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Why won’t my AirPods disconnect from my Mac?

I recently purchased a pair of AirPods and was excited to use them with my Mac. However, I quickly became frustrated when I couldn’t disconnect them from my Mac. After trying a few troubleshooting steps with no luck, I decided to do some more research to find out what was causing this issue. In this blog post, I’ll share what I discovered and the steps I took to finally get my AirPods to disconnect from my Mac.

Tips:

  • To disconnect your AirPods from your Mac, click on the AirPods on the Bluetooth menu.
  • To get your AirPods to switch to other devices, click to connect the AirPods when the popup appears on the screen of the other devices, then try putting your Mac to sleep.
  • To reset and reconnect your AirPods to your Mac, open the “System Preferences” app, click the Bluetooth button, right-click on your AirPods and forget them from your Mac, put your AirPods in the case, open the lid, hold the button for 15 seconds until the light flashes orange a few times then white, and re-pair your AirPods to your Mac by clicking on them from the Bluetooth menu.

Switching between devices

AirPods have a feature that allows you to switch them between Apple devices based on which device you are using.

When you start using a different Apple device, a popup should appear asking you if you want to connect your AirPods to the device. If you click to connect the AirPods, it should result in your AirPods switching to that device.

I have found that this does not always work when you are trying to switch from a Mac to a different device and it seems to be due to a bug.

However, one workaround seems to be that, if you put your Mac or Macbook to sleep, it results in the AirPods switching to the other device.

Click on the AirPods in the Bluetooth menu

To disconnect your AirPods, you can click on them on the Bluetooth menu on your Mac or Macbook.

To get the Bluetooth menu to Appear, click on the control center icon on the top right of the screen (the button to the left of the Siri icon).

Put AirPods in the case

Another way to disconnect your AirPods is to simply put them in the case.

Read more: Why can’t my AirPods detect my ear?

Reset and reconnect

It would also help to try resetting and reconnecting your AirPods to your Mac. To do this, do the following:

  1. Open the “System Preferences” app on your Mac
  2. Click the Bluetooth button
  3. Right-click on your AirPods and forget them from your Mac
  4. Put your AirPods in the case
  5. Open the lid
  6. Hold the button for 15 seconds until the light flashes orange a few times then white
  7. Re-pair your AirPods to your Mac by clicking on them from the Bluetooth menu

Read more: How to get Alexa to repeat a song?

AirPods
AirPods

How do I disconnect my AirPods from my Mac?

To disconnect your AirPods from your Mac, click on the AirPods on the Bluetooth menu by clicking on the Control Center icon on the top right of the screen, then click “Bluetooth” then click on your AirPods.

To get them to automatically switch to other devices, click to connect the AirPods when the popup appears on the screen of the other devices, then try putting your Mac to sleep.

It would also help to try resetting and reconnecting your AirPods to your Mac as explained above.

Pros of using AirPods with Mac

  • Easy to connect and use
  • High sound quality

Cons of using AirPods with Mac

  • Expensive
  • Automatic switching does not always work so well