AirPods not charging? Here’s how to fix

More often than not, charging issues on Apple AirPods come down to gunk on the terminals rather than something more serious such as a battery or electronic failure. The fixes for this are easy but some amount of care is needed to ensure you don’t permanently damage the units.

Here are some tricks you can try:

Is the case charged?

Check that your case is charged. While the case will inform you when it’s low on charge, it’s possible that it is completely dead, in which case you will get no notification. If the LED on the case isn’t lighting up, or if you’re not seeing a prompt on your phone indicating the case’s battery when you open the lid of the case, give it a charge. Use a wireless or wired charger and leave the case for an hour or so.

Check ports

Next, check whether the case’s charging port is clean. If you’re using wired charging, it’s possible that the charging port itself is filled with lint or other debris, preventing the case from accepting a charge. In the case of wireless charging, ensure that the wireless charger is working and that the charging surfaces are clean. Wipe with a microfibre cloth if not.

Re-seat AirPods

Another simple check is just re-seating the AirPods and sort of wiggling them around a bit. A loose contact or a bit of gunk on the contacts can cause charging issues and this can fix it. Just don’t be too violent.

Clean contacts

If that doesn’t work, try cleaning the contacts. Be extremely careful when doing so as it’s very ebay to damage them. Use a lint-free cloth or q-tip for the same.

Check for pitting

While you’re at it, check the contacts for signs of corrosion or pitting. Physical damage to the contacts can prevent charging. Though this is a rare occurrence.

Clean case well

After cleaning and inspecting the contacts on your AirPods, clean and examine the contacts inside your case well. These can also accumulate a lot of gunk and the contacts might be covered in debris or wax which can prevent charging.

New charging cable

You can also try switching to a different charging cable if the above fails. It’s possible that your case and ‘pods are fine but that the case isn’t able to charge because the cable or even the charger is damaged.

Remove cases or accessories

If you’re using third-party accessories such as special tips or cases for the charging case, it’s possible that these are interfering with charging by not allowing the cable to sit properly or by creating too much of a gap between the case and wireless pad.

Factory reset

As a last resort, you can factory reset the AirPods and case. You can do this by either opening the lid with the AirPods in the cas and pressing and holding the rear button till the LED flashes white, or double-tap three times on the front in the case of newer AirPods.

Check firmware

Another last-resort check is firmware. In very rare instances it’s possible that the case and AirPods haven’t finished updating their firmware. To ensure this happens, connect the case to power and leave it next to your phone for 30 minutes.

ALSO READ: How to reset your AirPods and AirPods Pro

If all else fails, you might need to take the AirPods in for servicing. Contact your nearest Apple or Croma store for help with the same.