How to fix Bluetooth pairing problems

Make sure Bluetooth is turned on. You should see the little Bluetooth symbol at the top of your phone’s screen. If you don’t, go into the settings to enable it.

Determine which pairing process your device employs. The process for pairing devices can vary. Sometimes, for example, it involves tapping a code into your phone. Other times, you can just physically touch your phone to the device you want to pair it with.  If you’re not sure how to pair a device, refer to its user guide.





Turn on discoverable mode. Let’s say you want to pair your phone with your car’s infotainment system, go into your phone’s settings and tap on Bluetooth. Then depress the buttons on your car’s infotainment system, usually on the steering wheel or center stack, to get it looking for the device.

Once it finds your phone, the car may ask for a numeric code you need to confirm or input on your phone. After you do so, the devices should be paired.

Make sure the two devices are in close enough proximity to one another.  Make sure any devices you’re trying to pair are within five feet of one other.

Power the devices off and back on. A soft reset sometimes can resolve an issue. With phones, an easy way to do this is by going into and out of airplane mode.

 Remove likely interferers.  If a Bluetooth device was previously paired with something else, turn off that other gadget before attempting to pair with another gadget.

 Charge up both devices you’re trying to pair. Some devices have smart power management that may turn off Bluetooth if the battery level is too low. If your phone isn’t pairing, make sure it and the device you’re trying to pair with have enough battery.

Delete a device from a phone and rediscover it. If your phone sees a device but isn’t receiving data from it, sometimes it helps to start from scratch. In iOS settings, you can remove a device by tapping on its name and then Forget this Device. In Android settings, tap on a device’s name, then  Unpair. After removing a device, start all over.

Move away from the Wi-Fi router. Another potential obstacle to successful pairing is interference from devices that use the same spectrum, such as your Wi-Fi router.   It might not be a good idea to have your devices directly on top of the router.

Move away from a USB 3.0 port.  Interference from USB 3.0 is also possible.  Newer laptops, for example, often have the higher-speed USB 3.0 port, so if the connection isn’t happening, try pairing your Bluetooth gadgets away from the computer.

Make sure the devices you want to pair are designed to connect with each other. Whether it’s a headset, speaker, mouse, keyboard, camera or something else, your device has a specific profile that spells out what it can connect with. If you’re not sure, check the user manual.

 Download a driver. If you’re having problems pairing something with your PC, you might be lacking the correct driver. The simplest way to figure this out is to do an online search for the name of the device you’re trying to pair along with the word “driver.”

Update the hardware’s firmware. Some automotive audio systems recently wouldn’t pair with the iPhone 5, for example, because the Bluetooth drivers in these systems didn’t work with Bluetooth 4.0. If you’re not sure how to get the latest firmware for your hardware, check with the device manufacturer.

Keep in mind that not all wireless devices use Bluetooth. Alternatives include the Wireless Gigabit specification, Wireless HD, ANT+, ZigBee, NFC as well as Wi-Fi Direct. These other technologies typically won’t work with your phone, tablet or PC without some kind of additional hardware.