What Does Airpods Red Light Mean?
Wireless earbuds are an amazing technology. They enhance our ability to take our entertainment, conversations, recordings, and just about any audio process you perform on your phone wherever we want to go. Apple AirPods lead the way with their clean and elegant design.
They have an incredible battery life, audio quality, and microphone clarity for being such tiny pieces of hardware. After wearing them nearly all day every day, I finally ran into my first problem when switching them from my iPhone to my iPad.
Both the AirPods had a red flashing light. No audio was coming through, even though my iPad said they were connected. I know that the various status lights indicate different things, so I decided it was time to do some digging to find out what colored lights mean on AirPods.
What Do The Lights on Airpods Mean?
A solid red light on your AirPods means the battery needs to be charged. White light means the device is pairing. Green means the battery is full and ready to go. The LED is capable of transitioning between these three colors, which will remain either solid or blink to indicate their status.
It gets a little more complicated than that, so I’ve created a list of each of the combinations your AirPods or AirPods Pro status lights may show when trying to keep you informed of their status.
Airpods red light
If your Airpods case is showing a solid red light, that means the battery needs to be charged, whether you have the case open or not. There’s a light on the case which is more visible if you open the lid, but you can also see the light without the case open. Airpods in the case or out of the case can also have various light communications.
Airpod Charging Case Flashing White
Airpods flashing white light signals that your AirPods are in pairing mode.
If you did not mean to enter pairing mode, you might have enabled it by accidentally pressing and holding the ‘Pairing’ button on the back of the charging case. It’s easy to solve this pairing error by releasing the button and waiting a moment.
Amber light with Airpods in case
Amber or orange light coming from your AIrPod case signifies that the AirPods are not fully charged and are being supplied with power now.
Amber light while Airpods are not in the case
If you see an amber or red light from the led on your AirPods case while the AirPods themselves are removed, it means the charging case battery is not fully charged and that there’s less than one full charge remaining.
This is the sign that it’s time to plug your case in. Just remember that AirPod charging case orange lights mean you better plug in soon or you can forget this devise playing music for you much longer.
Amber light when the Airpod case is plugged in
If an amber or red light is coming from your AIrPod case’s LED while with the case plugged into a power source, it means that the AirPods case is charging.
Green light with Airpods in case
A green light with the AirPods inside the wireless charger means that both the case and the AirPods are at full charge.
Green light while Airpods are not in the case
If you see a green light emitting from your AirPod LED while the AirPods are removed from the case, it means the wireless charging case battery is fully charged.
Green light when the AirPods case is plugged in
If you see a green light when the case is plugged into a power source, it means the case is fully charged and ready to unplug.
Airpods Flashing Amber light
A flashing amber or red light means something has gone wrong with your AirPods. In most cases it means there has been a pairing error.
You will most likely need to reset your AirPods to correct the problem.
No light On Airpods
If there is no light coming from inside the case lid at all, then it has completely run out of battery power.
If for some reason, you haven’t been paying attention to the color of AirPods’ LED lights or your AirPods flashing, the earbuds themselves have a few sounds to help you keep track of your AirPods battery status.
What Do The AirPod Chimes Mean?
The light on your AirPods aren’t the only way Apple store has built in communication between your AirPods and you. There are three distinct chimes that AirPods will play to keep you informed:
Connected Chime
When you first connect your AirPods to a device, they will make a chime sound to denote a successful connection.
Battery Low Chime
When one or both of your AirPods has a 10% battery level, they sound off a chime to let you know it’s time to charge.
Power Down Chime
If you ignored the low battery chime, you’d likely hear the last sound soon. It signals that the AirPods are out of battery and powering down.
In the Case of Amber Blinking Lights
There aren’t many functional problems that come along with AirPods.
So, it’s nice to know that the one issue that can happen is easily solvable without going anywhere to get them fixed. All you have to do for most issues is reset your AirPods. A factory reset isn’t typically required. It may be that you’re just running a setup wizard and not sure how to change from factory settings.
Don’t worry; it’s not overly technical. Just follow along with these steps, and you’ll be listening to your podcasts again in no time.
Unpair Your AirPods
Amber color blinking usually denotes a problem with pairing the earbuds to the device.
You’ll want to make sure that your iPhone or iPad completely disconnects so you can get a clean, fresh start. Just go to your device’s Bluetooth settings, click on your AirPods, and select the “Forget This Device” option.
Reset Your AirPods
Now that the signal is clear, it’s time to make your AirPods clean up their memory.
Locate the setup button on the AirPods case. Press and hold the button until the LED light flashes amber and turns into a continuous white blink.
After about 20 seconds, your AirPods will be reset and ready to reconnect.
Pair Your AirPods to Your Device
Now that the memory of the device and the AirPods are clear, it’s time to reconnect and enjoy your audio experience.
Just turn the AirPods back on. The LED light should begin to blink white.
This means they are paired. Go back to your iPhone or iPad Bluetooth settings and find your AirPods on the discoverable devices list.
Tap them to reconnect. And that’s it!
Now What
Your AirPods should be back in working order. If for some reason, this does not solve your problem you can try again. However, the blinking light does not only denote a problem pairing.
It denotes a functional problem in general. If you were unlucky enough to get ahold of a rare malfunctioning pair of AirPods, just get a hold of an Apple store and get a new pair.
Apple usually does well in replacing lemons, or they may be able to help you understand why you keep experiencing a flashing red lights or other lights. However, you may want to be prepared for a service fee just in case.
FAQ
What color means the AirPods are charging?
Whether you have the AirPods in the case or not, the status light on the AirPods case will have a solid amber or red hue when it is charging.
If you have the case plugged in, the light will not change back to green until both the case and each of the earbuds are fully charged. If your AirPods are showing no LED color and won’t turn on, they are most likely out of battery power.
If you plug them into a power source, the LED should light up amber. If it does not, you’ll need to use your warranty to get them replaced.
Why does my Airpod case keep blinking red or another color?
There are a few reasons why an AirPod case flashing red or other colors could occur. If the light is white and blinking, then the AirPods are letting you know that they are on “pairing” mode.
All you have to do is go to your iPhone or iPad and connect to them through the Bluetooth device settings. They should stop blinking. If your AirPods are flashing an amber or red light, then an operational error has occurred. More often than not, this is because of a pairing error. It can usually be fixed quickly by resetting the AirPods.
You can reset by holding the setup button on the back of the AirPod charging case. You’ll have to hold the button until the LED light blinks amber then flashes white continuously.
Let the AirPods complete their reset. This can take up to twenty seconds. After it’s complete, pair your AirPods to your iPhone or iPad again.
What does the red light on AirPods mean?
A red, or amber, light means one of three things. If it is a solid light, the AirPods case is trying to let you know that it has a low battery. If it keeps a solid amber light while plugged into a power source, it’s telling you that the battery is still charging.
However, if your AirPods are flashing red, it means that an error has occurred. It’s usually just a problem with pairing to your device.
You may need to reset your AirPods to get them working again. However, if resetting the AirPods does not remove the flashing red light, there may be a software error that happened while the AirPods were updating.
You’ll need to get in contact with Apple to solve software problems. (Don’t worry, software problems are incredibly rare. It is most likely an easily solvable pairing issue.)
Why is my left Airpod flashing red?
If only one AirPod is flashing red, it means that the earbud is not properly paired with the other earbud or the device you are connecting them to. You may need to reset to get the earbuds to sync back together before pairing them to your device.
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