Maximum amount of AirTags

Trying to setup my son’s AirTag, we have tried ALL of these options (not removed the watch). The error we get is “Maximum Items Added” but he only has 3 items connected to his Apple ID (watch, AirPod Pros, iPad)! I removed Bluetooth connections (non-Apple laptop & AirPod Pros), rebooted phone and still get same error… his Tag will connect to my phone just fine! Any other possibilities to try?

I’m pretty sure he has removed his watch as well with no success. He will be returning to school this weekend, there’s an Apple store nearby, he plans to go there to inquire.

thanks for the suggestion!

Pancake Bill, have you read through the earlier posts? Turning off Bluetooth won't help. (What else have you tried, since that's all you were specific about?) Removing ("forgetting") any AirPod devices should allow you install all 16 AirTags. Then reconnect the AirPods--after all 16 AirTags are connected. Do make sure your iOS is up-to-date first, of course.

I have removed AirPods and tried. That didn’t work. I have taken the new AirTag far away from the other connected AirTags in case they were interfering. That didn’t work. I did a hard reset on iPhone. That didn’t work. I turned off Bluetooth. That didn’t work. I am running latest iOS on an iPhone 13 Pro Max. Nothing has worked.

Pancake Bill, do you have another iOS device--iPad, iPod, etc.--you could try pairing the AirTags with? Or even a friend's iPhone to test your AirTags (then unpairing from that after the test). The other thing to possibly try is to remove all your AirTags and start over. Before that, however, did you reset the not-yet-paired AirTags before trying to pair them--removing the battery something like five times until you hear a different sound? Instructions for this are on the Apple website. Also consider rebooting your phone right before you try to pair again.

Hey here’s a tip if you tried removing your air pods first and it still doesn’t let you afterwards.. reconnect one of them and then remove it from Bluetooth once again, force close find me app and then re open it and try pairing AirTag again. It worked for me, definitely a software glitch

I FOUND A SOLUTION!! … I think lol

So I have been getting this error for over a week and gave up on a fix. I only had 4 tags was trying to add 5th and said I had to remove one.

I removed one then it gave me the message again but then I only had 3 connected.

randomly I opened my iPad and it asked if I wanted to connect to the tag I said yes and it worked! I added the tags to my apple account on my iPad instead of my phone (both obviously logged in to same apple account).

I then tried to add on phone but wouldn’t work there. I don’t know why my iPad lets me add but because they share it now is on my phone too!!! Totally random chance to find a fix but it worked!!

I spent time reading for a solution and even with Apple Tech Support and still no resolution.

Well I found one that will work hopefully for you all with this issue.

I signed out of ICloud, then signed back in. It them recognized my Apple Tag and I was able to get it connected.

Unfortunately, you have to sign out and sign back in to activate each one or new one. Only took a few minutes but at least the 3 Apple Tags I was having this issue with are all connected again

Hopefully this helps some of you out there

After a lot of tries i have read something related to the airpods.

So i tried and worked for me.

Removed the airpod from the account, and i could activate the airpods i wana to and was not able to the error mentioned above.

After that done sucessfully, added the airpod again.

@apple new change for the next version. 15.3.1 does not solve it.

Ok, so I found the answer to this question. I’m going to save you a LOT of time and hassle. I called Apple Technical Support and they had me literally signing out of all my devices and having my iPhone forget them, etc. That took me hours to get things connected back up with Bluetooth etc. and in the end, their fix did not work! First things first, I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and I had 15 AirTags in my Apple Find My app. I had one more AirTag that I needed to get activated and I got the same error message as above. Before you wipe out your phone and start blanking devices - stop! Check your devices section of the Find My app. I have 3 different sets of AirPods. I have an original set, a set of AirPod Pros and a set of AirPod Pro Max headphones. I had gone to each pair of headphones and had them removed from the Find My app and, originally, that did not work. I think there are some factors at play in my situation that may be helpful. Since I’ve spent the past month and a half unsuccessfully trying to get this resolved, I hope to save some fellow Apple family the same frustration!

First, make sure your software is up to date on your iphone.

Second, take the AirTag you are having trouble getting to pair and remove the backing cover off of it and remove the battery. Place the battery back in the AirTag and press down on the battery until you hear a chirp. Do this 4 more times (a total of 5 times) and you will hear a different chirping sound than the other times. At that time, replace the backing cover and you have successfully restarted/reset your AirTag.

Go into your Bluetooth app on your iphone and select your AirPods info (the circle around the lower case i ) and select forget this device. Repeat this for each set of AirPods you have. You DO NOT need to do this for any other devices that connect via BlueTooth. You don’t need to do this for your Apple Watch or your iPad, etc. Don’t waste your time.

Once you have gone through Bluetooth on your phone and forgotten your AirPods, then open the Find My app and then select each AirPod and select Forget This Device from that location. Do this only for each AirPod on your Find My app. No need to forget any other device.

After you do that, turn off your phone.

Now here’s something that I did that was different that may actually make a difference for you! I took only my iphone and my 16th AirTag outside. I walked out into my driveway to get away from the myriad of other Apple devices in my house that could potentially interfere. I have 3 AirPods in the house, an iPad, a MBP and an iMac. I wanted no other interference. I did have on my Apple Watch and a Fitbit that connect via Bluetooth to my phone, but they didn’t interfere. Once I was a good 10 yards away from all other Apple devices, I powered my iPhone back on. I brought the AirTag out of my pocket and when the AirTag showed up in the lock screen of my iPhone, I tapped connect and it immediately began the set up process. I was stunned because I have been negatively conditioned to nothing working and getting that annoying error message. Anyhow I was able to set up the 16th AirTag and then add all my AirPods back to my Bluetooth and Find My accounts.

Whew!

Did you resolve this issue? I’m getting the same message just trying to set up a second air tag.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirTag

"Each Apple ID is limited to 16 AirTags.[7]"

Same, I’m on the third airtag