Is the LED light on your AirPods flashing orange? If that is the case, this guide will come in handy because you’ll learn how to fix AirPods with orange flashing lights.
A blinking orange light means that your AirPods are not pairing properly with your iPhone or the firmware is different on each AirPod and that they need to be reset and then paired again.
It could also mean that you’ve got a fake pair of AirPods. Read this article on how to spot fake AirPods.
Note that the fixes explained in this article also work when using an iPad with your AirPods.
What Do AirPods Lights mean?
But before we get into the fixes, here is a quick guide on what the LED light on your AirPods case means.
When your AirPods are in their case, the LED indicates the status of your AirPods. When they are not in their case, the LED indicates the status of the case itself.
With AirPods in Case:
- A solid green light means that the case is fully charged. If the case was connected to a power source, you could safely disconnect it.
- A solid amber light means that the case is not fully charged. It’s time to charge it up.
- A flashing amber light (as we’ll discuss in this guide) means that your AirPods are not pairing with your iPhone or another device.
- A flashing white light means your AirPods are ready to be set up with a device.
- A flashing green light means the case might not detect one of your AirPods.
With AirPods Outside of the Case:
- A solid green light means your case has at least one full charge left for your AirPods.
- A solid amber light means that your case has less than one full charge left for your AirPods.
How to Fix AirPods Flashing Orange
If your AirPods are flashing orange, you need to charge your AirPods as they might be running low on battery.
As mentioned earlier, a flashing or blinking orange light could indicate connectivity issues with your AirPods.
If you experience any connectivity problems, you can try a few things to address them. Below, we discuss several methods for stopping your AirPods or AirPods Pro from flashing orange.
1. Clean Your AirPods
Before we dive into more technical troubleshooting tips, you’ll start by cleaning your AirPods.
Dirt and debris can cause contact problems inside the charging case, resulting in issues preventing your AirPods from charging, which explains the blinking orange light.
Cleaning your AirPods is simple and easy. But you need to ensure you do it properly to avoid any damage.
You’ll need a few things to clean your AirPods:
- Cotton swabs
- Toothpicks
- Rubbing alcohol
- Microfiber cloth or toothbrush
Here’s how you should clean your AirPods or AirPods Pro:
- Apply some rubbing alcohol to the end of the cotton swab. Use it to clean the speakers’ meshes gently.
- Remove the silicone ear tips from AirPods Pro and rub them with a microfiber cloth lightly dampened with alcohol.
- The rubbing alcohol will remove earwax and debris.
- Use a toothpick and carefully remove debris or earwax from the speaker grills and around the edges of the AirPods.
- Finish by cleaning the case with the microfiber cloth dampened with alcohol.
- Allow AirPods to dry completely before placing them back in their charging case.
Cleaning your AirPods not only can fix the flashing orange light but also can fix it when one AirPod is louder than the other or if the mic does not work. Are your AirPods still flashing orange? Move on to the next step.
1. Reset Your AirPods and Pair them Again With Your iPhone
The first step you will take to fix your AirPods flashing orange is resetting them. It takes about a minute and will save you a trip to the Apple Store. The steps below will show you how.
First, disconnect and then reset your AirPods.
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > Bluetooth and then look for your AirPods in the device list.
- Tap the “i” button next to your AirPods and choose “Forget This Device.”
- Put your AirPods back in their charging case.
- Close the lid.
- Re-open the lid.
- Press and hold the setup button on the back of the charging case until the status light flashes amber, and then continue to hold the button until it flashes white.
When you have done this, reconnect your iPhone to your AirPods by following these steps.
- Go to the Home screen on your iPhone. Hold it close to your AirPods while they are still in their case, with the lid open and the LED flashing white. Holding it right next to them is the best thing.
- Wait for the screen on your iPhone to display an animation of your AirPods, and then look for the connect button at the bottom of the screen.
- Select “Connect” and wait while they’re being reconnected.
- When the process has finished, select “Done.”
You should now be up and running again with a pair of reconnected AirPods.
Please note that if you previously made any custom settings for your AirPods, you will need to make them again after this procedure.
If this has not worked…
If the above fix has not worked for you, you need to charge either your AirPods or both your AirPods and their case. The first thing to do is to work out what you need to charge.
- Take your AirPods out of their case and look at the LED on the case.
- Your case is sufficiently charged if it is a solid green color. Go to the next section on recharging your AirPods.
- Your case is not sufficiently charged if it is a solid amber color. Skip the next section and go to the section on recharging your AirPods and AirPod case.
If you still have problems resetting your AirPods and the steps above don’t seem to work, try our guide for troubleshooting AirPods that won’t reset.
2. Recharge Your AirPods
Go back to the first procedure on resetting your AirPods and pairing them again with your cellphone.
This time, after you have put your AirPods back in their case and closed the lid, leave them there for about twenty minutes before carrying on with the rest of the procedure.
After you finish the procedure, your AirPods should be reconnected.
If this has not worked, you should also try recharging your AirPods and AirPod case. Go to the next section.
3. Recharge Your AirPods and AirPods Case
For any of the existing AirPods models, the orange light indicates it’s time to charge them. If your AirPods still flash orange, charging them might resolve the issue.
Follow the steps below to charge your AirPods.
- Put your AirPods in the case and close the lid.
- Plug the Lightning cable into the Lightning connector on the bottom of the case, then plug the other end of the cable into a USB charger or computer port.
- If your AirPods case can charge wirelessly, place it on a wireless charging mat with the status light facing up and the lid closed.
- Wait for about one hour.
You can check whether your AirPods are charging by bringing them closer to your iPhone and opening the lid. There should be a window on your screen showing the battery status.
After this, go back to our first section on resetting your AirPods and pairing them again with your cellphone. Re-start the procedure from the beginning, and hopefully, you will be okay.
If none of the previous fixes have worked for you, it could be an issue with the device you are trying to pair with your AirPods. One good thing to try is to restart this device. If you are using an iPhone or iPad, the instructions are below.
4. Restart Your iPhone or iPad
Close any apps you are using and then restart your iPhone following this procedure:
- Hold the power button until the red slider appears on the screen, then slide it across to shut down the device.
- Wait a few moments, and then power back up your device.
After this, go back to our first section on resetting your AirPods and pairing them again with your cellphone. Restart the procedure from the beginning, and hopefully, you will be okay.
5. Update AirPods Firmware
If none of the above fixes have worked for you, then your AirPods have a different firmware.
Unfortunately, there are no clear guidelines on how to force update the AirPods firmware. So, here’s what you need to do.
Put one AirPod into the case and connect it to your Apple device. Listen to some music for about 5 or 10 minutes, then put the paired AirPod away. Grab the other AirPod and repeat this step.
Now, put both AirPods into the charging case with the lid open and connect the case to a power source for one hour or so with the iPhone sitting next to them. Then, close the case and leave it in charge for another hour.
Go to your phone’s Bluetooth settings and remove the two AirPods you separately connect and sync with your device in the steps above.
Open the case and pair your AirPods as you normally would. The amber light in your AirPods case should turn white, indicating they’ve fully reset.
6. Contact Apple Support
If all else fails, contact Apple Support. While Apple Support initially seems intimidating, it is easy to follow.
To help you with that, here is a great Gotechtor article with more insight on how to contact Apple Support.
Final Thoughts on AirPods Flashing Orange
Hopefully, that annoying orange light has disappeared by now, and you can now listen to your favorite music or watch your favorite shows without worries.
I hope this assisted you in fixing your AirPods blinking orange. If you solved the problem with any other solution, please share it in the comments section.
Thank you
You’re welcome, Dan.
Gosh! Thank you to the MOON!!! I was about to flush my AirPods and I found your help site and this saved them : )
Thank you for a very easy guide, with multiple problematic stop points and what to do and they worked magically!
Thanks again!!
MS
You’re very welcome, Melissa. I’m glad you found this article helpful.
This was very helpful for me! Thank you 🙂
Hi Geir, you’re welcome. Happy to help 👍👍👍
Thank you I was able to fix my Earbuds that were only playing in one ear and had a flashing orange light using this procedure.
You’re very welcome, Joni. I’m glad you found this article helpful.
Super! This fixed my problem where I could pair one AirPod or the other, but not both after I got the orange flashing light. I had to follow the straightforward but time-consuming procedure at the end of the article. Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Robert. I’m glad you found this article helpful.
Thank you so much!! I thought my air pod would never connect again! But my case just needed some charging to reset!! Your the best 🙂
You’re very welcome, Deanna. I’m glad you found this article helpful.
Does it have to be open for 1 whole hour?
Hi Josh, not necessarily. 45 minutes should be fine. Let me know if you need further help.
When I open my case the LED automatically flashes amber…I’m not sure how to fix this, I tried to reset my AirPods but they won’t reconnect to my iPhone. Does this mean I just need to get new AirPods?
Hi Olive, Did you try to update your AirPods firmware?
Thank You, Herbie, for this excellent set of instructions.
Can you please clarify what you mean with “sync with your device in the steps above”?
THANK YOU
Andreas
You’re very welcome, Andreas. We’re glad you found this guide helpful. It simply means sharing the same data across your AirPods and iPhone.
Nope none worked still flashing amber as soon as you open them. Not even the last pairing helped :/
My AirPods don’t have a white light and once I paired to my Android Bluetooth both AirPods pop up and connect one but disconnect the other one so does it say next to my Airpods settings icon only (unpair) once I (unpair) both they keep popping up.
Hi Conley-Ann, I’d very much like to help you, but I’m having a hard time following you. Please, try to clarify your question. Thanks!
The firmware updating worked! When I saw the blinking white light I couldn’t believe it. Nice job man, thank you! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Hi Tim, you’re welcome. Happy to help.
Ok I was thinking this was gonna help but then it didn’t and i’ve tried it 3 times and it keeps flashing the orange light and one of my airpods still doesn’t work. What the heck do I do?
Hey Payton, Sorry to hear that. In that case, you may need to take a trip to your nearest Apple Store.
‘I got one AirPods paired, but when I try to pair the next one it doesn’t pop up on my device to pair/connect. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Jessica, try to charge your AirPods and see if that helps. Maybe one of your AirPods is out of battery. Let me know how it goes.