If one AirPod is louder than the other

I have just “sucked” my left AirPod which I was not using for couple of weeks and it was much quieter than the right one. And... it worked. Thank you so much! That is why I love Apple and it’s community. You will always find solution.

Ohhhh Yes!!!! The sucking worked. After a year of not using the Airpods, i decided to look on the internet for solutions. This was the first one i came across and it work. I am elated. Please try it. Thanks whoever discovered the simple solution.

Lmaoo dude I swear. I thought that was so silly when I first read it. Even left and looked for other answers, but then I was like why not. Well, had to comeback here and testify that this works haha. Thanks!

I kept reading that it could be a wax build up which grossly made sense so I tried the gunk squares first-but you have to be super careful bc it’s the consistency of gum so it can slightly get stuck n the mesh. Worked ok cleaning the outer areas but I think they actually pushed the wax in! Couldn’t even hear out of the right one anymore. Saw a bunch of people doing this weird sucking method...IT TOTALLY WORKED. I dabbed a q tip with hydrogen peroxide to the mesh (super carefully bc they aren’t water proof)...it breaks the wax down Then sucked til I felt air. Did it lightly once more then dabbed with a dry q tip and soft cloth. PRESTO...like new!!!!

As you've probably seen by sucking on the main speaker hole until you can feel the air flowing though, this works! I had an issue where my left AirPod was significantly quieter than the right. Tried this and its now as loud as it was when I first got it. I highly recommend giving them a good clean down with a wetwipe and a cotton bud unless you want to taste earwax.

Yeah, I can't believe it but sucking the big speaker on the quieter Airpod really does work. Prior to reading this thread I returned my Airpods to the Apple Store 4 times!! They kept returning me new Airpods and telling me to update the software on my computer, which had nothing to do with this issue and was patronizing. I finally took things into my own hands and looked up this thread and saw this response. Completely changed everything for me. I'd be going crazy right now during Coronavirus lockdown if I had this issue and didn't know about this trick unable to go to the Apple Store to get them replaced.

Apple, if you're reading this, give this man a medal.

Wow !

i just tried this because my obnoxious boyfriend’s AirPods had the same issue and he blamed me for holding it in my hand and putting in his case.

came here and saw this and tried and it worked. What a relief.

i almost became that person that ruined her boyfriend’s left AirPod.

Thanks for the suggestion!! OK so I couldn’t get myself to suck the wax out so instead, used a clean toothbrush first to brush the wax away. It got all the caked wax off the main speaker with the screen. And my AirPod is back in business.. My son had a similar problem where one AirPod was much lower than the other. There was no build up and we took it into Apple and they replaced the one side for free after they tested it out.. it was still under warranty.

I tried the sucking method, but it didn't exactly work. First, I did a general cleaning, getting any dirt out. Next, I used a bit of kneaded eraser (flexible rubber used for drawing) and put in in the speakers (all of them, there's more than two!) and saw that dirt was visibly getting removed. After placing the rubber several times in each speaker until no dirt was visible, I checked the volume - they're the same!!

This is kind of like using a cleaning putty, so try that too!!

I've never logged into this site for anything, and seriously just went through the channels of doing so just to thank you. Thought I had a faulty left side, this method 100% works.

Thanks for essentially giving me a new left side AirPod :D

I’ve tried all of the answers but left AirPod is still louder than the right one 😩 but when I reduced the left side volume in Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual it now seems a bit equal.

Anyone with a better solution please help

I had the exact same issue, my left airpod was considerably quieter than my right one. Sucking untill you feel a good airflow as gross as it sounds worked perfectly, i do it every 2/3 weeks now and ive noticed my airpods staying loud and crisp!

Don’t know if my problem is the exact same as yours, but you could give this a try anyways. (A little context) Last night I realized that I’d been living with my right AirPod being louder than the left for about a month, and I had neglected to do anything about it. I decided at around midnight yesterday, that it was time for a change. I cleaned my AirPods, and got all of the ear wax and gunk out with a toothpick, very gently and carefully. I cleaned the main speaker, along with all of the other holes. I put them back in and noticed that while they both sounded better and more clear, the left was still much quieter. I then reset them, once again, no change whatsoever. (Solution) Finally, in a desperate attempt to restore my beloved AirPods, I put my mouth around the large speaker on the AirPod, and sucked on it until air came through. I did the same with the other one until I could feel air come through as well. To my joyous surprise, they had the exact same volume, both sounded much more clear and had better bass. No material came out when I sucked, but I went ahead and got a few tiny little bits of earwax out with the toothpick again. This may be disgusting, but it absolutely restored my AirPods!

I was very hesitant to do this... VERY hesitant- but it works. The sound was perfectly restored! I would recommend giving it a good clean before, though. Thankfully didn’t inhale ear wax, I think it’s a pretty good idea even though it sounds a bit strange.

It’s absolutely disgusting but I tried all the other technical fixes which didn’t work so tried the sucking technique and now it works like new and volumes back to normal. My fault occurred after attempting to clean so can only assume this actually blocks the black covers and dampens the sound