How to find AirPods that have been lost or stolen

Discover My AirPods

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Nearly each Apple product connects collectively to create a mesh community over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or Extremely Wideband. This crowdsourced community known as Find My, and it may make it easier to get into the final neighborhood of any lacking Apple product, even AirPods.

There are a number of generations of AirPods throughout three mannequin classes — AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max. The Discover My AirPods expertise is comparable for every of them, although the AirPods Pro 2 have a couple of further methods.

The Discover My community is ineffective should you’re not opted in. So, make sure the function is enabled earlier than your AirPods go lacking.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Faucet in your title on the prime.
3. Faucet on Discover My.
4. Confirm “Discover My iPhone” is on.

Extra settings might be discovered on this menu to allow collaborating within the Discover My community and sending your iPhone’s final identified location earlier than battery exhaustion.

Earlier than a tool is misplaced within the first place, take some preventative measures. Arrange “left behind” notifications for units like AirPods within the Discover My app.

Get notified if AirPods are left behind

1. Open the Discover My app.
2. Faucet the Units tab on the backside of the display screen.
3. Find your AirPods from the listing and faucet them.
4. Faucet “Notify When Left Behind”
5. Toggle the function on and arrange exceptions like your house tackle.

This function is nice for making certain AirPods are by no means left on the workplace or within the health club locker. Although, if they have been left in a much less particular location, Discover My has instruments for getting inside a couple of toes of the merchandise.

Apple’s Discover My app can find AirPods after they have been misplaced or stolen. Be aware that Apple does not endorse customers monitoring down identified stolen objects however as a substitute asks that they report it to the police.

1. Open the Discover My app.
2. Faucet the Units tab on the backside of the display screen.
3. Find your lacking AirPods from the listing and faucet them.
4. Use this menu to seek out your AirPods or activate misplaced mode.

How the Discover My menu features will depend upon the mannequin of AirPods being tracked. The state of the case might affect how simply the AirPods might be tracked.

We’re carving out a particular part for AirPods Professional 2 since they have essentially the most distinctive function set. Apple modified how the Charging Case features due to the addition of audio system and the U1 chip.

The U1 chip allows exact discovering

Usually, customers would not have the ability to find their AirPods utilizing the “Play Sound” function of Discover My if they’re within the case. Nevertheless, the AirPods Professional 2 case has its personal set of audio system that create a loud chirping sound when activated.

There’s additionally the additional advantage of the U1 Extremely Wideband chip. Like AirTags, precision discovering will present an arrow and information the consumer inside inches of the misplaced AirPods Professional 2 case.

All three generations of the usual AirPods and the AirPods Max have related performance with Discover My. They’re restricted by Bluetooth connection, which is barely potential when out of the charging case or sleeve.

Play sounds from AirPods to assist find them

If the AirPods are free from their case or sleeve, or the case lid is open, the AirPods will try to hook up with any close by gadget and replace their location. Use the “Discover” or “Play Sound” operate if you understand the AirPods are close by and need assistance finding them.

Nevertheless, these features will solely work if the iPhone can join with the AirPods by way of Bluetooth.

Discover My can get the consumer inside a couple of toes of the place the AirPods are positioned, however will lack route or distance. Taking part in a sound is the one method to get a extra exact space to look in.

The Misplaced Mode in Discover My tells a tool it’s lacking and may notify the proprietor when it’s positioned. From the AirPods Discover My menu, choose “Activate” beneath “Mark As Misplaced.” This initiates the Misplaced Mode system for the AirPods.

Since AirPods can’t hook up with the web on their very own, Misplaced Mode does not do something till the AirPods hook up with a brand new on-line gadget. Stolen, misplaced, or in any other case, the subsequent time your AirPods hook up with an Apple product, a message will seem, and the proprietor is notified with an up to date location.

You’ll be able to depart a customized message alongside together with your e mail or cellphone quantity when a tool is positioned in Misplaced Mode. So should you suspect the AirPods are stolen, a message of “Now we have your location and police have been notified” could also be apt.

Connecting to AirPods from one other iCloud account will present ‘Not Your AirPods’

Misplaced Mode does not forestall the AirPods from getting used, and whoever has them can join and use them as Bluetooth earbuds. Nevertheless, the iCloud knowledge will stay hooked up to the AirPods, and the gadget title will present up as “Not Your AirPods.”

Whereas some conditions will not warrant police, others will. AirPods are small units that may be swiped from a desk in a second, and your solely recourse can be to contain the police.

By no means chase down a thief or use Discover My to trace stolen units to non-public property. AirPods aren’t price your life.

In case your AirPods are stolen, and the thief tries to make use of them or promote them, likelihood is, Misplaced Mode will inform you precisely the place to seek out them. Notify the police, file a police report, and hope for the perfect.

Since AirPods lack private info and are comparatively cheap, having a set stolen is not a world-ending state of affairs. There is a slight likelihood a stolen set might be recovered, however you are possible going to be shopping for new ones.

Apple can present a brand new earbud or charging case at a decreased worth if one goes lacking. Present the serial quantity to Apple Help to arrange a alternative.

The AirPods serial quantity is saved in your iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Faucet on Bluetooth.
3. Find your AirPods within the listing and faucet the “i” icon.
4. The serial quantity is listed right here.

Apple does not provide insurance coverage for misplaced AirPods with AppleCare because it does for iPhone. So, if a whole set of AirPods goes lacking, then you definitely’ll have to purchase a brand new set at retail price.