If one AirPod is louder than the other

Weird solution but hear me out: if you have an electric toothbrush, get a replacement brush-head, keep it dry, and when this happens, use the electric toothbrush and make small little sweeps along the speakers of your AirPods. The little bristles will go into the little holes and pull out any gunk without damaging the AirPods. Done it multiple times and mine still work like brand new!

Ok so I had to blow in the other slot on the side for this to work. These are my daughters AirPods and needles to say , after I saw the amount of was I had to blow out because sucking through the big slot wouldn’t work, we had a serious conversation about her hygiene!! But sounds good as new so….

Using the balance control merely reduces the volume of the AirPod side that is louder. It does not fix the problem with the screen or port of the inner canal clogged with dry earwax. I have used Q-tips soaked in alcohol, and this worked the first time, clearing visible earwax over the screen. Be sure to have the port dependent, facing downward so the alcohol and wax do not get into the AirPod behind the screen. If we had a diagram of what the plumbing is this would be most helpful to understand what’s going on. Subsequently, months later I got the one side louder issue and this did not work, as there was no visible earwax this time. Somewhere inside the tiny canals get clogged and prevent the free flow of air. Please view the solutions of what to do with the two orifices to clear the ports of a bass reflex design being interrupted by wax, and must be cleared. There’s no access to do this directly. Good luck, and be careful. Adjusting the balance will not fix the issue but reduce the quality of sound by reducing the volume of the side that is functioning more normally.

To resolve the issue I used a toothbrush and gently rubbed the toothbrush back and forth over the speaker ports and it freed all the ear wax and my right AirPod that was not very loud was back to normal volume level. Hope this helps. I also saw others that used this method.

It is ear wax buildup that causes one earpiece to play quieter than the other.

the easiest trick: instead of pushing the dirt deeper into the mesh and towards the speaker by cleaning it with a cloth, try ‘sucking/inhaling’ the air through the main mesh - you’ll be surprised what will come out of it.

This has worked for me. I guess this will work as long as you address this issue quickly before the ear wax manages to solidify.

Yep the sucking method worked for me too. It was my right air pod 3, so first, I checked the settings to make sure I did not accidentally have one side set for higher volume, next, I cleaned the outside with alcohol and an cotton bud several times...none of that worked. So, after that I tried the sucking air through the largest opening method and can you believe it......it WORKED my air pods are like new again ! Thank you forum !

I had the same issue, with my right AirPod being quieter but not silent, and this worked. I cleaned out all of the screens with a small pick to no avail. But sucking on it and then wiping it off actually fixed it. I'm so glad I saw your comment and others' comments that said the same thing!

Hi, I can't believe I'm saying this but I was desperate as my right air pod fits much better than my left. I always keep it clean but I could barely hear out of it the last few days and tried the sucking fix...........did it several times for each speaker as came up louder the more I did it. Now as loud as before.............OMG....thought it was a joke as sounded pretty odd but it worked so well. I do suggest you clean it first with a tissue and I use the end cap (side part) of a pen which isn't sharp to clean the edges.

Thanks for the tip!

OMG i saw a comment saying to suck the airpod so that it can release the airflow and the wax stuck in the tiny holes and i cannot belive im saying this but it worked. I luaghed when doing this because this is kinda gross but **** it made a difference.

I adjusted the balance and that seem to help. As well as cleaning the AirPod with a toothbrush and a little alcohol.

Weirdly it does work, I just tried it and it works good as new. Also if sucking the wax out, try lightly cleaning the top of the speaker with a toothpick or a small tooth cleaning tool.

Cleaning out the speaker worked for me. Sucking it out worked but a qtip will probably work just as well. Thanks to all those who replied and for all the suggestions.

crazy it worked! i also used a brush from an eyebrow pencil to get the trapped wax from the corners and they sound like new!

ok so the same problem was happening with me and i simply went to settings, accessibility, audio/visual, and from there i could change how the balance of sound was

The sucking on the larger speaker genuinely works. Just try not to get wax in your mouth! 😂🙂