How to Reset AirPods

It’s easy to reset your AirPods and the process takes less than a minute. You should reset your AirPods if you’re preparing to sell your AirPods or if they are having any issues.

Resetting your AirPods, AirPods 2, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max returns them to their factory settings. The next time you open your AirPods next to an iPhone or iPad you’ll be prompted to set them up as if they were brand new.

Before you take the following steps, note that once you go through this process, your AirPods will no longer recognize devices linked to your iCloud account.

How to Reset AirPods

First, make sure your AirPods are enclosed in their case. It’s impossible to reset your AirPods if they are out of the case.

Once you’ve done that, here’s how to reset your AirPods:

1. Keep your AirPods enclosed in the case for 30 seconds.
2. Open the AirPod case’s lid.
3. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go into Settings and head into Bluetooth.
4. When you’re in the Bluetooth section, tap the “i” icon that’s next to your AirPods. If you don’t see them listed there, you can skip this step.
5. Tap ‘Forget this Device’ and then tap again to confirm the change.
6. With your AirPods case lid open, press and hold the setup button located on the back of the case for 15 seconds or so. You can take your finger off when you see the status light flashing amber.
7. If you want to reconnect your AirPods to a device, keep the lid open and bring them close to the device you want to connect them to.
8. Follow the instructions on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

How to Reset AirPods Max

Resetting Apple’s AirPods Max headphones has a different process.

If you run into issues with your AirPods Max, you should try rebooting them. Before you do, make sure you charge them up for a few minutes.

Once you’ve done that, here’s how to reboot your AirPods Max:

1. Press and hold the noise control button and the Digital Crown (both are located on the top of the headphones) until the LED flashes amber. The status light is located on the bottom of the headphones.

If that doesn’t work, you can try resetting them to their factory settings. Doing so will cause them to unpair from your iCloud account and bring back to their original, out of the box settings.

Here’s how to reset a pair of AirPods Max headphones:

• Press and hold the noise control button and the Digital Crown for 15 seconds or until the LED flashes an amber color and then white.
• Reconnect them to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac.

If your issues with your AirPods, AirPods 2, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max persist, you’ll want to get in touch with Apple support if they are still under warranty.

4 Reasons Not to Install iOS 14.4.2 & 11 Reasons You Should

Install iOS 14.4.2 for Better Security

If security is important to you, think about installing iOS 14.4.2 right now. iOS 14.4.2 has an important security patch on board and you can read more about the change over on Apple’s website.  If you missed iOS 14.4.1, you get its patch with your upgrade to iOS 14.4.2. You can read about that patch right here. If you skipped iOS 14.4, you get the update’s patches with your upgrade. You can learn more about iOS 14.4’s security patches right here.  If you skipped iOS 14.3 you’ll get its nine security updates with your upgrade. You can read more about them on its security site.  iOS 14.3 also included a new privacy information section on App Store pages that includes a developer-reported summary of the app’s privacy practices. If you skipped iOS 14.2, your iOS 14.4.2 update includes 24 additional security patches. You can learn more about the patches on Apple’s security website.  If you’re still running iOS 13, iOS 14.4.2 includes iOS 14.0’s security updates.  iOS 14.0 brought 11 new security patches to the iPhone. If you’re interested in the exact nature of these improvements, you can read about them over on Apple’s website. In addition to those patches, iOS 14 comes with some security and privacy upgrades including improvements to Home/HomeKit and Safari.  For instance in Safari, you can now tap the Privacy Report button to better understand how websites handle your privacy. With iOS 14 on board you can now get information on the App Store that will help you understand the privacy practices of apps before you download them.  There is also a new recording indicator that will appear at the top of your screen whenever an app is using your microphone or camera. You can see if an app has used them recently in Control Center. Researchers also discovered that Apple brought a new “BlastDoor” sandbox security system to iOS 14. The system is meant to prevent attacks from occurring via the Messages app.  You can read more about “BlastDoor” right here.