Airpods connected once, now won't connect, keep flashing amber. Definitely charged! Any suggestions?

I've got the same issue, just now. None of the suggested methods to pair them have succeeded. When I hold the case close to my iPhone I get a "Not your AirPods" screen, I tap "Connect", and then get another dialog that says to hold the button on the back of the case. Then I get another "Not your AirPods" screen, ad infinitum.

Any luck getting them reconnected? The AirPods no longer appear in Bluetooth settings, so I was never able to disconnect them from my iCloud account. I suspect there's some setting stored in iCloud that's not been cleared, and it's preventing the AirPods from properly reconnecting.

I figured it out – pair the earbuds one at a time.

My L earbud had a green status light, my R earbud would cause the light to blink white.

- Start with the 'green' earbud in the case, top open, near the phone

- Push the button until the green light flashes white.

- The regular "connect" menu should show up.

- Take the earbud out, test that it works.

- But both earbuds in the case

- Close the lid and wait 15 seconds

I had the same problem – my previously paired AirPods displayed a "Not Your AirPods" error message, holding the setup button didn't resolve the "Hold Button" prompt.

Also, if only the left earbud was in the case, the status light was solid green. If both earbuds (or just the right) were inserted, the status light flashed white.

The solution – pair the AirPods one at a time.

1. Insert only the 'green' earbud in the case, case lid open, near the phone.
2. Push the setup button until the green status light flashes white.
3. The regular "connect" screen shows up on the device (fixes the "Not Your AirPods" problem).
4. Connect the AirPod like usual.
5. Put the other earbud in the case.
6. Close the case lid.
7. Turn the device's Bluetooth OFF and wait 30s.
8. Hold the setup button down for 30s (closed case lid).
9. Turn the device's Bluetooth ON.
10. Open the case lid - problem solved!

I just finished a chat with apple support. They said the unit is defective and that my 3 day old airpods would need servicing. If you're encountering this problem and the above troubleshooting doesn't help you, you're in the same boat as me. Just hope they break shortly after purchase so you're not hit with a repair fee.

The thing that makes me nervous is that I'm positive they're being replaced from the same production batch.

Surprise! The AirPods paired with my iPhone. From start to finish, here's what happened.

1) unpair AirPods from iPhone

2) follow the procedure to pair AirPods (AirPods pair as "not your airpods")

3) pairing dialog hangs

4)cancel pairing

5) try to pair AirPods

5a) AirPods status light flashing white

5b) pairing dialog doesn't appear when case lid opened

5c) device doesn't appear in bluetooth menu

6) reset iPhone settings

7) attempt to pair AirPods

7a) AirPods status light flashing white

7b) pairing dialog doesn't appear when case lid opened

7c) device doesn't appear in bluetooth menu

7d) attempt paring on an iPad linked to the same iCloud account (no pairing dialog, no device in bluetooth menu)

8) give up

9) come back 3 hours later

10) open case lid, see status light flashing green

11) close AirPod case lid

12) unlock iPhone

13) open AirPod case lid, press and hold pairing button until status light flashes white

14) pairing dialog automatically appears

15) AirPods pair, become usable

The fact that two separate devices refused to acknowledge the existence of my AirPods tells me that the issue was either account related (as both devices were linked to the same account) or AirPod firmware related.

I Was having the same problem when my AirPods were not linking to my iPad like normal. I manually did the "forget this device" in the bluetooth settings (press the little "i" next to the AirPods on the bluetooth list) but nothing happened. I was about to do with the previous poster said to do and reset everything so I manually forgot the AirPods on the bluetooth setting for my iphone and as soon as I did that they appeared again under new bluetooth devices to pair. SO it was a bit easier for me. Thanks.

BeauRobert's guide worked for me.

Note that on step 4: "Connect the AirPod like usual", the screen instructed me to hold down the button on the back of the case. I had to hold if down for a long time (30 seconds) on this screen, but afterwards the phone successfully connected to one AirPod. I followed the rest of the steps and could then pair the other one too.

I must say that this experience is quite absurd and I'm just lucky to have found this thread quickly. I've had so many problems with the AirPods already that I'm considering a return.

For anyone still having issues, the fix for me was to close the AirPods case (with the ear buds inside) and wait 15 seconds. Then reopen them. If the white light is still pulsing after re-opening, then you may not have left the lid closed long enough. After doing this, when my phone prompted me to hold the button on the case down, the AirPods connected within a matter of seconds.

What to do when pressing for 15 seconds doesn't let the case flash in amber? it just stays white.

One of the pods seems to be mostly dead, when I put it into the case the normally solid green led starts flashing slowly.

from time to time the right airpod does work, but only rarely.

If the case led stays white fixed while pressing the button, then most likely than not the AirPods are still paired to one of your devices. Make sure you unpair them on all your devices. You can also check via "find my iPhone" application on iOS devices or via iCloud.com on a computer if the AirPods are still paired to your iCloud account. Another thing you might try is check which one of the two doesn't get paired, and then put only that one in the case and keep pressing the pair button on the case while having your iPhone unlocked and nearby. This latter method helped me having back the left AirPod paired.

Thanks. But now things are even worse. They still show up in icloud (even as I deleted them again from my iphone and it asked me whether it's ok to delete them, also from icloud). But they show up as offline. I have a lot of iOS devices, those I checked so far don't have airpods paired..

But not no matter how long I pres (be it 2 seconds, be it 30 seconds) the light comes on solid white, but as soon as i let go of the button the led changes immediately back to green (blinking)

Then unpair them on all your devices, otherwise they won't get in pairing mode when you press the button on the case.

If they are still showing up on your iCloud.com account, than it is so cause one of your devices has not yet received the push update from iCloud for the removal of the AirPods.

When you pair them again successfully, also change their name. This might as well also let the system have another trigger for the pairing state of the AirPods which will be pushed to all your devices.

It's more complicated to explain it via text than actually doing it.

Hm, they were still showing up on one of my iPads. Only could 'ignore' them, as they weren't connected. But even after hitting ignore, they still showed up. But when I checked the case a few seconds later, it was in fact flashing white. And when I pressed the button for 15 seconds it finally flashed amber 3 times or so. Now both pods are working for the time being (usually after 2 days or so one of them stops working again, but we'll see). Don't know if the 'igonore' helped or whether something finally timed out around the same time.

Thanks for your help.

Apple product are sometimes so 'simple' it gets really hard to debug them.

I had the same problem and it was like one of the AirPods Bluetooth beacon was "hijacked" by one of my devices. Making them play the sound from "find my iPhone" application, had the result that the "offending" device and not the AirPods was playing the sound!

Rename them, trust me on this one, and the problem won't occur you again in the next days. I was in your same situation and I also had to troubleshoot for two days. Other than that, I am very satisfied with this product and I had it for months now without experiencing any hiccup until this thing had happened.

Before redoing the unpair from all your devices, try to let them play the sound from "find my iPhone" application and check if your iPad is the one that will sound instead of the AirPods.

When I did the pair again, also, I did in my MBPro instead of the iPhone, and changed the name from there. That is done in the Bluetooth System Preferences pane on MacOS.

Most likely than not there is still one device which "hijacks" one of your AirPods.