Settings, tapping Bluetooth and turning Bluetooth on, looking under My Devices for the accessory, consulting the accessory’s manual or online instructions about how to make it discoverable if it is not listed, and tapping the name of the accessory when it appears, possibly entering a PIN or passcode; the note that the steps can be repeated to pair multiple accessories and that with several paired the audio source can be chosen; the unpairing steps of going to Settings, tapping Bluetooth, tapping the More Info button next to the device and tapping Forget this Device; and the statement that when an accessory is unpaired it unpairs on all devices signed in to the same Apple Account) — support.apple.com, read 22 August 2026.

Written by Alberto Gulotta

Founder and editor of AI Tools Primer, writing from Palermo, Italy. Thirty-five years of taking computers apart, starting with a Commodore 64 — the long version is on the about page.

Something wrong on this page? Write to aitoolsprimer@gmail.com and it gets fixed.

Written on 22 August 2026.

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