Airpods are fantastic technology, which is why they don’t come cheap. As wireless earbuds, they integrate perfectly with all iOS gadgets. But what if you lost your Airpods or worse, they got stolen? We’ll be talking about how you can find your lost Airpods case.
How to prevent lost or stolen AirPods from being used and reset
First, you should act quickly because if the thief has an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, they can reset the product and make it his own.
Now you may be wondering if you can block your Airpods so that no one else can use them?
Unfortunately, you can’t block your lost or stolen Airpods because they are not connected to Wi-Fi. How? Luckily, you still may be able to find them. Read more below.
What can you do if you lose your AirPods case?
AirPods use Bluetooth to connect to your Apple devices. Individually, they are hard to find because they don’t use a Wi-Fi connection on their own.
But don’t lose hope. Apple indeed came up with an excellent solution for finding your Airpods because they know how devastating it is to lose them.
You can use the iCloud website on your computer.
Or you can find your Airpods with the “Find My” iPhone app.
Hopefully, the Apple device you paired with your Airpods has an iCloud account. You’ll need that and the Find my iPhone app to find your lost AirPods. Apple has added the “Find My AirPods” feature to the “Find My” iPhone app and automatically tracks your AirPods.
In theory, this may not sound very easy, so let’s get to the application of this app.
How to find your AirPods & Airpods case
Hope is not lost; there is still time to find your Airpods. Let’s take a look at the iCloud method first.
Follow all these steps if you are using the iCloud website (if you are using the Find my iPhone app, start with step 3):
Step 1 – Open iCloud.com
Open iCloud.com and log in to your account associated with your Airpods.
Step 2 – Click on “Find My” or if on iPhone, open the “Find My” app
Click on Find iPhone (launch the ‘Find my iPhone’ app). This feature will start the search process immediately.
Step 3 – “All Devices” > “Airpods”
Click on the All Devices tab and select Airpods.
If the search is successful, your Airpods will appear on the map.
If online, they will appear as a green dot, meaning they are connected to your iPad or iPhone. The grey dot indicates they can’t be found. We’ll get to that later.
If your AirPods are found (green dot), click on the dot.
Next, click the button next to it. In this pop-up window, click Play Sound. This will trigger a loud sound from your Airpods. You can stop the sound playing or mute the left or right Airpod. Trust us; this feature is helpful if you have lost only one Airpod because you don’t want this sound to explode in your ear.
Look around your house or where you last remember using the Airpods. This loud sound should help you locate them. If you dropped your Airpods in different places and only found one of them, put the Airpod you have back in its case and use the same steps to find the other one.
Other tracking scenarios
When using directions
If you are using the directions to find your Airpods, you should know that two possible scenarios are happening.
Open case
If you lost your AirPods with their case opened, then when tracking them, you will be able to detect the signal that they are still emitting. In this situation, with their case open, the AirPods are still signalling and are online so that you can locate them quickly.
Closed case
If your AirPods are lost while in their closed case, things get more challenging. Why? Well, when in their closed case, the pods stop signalling, and there’s nothing you can detect being emitted live at the moment. This way, they are charging and appear offline.
However, no worries, there’s still hope. When you open the Find My app, you can track the AirPods until the last location when they were used, hence where they had their case opened. So if you can track down the last place where your Airpods were out of the case and in use, maybe you can trace back your movements and remember where you’ve lost them.
The “Lost Mode” feature
Apple is aware that losing your AirPods can be devastating beyond just a price. So, in the new iOS15, they have created a feature called Lost Mode, where they help you find your Airpods with a greater reach than just searching with your own devices through the methods mentioned above.
Namely, the Lost Mode feature utilises the entire network of iOS gadgets to search for your AirPods. Pretty powerful stuff.
So how does this work, you may ask?
When you misplace your AirPods and engage this feature, all iPhones tuned to the same network will conduct a wide-area search. Whenever someone uses your AirPods and gets activated, you will instantly receive a notification with their exact location.
I should emphasise here that the Lost Mode feature will only be activated to search for the AirPods themselves, and not the case. Like the Directions method mentioned previously, this mode focuses only on the AirPods.
Here’s how to activate the Lost Mode feature through the Find My app.
Open Find My app and click on Devices. Doing so will list all your connected devices.
Tap on the missing AirPods listed.
Here you will see the ‘Mark As Lost’ mode. Activate it and then continue onto the next screen.
Optionally, you can add your number or email so that the finder can alert you when your AirPods have been found.
The last step is to tap Activate so that the ‘Lost Mode’ feature can start tracking down the AirPods.
What if the “Find My” app can’t find your Airpods & the case?
There is a problem if you see a grey dot in the Find my iPhone app. This will only show you the last location, which is the location where they were last connected to your iPhone or another device.
Don’t panic if this happens. It is very likely that if someone finds your AirPods, they will open the case. This will immediately signal your Lost Mode, and you will get a prompt location no matter where you are.
Don’t forget to install the Find My iPhone app as a preventative measure before you lose your Airpods. This is the best precaution against losing your Airpods, so it’s best to set it up right after buying them.
Here’s why you can’t track them:
Your Airpods may be out of energy; they can’t be found if the battery is dead.
They might be too far and out of range from where you are searching. This range where you can find your Airpods is within a narrow radius of your Apple device they are connected to (Bluetooth range).
If your AirPods are resting in the Airpods case, you will not be able to connect them to your device while they are charging.
How to find my AirPods case – Frequently Asked Questions
Can I block the use of my stolen Airpods & the case?
Unfortunately, no. The only thing you can do is track and locate the Airpods. If nothing works, you can only get them back if the thief changes his mind.
Does AppleCare cover stolen Airpods or Airpods case?
Unfortunately, no. AppleCare is an extended warranty and not an insurance policy. You will get support if something goes wrong with your Airpods (they stop charging, there is no sound, etc.), but you will not get a replacement if lost or stolen.
Do I need to buy a new set if I lose one AirPod or just the case?
No. Fortunately, if you lose a single component (whether a charging case or just one pod), visit an Apple Store to have the missing part replaced at a lower price than if you buy a whole new set. The charging cases are replaceable using generation 1 or 2 Airpods. If this is the missing part, you may be able to find another case through a friend or family member.
I hope this has helped you find your Airpods & the case. As you can see, tracking Airpods is much more complex than your iPhone because phones are always online (when they’re turned on), making them easier to track. However, the success of finding your Airpods also depends on the proximity of your iOS device, not only the online signal.
If your AirPods are stolen, you most likely won’t be able to find them. That’s the harsh reality. Locate the serial number of the Airpods to forward to Apple support. If you only lose one Airpod or the case, you can get a replacement from Apple.
If you have more suggestions and tips on finding AirPods successfully, please share your experience in the comments below. You never know whose day you’re going to make better.
