With advancements in tech, music enthusiasts get to enjoy the latest features and apps every now and then on their gadgets which makes listening to their favourite songs more accessible and convenient. Wireless headsets and earbuds add to that convenience, given the sophistication of their design and functionality, they are now the most popular and loved accessory for users to pair with their smartphones and laptops.

In this guide, we’ll talk about how you can establish a connection between your AirPods (wireless earphones by Apple) and Dell laptops. So, read on!

Establish a Connection between AirPods and Dell laptops:

By following the steps below, you can pair AirPods with Dell or other Windows laptops with ease.

1. Place the AirPods in their charging capsule:

Set the AirPods inside the charging capsule and close it. Then, wait a few seconds. But, you must make sure that they are at least 20% charged before pairing them to your Dell laptop. However, the more battery, the fewer issues there will be in the connection process.

2. Open the charging capsule:

Now, open the charging capsule without touching the AirPods.

3. Press the button available on the capsule:

There’s a button available on the backside of the casing. A thumb that button until you see the LED lights flickering to activate the pairing mode of your AirPods.

Models that came before AirPods Pro will have the flash appear on the inside whereas, for AirPods Pro itself, the blinking will be visible on the front.

4. Now, it’s time for pairing:

Open your Dell laptop and go to the Bluetooth settings. You may press the Windows logo key + A key together. The action centre will pop up on the right side of the taskbar. Tap on the Bluetooth icon to view more settings by navigating to the settings window and then adding a device conveniently.

Windows 10 users may click on “Add Bluetooth or another device.” Windows 11 users may click on the “Add device,” a square-shaped box present at the top.

5. Select Bluetooth:

A pop-up window will ask about the kind of device you want to add. You may select “Bluetooth.” Soon, a list with all the nearby devices will open in which your AirPods will appear if detected without a problem.

6. Finish pairing:

You may select your AirPods from the list and tap on “Done” to finish pairing. At this point, your AirPods must be paired up with your Dell laptop, so you can move on to the next step.

7. Play an audio file to ensure a successful connection:

You may play any audio file and check if you can listen well through your AirPods. In case, there’s no sound, see if the volume is turned up. If there are still issues, you may repeat the process again.

How to disconnect AirPods from a Dell laptop?

To end the connection of the AirPods from your Dell laptop, click on the Bluetooth icon via the action centre. From the list of the devices connected, find your AirPods and click on “Disconnect” to cease the connection.

In case you want to remove AirPods from your Dell laptop, then open “Bluetooth and other devices” when using Windows 10. Beneath the “Audio” tab, spot your AirPods and tap on “Remove device.”

Windows 11 users go to the “Bluetooth and other devices.” There, go to the square-shaped box with the AirPods in it.  Select the option of “Remove device” by clicking on the three dots present in the top right corner of the box.

Why can’t I pair the AirPods with my Dell laptop?

There could be multiple causes because of which you may fail to connect AirPods with your Dell laptop. However, you can try to fix such issues. Let’s see what those are.

1. Resetting AirPods:

A simple reset clears out any errors and fixes connection issues. Especially, when your device keeps failing to sync with your Dell laptop.

AirPods and AirPods Pro:

• Set the AirPods inside its charging box and shut it.
• Wait for 30 seconds before you open the capsule.
• Go to the Bluetooth-paired devices list and remove your AirPods by following the instructions we mentioned in the previous section.
• Start the pairing process from the beginning.

AirPods Max:

• Thumb the Digital Crown and Noise control buttons till you see a white LED light. Doing so will factory reset your AirPods Max and help sort out any glitches which may hinder the pairing process.

2. There’s no juice in the AirPods:

It could be that you didn’t charge the battery correctly or didn’t give it enough time to become sufficient for pairing. When the battery isn’t adequate, it won’t pair with your Dell laptop no matter what, so you may first put the AirPods in their charging capsule and let them charge properly to avoid issues while connecting.

3. Check if the Bluetooth is turned on:

It’s important to check if your Bluetooth is actually turned on while you are trying to pair both devices. It might be that you did turn it on; however, due to some glitch, it got turned off automatically. In this situation, restarting the laptop also helps, so your settings remain undisturbed.

4. Update your Bluetooth Driver:

You may update your Bluetooth Driver or reinstall it after uninstalling to see if the problem goes away. To do so, go to “Device Manager” and scroll down to “Bluetooth.” Beneath it, you may find the Bluetooth adapter. Right-click on it and select “Update Driver” and then choose “Search automatically for updated driver software.” Follow the on-screen instructions to finish.

To uninstall, follow the same steps, but when you right-click on the Bluetooth adapter, choose “Uninstall device.” Then shut down the laptop and turn it on again after a few seconds. The system will reinstall the driver automatically.

5. Run the Troubleshooter:

If you find that your AirPods work fine with other gadgets but only create an issue with your Dell laptop, then run the troubleshooter that helps Windows catch onto errors and fix them.

• Open “Update and Security” for Windows 10 or “System” for Windows 11.
• Scroll down to “Troubleshoot < Other troubleshooters.
• Tap on “Bluetooth.

Hopefully, it’ll resolve the issue.

Final thoughts:

You should be able to pair AirPods with your Dell laptop without any complications. However, if there are problems while connecting, you can follow our tips to diagnose and resolve the issue without much hassle.