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How do you know if the AirPods case is charging?

As an AirPods user, I’ve often been frustrated when I’m not sure if my AirPods case is charging. To help others in the same situation, I’ve done some research and testing to figure out how to tell if the AirPods case is charging. In this blog post, I’ll share what I have learned and the solutions I have discovered.

When you first start charging the AirPods case, an orange or green light should appear for 8 seconds. An orange light means that it is charging and a green light means that it is already fully charged.

Tips
Orange light means charging
Green light means fully charged
No light: charger off, broken cable or case
When using wireless charger, light should face towards you
If light appears but AirPods don’t charge, there could be a problem with the AirPods

How do you know if the AirPods case is charging?

When you plug the lightning cable into the AirPods case or put the case on the charging mat, you should see an orange or green light appear for 8 seconds.

An orange light means that the case is charging and a green light means that the case is fully charged already.

You can also see how much charge the AirPods case has by opening it near an iPad or iPhone.

Read more: Can I mute my AirPods?

AirPods pro case

Why isn’t my AirPods case charging?

If your AirPods case is not charging when you plug the lightning cable, it could be due to these reasons:

Charger not turned on

It might simply be the case that the plug you are using to charge the AirPods case is not turned on and it would help to check that it is turned on.

Additionally, if you are charging your AirPods case via a computer, it might be because the USB port actually stops sending power when the computer goes to sleep.

This would be more likely if the case does charge when the computer is turned on.

Broken cable

Another possible reason is that the cable is broken.

It would help to see if you are able to charge other devices using the same cable. If they do not charge, it means that it is actually the cable that is broken.

Broken case

If the plug is definitely turned on and not broken and the lightning cable is also not broken, it means that it is likely that the case itself is broken.

In this case, it would be necessary to buy a replacement case.

Read more: Can you overcharge AirPods?

Why isn’t my AirPods case wirelessly charging?

If your AirPods case is not charging wirelessly, here are a number of possible reasons.

Wrong charging mat

It might be the case that you are trying to charge the case using a charging mat that is not compatible with the AirPods case.

The charging mat should be Qi-certified and all of the Apple wireless chargers do work with the AirPods wireless charging case.

If you are using a third-party charging mat, it could be the case that it is the wrong type of mat. It would help to see if any reviews of the charging mat are saying that they had difficulty charging Apple devices.

Wrong AirPods case

The first-gen AirPods came with a wired-only charging case. The second-gen AirPods could either come with a non-wireless or a wireless charging case.

The third-gen AirPods come with a wireless charging case. The AirPod pros used to come with a non-wireless charging case, but they now come with a wireless charging case.

If your AirPods case has a light on the front, it will be a wireless charging case.

Placing the case down wrong

It might also be the case that you have been placing the charging case down incorrectly on the charging mat.

When placing the case down, you should place it so that the light on the case is facing towards you.

Broken AirPods case

It might be the case that the AirPods case is broken. This would be more likely if you can’t even charge it via lightning cable and if other devices do charge normally on that charging mat.

Broken charging mat

It might also be the case that the charging mat is broken.

It would help to try charging a different device on the charging mat and to see if that device is able to charge or not. If not, it means that it is the mat that is at fault.

The case is actually charging

The light on the AirPods case only lights up for a few seconds when you place it on the charging mat.

If you see that the light does appear when you place the case on the mat, it means that that case is actually charging. An orange light means that it is not at full power and a green light means that it is at full power.

If the light is appearing and the case is actually being charged, it might actually mean that there is a problem with the AirPods.

It might be the case that you are placing the AirPods in the case incorrectly, there is debris in the case resulting in your AirPods not being charged or that the AirPods themselves are broken.

However, this would not be the case if they do charge if you charge the case via lightning cable.