Reset AirPods Pro or AirPods Max: Soft and hard reset explained

Are your Apple earbuds acting weird? Sometimes you need to reset your AirPods Pro, AirPods Max or regular AirPods to eliminate connection problems and other minor glitches. You have two possible courses of action: a hard reset and a soft reset.

Follow this guide to learn the difference between those two options, plus how to reset, unpair and remove the earbuds from the Find My network.

How to reset AirPods Pro

There’s a big difference between a soft reset and a hard reset. The former should fix most minor issues, while the latter is helpful when you consistently encounter connectivity or battery life problems with your earbuds. In either case, it is easy to reset AirPods Pro. Just follow the guide below.

Table of contents: How to reset AirPods Pro

AirPods Pro: Soft reset vs. hard reset explained

Soft resetting your AirPods Pro is like restarting the earbuds. This won’t unpair the earbuds from your device or disassociate them from your Apple ID. All your personalized settings remain intact. If you run into problems with the earbuds, you should first soft reset your AirPods to see if that fixes things.

Also known as a factory reset, a hard reset will restore your AirPods to factory settings. During this process, you must unpair the earbuds from your iPhone or other Apple device. This unlinks the earbuds from your iCloud account.

Soft resetting a pair of AirPods Pro is a lot easier than a hard reset. The latter also requires you to have access to the paired iPhone. A hard reset is recommended when you face severe problems with your AirPods Pro, or when you are selling them or submitting them for repair.

How to soft reset AirPods Pro

Soft resetting AirPods Pro is easy. You simply put them in their charging case and close the lid for 10 seconds. That’s it. The same method also works for regular AirPods.

If you want to soft reset AirPods Max headphones, you must press the Digital Crown and the noise control button simultaneously for 10 seconds. Let go of the buttons once the status light starts flashing amber.

How to reconnect your earbuds after a soft reset

Soft resetting your AirPods Pro won’t unpair them from your iPhone. So, you won’t have to go through the hassle of pairing them with your Apple device again. Just bring the AirPods Pro close to a previously paired device and take the earbuds out of the carrying case to reconnect them.

How to unpair AirPods Pro

Sometimes, you might want to unpair your AirPods Pro from the paired iPhone (or other Apple device). There’s no need to reset the earbuds for this. Just follow the steps below.

1. Ensure the AirPods Pro are in your ears and connected to your iPhone.
2. Open the Settings app, followed by Bluetooth.
3. Tap the i next to your AirPods Pro name.
4. Select Forget This Device from the menu that opens. Confirm your action when prompted.

This will unpair the AirPods Pro from your iPhone and remove it from all other Apple devices linked to the same Apple ID. Note that you can only pair your AirPods Pro again to a device linked with the same Apple ID as before. To link them with a new Apple account, you must remove them from the Find My app of one of the previously paired iPhones, iPads or Macs. (More on that below.)

How to hard reset AirPods Pro

You must unpair your AirPods Pro from your iPhone or other Apple device during the hard reset process. If you already did so, jump directly to step 5. I strongly recommend ensuring your AirPods Pro and their charging case have at least 50% battery before doing a hard reset.

1. Put both AirPods earbuds in the carrying case and close the lid for 30 seconds.
2. Open the lid and take out the AirPods and put them in your ears.
3. Navigate to Settings > Bluetooth on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Find your AirPods from the list of devices, then tap the i button next to its name.
4. From the menu that opens, select Forget This Device and confirm your action.
5. Put both AirPods Pro earbuds back in their charging case. Do not close the lid.
6. Press and hold the button on the back of the AirPods charging case for 15 seconds. Let go of the button when the status light starts flashing amber, followed by white.

If you don’t have access to your iPhone, start at step 5..

After successfully hard resetting your Apple earbuds, you must pair them with your iPhone or other device again. However, the device must be signed into the same Apple ID as before. To initiate the pairing, bring the earphones next to the iPhone and open the carrying case lid. A dialog box should automatically pop up on your device for pairing.

After a hard reset, your AirPods Pro will still run the latest firmware installed on them. While the hard reset will restore the earbuds to factory settings, it will not revert them to an older version of the AirPods Pro firmware.

What to do if they won’t reconnect after a hard reset

Many AirPods Pro owners report that their earbuds refuse to pair again with their iPhone after a hard reset. The status light blinks amber to reflect this. In such cases, put the AirPods back in their charging case and leave it on charge for a few hours. Then, try pairing them. If this still does not work, restart your iPhone and try again.

How to remove AirPods Pro from the Find My network

Unpairing your AirPods Pro or resetting them (soft or hard) will not remove them from your Apple ID and Find My network. You must manually remove them from the Find My app if you plan to sell the earbuds or take them in for repairs.

1. Open the Find My app from your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Any device linked to the Apple ID with which the AirPods are paired works.
2. Head to the Devices tab. Select your AirPods Pro from the list.
3. Select Remove This Device. Confirm your action by clicking Remove again.

Your AirPods Pro don’t need to be paired or close to your iPhone during this process. Once done, you can connect the earbuds to another Apple device linked to a different iCloud account. Note: You cannot remove AirPods Pro from the Find My network of a previous owner. This can only be done by the original owner.

When selling or passing your AirPods Pro to a friend or family member, it’s important that you reset the earbuds and remove them from the Find My network. Without doing the latter, the new owner won’t be able to link the earbuds to their Apple account. This is applicable for other AirPods as well, including the AirPods Max.

More AirPods basics