While transferring files from your phone to another device or connecting your iPhone or iPad with a Bluetooth device should be a breeze, this fails sometimes. And it’s often a result of errors in how you use the Bluetooth rather than errors in the devices you’re trying to connect.
But whether it’s an error in usage, your phone, or the Bluetooth device, it’s easy to resolve. Keep reading, and I’ll show you how to fix bluetooth not working on iphone or iPad.
However, before moving on to the fixes, ensure that you’ve turned on Bluetooth on your iPhone or iPad. Also, if the other device needs Bluetooth activation, ensure that it’s active.
- Ensure proximity to Bluetooth device
- Turn on/off Bluetooth
- Use manual connection
- Look out for connection prompts on your phone and the other device
- Forget and reconnect the device
- Restart the connecting device and iPhone
- Disconnect from other Bluetooth devices
- Update your iOS version
- Reset your iPhone or iPad
- Contact Apple Support
1. Ensure proximity to Bluetooth device
Low proximity to a Bluetooth device you’re trying to connect with will cause the connection to fail. Moreover, Apple recommends a minimum distance of 10 meters between your phone and a Bluetooth device. So anything more can lead to signal loss. To make the connection seamless, you need to put your iPhone or iPad and the Bluetooth device in close range.
Besides, ensure that there’s no obstacle between your iPhone or iPad and the device you’re connecting. This is because such obstruction often results in signal attenuation or loss of signal strength.
2. Turn on/off Bluetooth
If your iPhone or iPad’s Bluetooth has been on for a long time, it might fail to read a device. Switching it off and on, in that case, refreshes the signal and makes it visible to a nearby Bluetooth device.
To turn Bluetooth off and on, go to the Control Center by swiping down your iPhone’s screen from the top-right. Now, tap the Bluetooth icon to switch it off, wait for a few seconds and turn it on. You might even find that you never turned it on after all. Next, try to reconnect a Bluetooth device to see if it works.
3. Use manual connection
Expect your phone to pair with a device automatically? Don’t get disappointed if it doesn’t. As with many smartphones, autoconnection fails with iPhones and iPads, too. Hence, it’s best to check a device in Bluetooth Settings and connect it manually with your device.
To do this on iPhone or iPad, open Settings → Bluetooth. Tap the device from the list and give it some time to connect.
4. Look for connection prompts on your phone and the other device
You might’ve also missed a connection access prompt on your phone or the other device you’re trying to connect via Bluetooth. This is often the case if you’re connecting to a Bluetooth device for the first time. A PC, for instance, usually pops a message that asks you to allow a connection request from another device. This is also the case while connecting to an Android’s Bluetooth.
However, this message might appear on one or both devices. So, look out for such a message on both devices. Then follow a prompt, if any, to establish a successful Bluetooth connection.
5. Forget and reconnect the device
A device might still fail to connect even if it’s on your Bluetooth list already. This happens if the said device has been hanging there for a while without connection.
Forgetting and reconnecting such a device works. So when you discard and reconnect this way, it’s like you’re establishing a connection freshly with the Bluetooth device.
To forget a Bluetooth device on iPhone or iPad:
- Open Settings.
- Go to Bluetooth.
- Tap the blue (i) icon to the right of a Bluetooth device.
- Select Forget This Device.
If prompted, tap Forget Device → Forget Device.
Now, pair the Bluetooth device again. To do this, go to Settings → Bluetooth. Tap the device to connect it with your iPhone or iPad. You might also want to see how to pair an Airpod with iPhone if you’re not sure. And if yours is a headphone, this guide will help.
6. Restart the connecting device and iPhone
The random access memory (RAM) on your iPhone or iPad might freeze and cause Bluetooth to stop working. While there’s no solid explanation for this, merely restarting your iPhone or iPad often solves the problem. Moreover, a restart gives your phone a fresh start and wipes the RAM.
7. Disconnect from other Bluetooth devices
While the Bluetooth 5.0 hardware included in iPhone 8 and later allows you to pair multiple devices, there’s still a chance of failure. Thus, you might want to disconnect the Bluetooth devices you’re not using; at least, this allows your iPhone or iPad to focus its signal strength on the prioritized device.
To disconnect other devices on iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings → Bluetooth. Tap the (i) icon to the right of a Bluetooth device and select Disconnect.
8. Update your iOS version
Sometimes, there may be lapses in Bluetooth configuration between your phone and another device if your iOS or iPadOS isn’t outdated. Besides, an iOS update fixes some salient bugs in a recent one, which might’ve prevented a particular device from connecting to your iPhone or iPad. So, update the iPhone to the latest version.
For this, open Settings → General → Software Update, and check if you have a pending update or not. If yes, tap on Download and Install or Install Now.
9. Reset your iPhone or iPad
If no other fixes worked, resetting your phone should be your last resort. This returns your iPhone or iPad to its default settings, and it’s as good as new.
However, this action removes all files from your local storage. So before proceeding to reset your iPhone, ensure that you back up your photos, videos, and other files to iCloud.
Once you back up your files, you can now reset your iPhone or iPad with confidence. Once done, you should consider recovering all deleted files from iCloud.
10. Contact Apple Support
Nothing beats contacting the maker of a product to fix an issue. So you might want to contact Apple Support if the Bluetooth still fails to connect on your iPhone or iPad. Thankfully, we’ve written a stepwise guide on contacting Apple Support.
FAQs
Yes, starting with iPhone 8 and later, Apple introduced Bluetooth 5.0, which not only improved Bluetooth signal strength but also lets you connect to multiple devices. To connect to many devices on iPhone at once, select the said devices in Bluetooth Settings. You can even label these Bluetooth devices.
Connecting a Bluetooth headphone is as easy as pairing any other Bluetooth device. Nonetheless, this might come with a few variations. You’ll get a better hang of it by the time you go through this guide.
This is one of the ways to fix Bluetooth not working issue on iPhone or iPad. There isn’t a button to do this. You’ll have to disconnect all connected devices and restart your iPhone. This clears your Bluetooth cache.
Your iPhone might fail to find Bluetooth devices for any reason ranging from disconnection and failure to activate Bluetooth software to hardware issues and beyond. So, ensure that your iPhone’s Bluetooth is on. And activate the Bluetooth device, if not already. Next, try reconnecting both devices. If it still can’t find a device, ultimately, one of the discussed solutions in this article should fix the issue.
That’s it!
These were a couple of tricks you could try to fix Bluetooth not working issue on your iPhone or iPad. And it’s hardly due to hardware failure. So don’t worry!
Did any of these fixes work for you? Let me know in the comment section.
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