If you enjoy music or podcasts via your Apple Watch, Airpods and AirPods Pro are a must for the best experience. With the Apple Watch Series that support LTE, Airpods are a lifesaver when it comes to switching between calls and music.
Most of the time, Airpods work as expected but sometimes especially after a watchOS or iOS upgrade, you might find that your AirPods act up. And you are left with a pair of pods that simply don’t want to play along with your Apple Watch.
Are your Airpods not connecting to your Apple Watch? If so, read on for tips on getting it working again!
Interestingly enough, both Airpods and AirPods Pro don’t seem to have any problems when trying to play music from your iPhone, Apple TV or Mac.
On these devices, they connect well and function as intended. On the Apple Watch, however, the Airpods connect without any issues but then you get the “Connection Failed” message when you try to listen to music or a podcast.
Quick tips
Follow these quick tips to get your AirPods connecting to your Apple Watch
Power off and on both devices, starting with your iPhone and then your Watch
If you are facing this issue, and your Airpods and your Apple Watch have enough charge left, here are some common tips that can help you overcome the problem.
Airpods Not Connecting to Apple Watch? Here’s How To Fix
In our experience most Apple Watch related connection issues can be fixed via a simple restart process if you follow the sequence correctly.
Turn off your Apple Watch and then Your iPhone
Turn on your iPhone and then your Apple Watch. This is important. If you turn on your watch first, it doesn’t work.
Once both the devices have turned on, connect your Airpods to your Apple Watch and give it a try.
If you are still having the connection fail issue, try to establish a new Bluetooth connection for your Airpod.
Using your iPhone, Tap on Settings > Bluetooth > Choose the Airpods and tap on the “i”. Next, choose “Forget this device“.
It’s also worth heading to the Bluetooth Settings to forget your AirPods.
Restart your iPhone
Now place your Airpods in your ears and then pair it with your iPhone
Connect your Airpods with your Apple Watch and check if they start playing without the “connection failed” error message
Sometimes, resetting your Airpods can help with this issue as well. In order to reset your Airpods,
With the Airpods in the case and with the lid open, press and hold the little button on the back of the case till the status light flashes three times
Resetting your AirPods is as easy as holding the Setup button.
Release the reset button
Now Re-pair your Airpods with your iPhone before you connect to any other Apple device
Once the Airpods have connected to your iPhone, try and connect them with your Apple Watch and check if the issue is resolved
Quick Tip for Better Music Quality on Airpods
For the best music experience with Apple Airpods, try changing the equalizer preferences on your iPhone. Tap on Settings > Music and scroll down to the Playback section.
Tap on EQ and change the preferences here to make it a more personal sound.
Tap on the Late Night setting to turn your music “up to 11.”
For users that complain about lack of bass, you can try the “Bass Booster” and give it a shot. Try out the other options and see which one sounds the best to your ears.
We hope that one of these three steps above was helpful in resolving this connection failure issue between your Airpods and Apple Watch.
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.
In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.
My Apple Watch stopped automatically connecting to my Airpods. They automatically switch between my Mac and my iPhone, but when I take a call on my watch, it’s not using the Airpods. If I go to bluetooth setting, I can manually connect to the Airpods but then it’s no longer connected to my Mac / iPhone. I’ve tried redoing the connection at the iPhone, resetting the watch to factory settings, and I’ve tried another pair of Airpods and it’s the same issue.
I had the issue that my air pods wouldn’t work on my watch even though I have a cellular account for my watch. It would stop working after I’m out of range of my phone.
At first, I thought it was the watch so I ordered a new one and spent hours on the phone with Apple support and AT&T but it all didn’t work. Apple support did say that it was probably my phone as the chances of 2 watches not working is very rare. So, I decided to pair my watch with an old iphone I had and it worked. I then compared every toggle between the 2 phones and I realised that under Settings – Calls on other devices it needed to be under “when nearby” and it wasn’t and the issue eventually was that my Facetime and icloud login was different so I just made sure they were the same and then it worked on the original phone.
Hope this helps someone! Stay safe and healthy
Sorry that your Apple Watch is not connecting to your AirPods.
First, make sure that both Low Power Mode and AirPlane Mode are off on both your Watch and iPhone. Then, check that your AirPods are paired to your iPhone, then restart your Apple Watch and see if the AirPods now show up.
If your iPhone and AirPods are already paired with the iPhone, unpair them and try pairing your iPhone and AirPods to each other again (go to Settings > Bluetooth > tap the i icon and choose to Forget This Device.) Then go through the pairing steps again.
Once your iPhone and AirPods are paired, keep them close and take the AirPods out of the AirPods case then open your Apple Watch Settings App > Tap Bluetooth and look for your AirPods under Devices. Tap your AirPods name to connect.
Hopefully, this works for you. If problems persist, let us know
carissimo, mesmo com tudo isso..
os problemas continuam…
usava o iphone 6 plus normalmente, nele tufo conecta..
agora estou a usar um iphone x… ja tentei de tudo, formatei varias veses….
ja resetei, ja esqueci os dispositivos…
ja não sei o que fazer…. 🙁 estava tudo perfeito com o iphone 6 plus…
even with all this ..
the problems continue
used the iPhone 6 plus normally, with it, stuff connects.
now I’m using an iPhone x … already tried everything, formatted several times…
I already reset, I forgot the devices …
I do not know what to do …anymore. Everything was perfect with the iPhone 6 plus …
From what I understand, your AirPods are not connecting with either your iPhone X or your paired Apple Watch. And you’ve tried the steps listed in the article but nothing is helping.
Pelo que entendi, seus AirPods não estão se conectando com seu iPhone X ou com o Apple Watch emparelhado. E você tentou as etapas listadas no artigo, mas nada está ajudando.
My Apple Watch stopped automatically connecting to my Airpods. They automatically switch between my Mac and my iPhone, but when I take a call on my watch, it’s not using the Airpods. If I go to bluetooth setting, I can manually connect to the Airpods but then it’s no longer connected to my Mac / iPhone. I’ve tried redoing the connection at the iPhone, resetting the watch to factory settings, and I’ve tried another pair of Airpods and it’s the same issue.
Any ideas?
I had the issue that my air pods wouldn’t work on my watch even though I have a cellular account for my watch. It would stop working after I’m out of range of my phone.
At first, I thought it was the watch so I ordered a new one and spent hours on the phone with Apple support and AT&T but it all didn’t work. Apple support did say that it was probably my phone as the chances of 2 watches not working is very rare. So, I decided to pair my watch with an old iphone I had and it worked. I then compared every toggle between the 2 phones and I realised that under Settings – Calls on other devices it needed to be under “when nearby” and it wasn’t and the issue eventually was that my Facetime and icloud login was different so I just made sure they were the same and then it worked on the original phone.
Hope this helps someone! Stay safe and healthy
It worked, thank you so much, I never knew there was a button on the case!
Your article on the syncing/ pairing saved me a lot. My replacement and the original are paired as one now. Thanks a lot
This page’s solution worked to connect the AirPods to Apple Watch 1.
Thank you
They still don’t connect…
Hi Bryson,
Sorry that your Apple Watch is not connecting to your AirPods.
First, make sure that both Low Power Mode and AirPlane Mode are off on both your Watch and iPhone. Then, check that your AirPods are paired to your iPhone, then restart your Apple Watch and see if the AirPods now show up.
If your iPhone and AirPods are already paired with the iPhone, unpair them and try pairing your iPhone and AirPods to each other again (go to Settings > Bluetooth > tap the i icon and choose to Forget This Device.) Then go through the pairing steps again.
Once your iPhone and AirPods are paired, keep them close and take the AirPods out of the AirPods case then open your Apple Watch Settings App > Tap Bluetooth and look for your AirPods under Devices. Tap your AirPods name to connect.
Hopefully, this works for you. If problems persist, let us know
Sam
carissimo, mesmo com tudo isso..
os problemas continuam…
usava o iphone 6 plus normalmente, nele tufo conecta..
agora estou a usar um iphone x… ja tentei de tudo, formatei varias veses….
ja resetei, ja esqueci os dispositivos…
ja não sei o que fazer…. 🙁 estava tudo perfeito com o iphone 6 plus…
even with all this ..
the problems continue
used the iPhone 6 plus normally, with it, stuff connects.
now I’m using an iPhone x … already tried everything, formatted several times…
I already reset, I forgot the devices …
I do not know what to do …anymore. Everything was perfect with the iPhone 6 plus …
Hi Euripdes,
From what I understand, your AirPods are not connecting with either your iPhone X or your paired Apple Watch. And you’ve tried the steps listed in the article but nothing is helping.
Pelo que entendi, seus AirPods não estão se conectando com seu iPhone X ou com o Apple Watch emparelhado. E você tentou as etapas listadas no artigo, mas nada está ajudando.
Please set up an appointment at your local Apple Store so they can assist you in-person.
Por favor, marque uma consulta em sua Apple Store local para que eles possam ajudá-lo pessoalmente.
If that’s not possible, contact Apple Support in your Home Country
se isso não for possível, entre em contato com o suporte da Apple em seu país de origem