Are your AirPods not charging? If so we’re here to help you get your little white earbuds back on track. In this guide, we’ll talk through the potential factors that could cause your AirPods to not work and give you solutions to try and get Apple’s wireless earbuds back to pumping the best tunes from the 90s.
Whether you own the latest AirPods Pro 2 or an older pair like AirPods 2, here’s what to do when your AirPods are not charging properly.
What you'll need
We'll get to the actual steps below but to start you're going to need your AirPods and an iPhone. If you're in the market for a new pair or a new smartphone these are our recommendations:
Is your charging cable working?
The first external factor to check is whether or not your Lightning cable or USB-C cable used to charge the AirPods case is working properly. To test this, try the cable with another product in your home. For example, use the Lightning cable with an iPhone 14 or try the USB-C cable in your iPhone 15 Pro. If those products also don’t charge with the same cable used with the AirPods, then you’ve found the fault and need to replace it.
Sometimes, the charging block you use can be the reason your AirPods are not charging, repeat the steps from above with different charging bricks and different power outlets to make sure everything works the way it should.
How about your wireless charging?
If your AirPods are not charging wirelessly then there could be an issue with the wireless charging pad you’re using. We’d suggest removing your protective case, if you have one, from your charging case and positioning your AirPods case in the center of the charging pad.
As mentioned above, test the cables, charging brick, and wireless charging pad to ensure the issue is not coming from your AirPods themselves. The great thing about newer AirPods like the Pro 2 is that they can charge with an Apple Watch charger or MagSafe, so give them a go on all the charging solutions in your household to pinpoint the problem.
Clean your AirPods
Sometimes gunk can get in your AirPods charging case causing the connectors to not make contact and prevent the AirPods from charging. It’s important to clean your AirPods regularly and it’s pretty easy to do so. Apple advises users should clean their AirPods with a soft, dry, lint-free cloth. If you need to clean the charging port because dust or debris is inside, Apple recommends using a dry, soft-bristled brush.
Make sure to try cleaning your AirPods yourself before bringing them into your local Apple Store, because Apple Store employees don’t want to see your dried-up earwax. Belkin makes a fantastic AirPods cleaning solution, which you can pick up from here:
Still not working?
If you’ve given your AirPods a clean and tested all the charging components your next step is to bring them to your local Apple Store for testing. The Apple technician will test every component to try and figure out the root cause of the charging issue and offer you either a free replacement under warranty or a fee to replace the faulty component. If the replacement cost is too high, you may be better off buying a new pair of AirPods, after all, the latest AirPods Pro 2 are some of the best wireless earbuds on the market.
