Airpods is unarguably one of the most popular pair of wireless earphones among Apple users, and while it’s a promising piece of tech, it’s not without its failures.
One of the more common issues that users come across is ‘Airpods mic not working’ and if you’ve already tried cleaning the earphones and taken care of any debris around the microphone (ideally with a dry lint-free cloth), here are six methods that will help you resolve the error.
Charge your Airpods fully
Quite often, the issue is caused by a low battery on both or either one of the Airpods earpieces. Try charging your Airpods to full and see if it fixes the issue.
To charge your Airpods, make sure your case is charged or connected to a charger, and put the earpieces in the case.
How to check the battery of AirPods?
When you connect your Airpods, the battery life of the pair and the case will appear in a window in the bottom-half of your iPhone’s display.
Alternatively, you can also check the battery of your Airpods using the Batteries widget on phones running iOS 14 or newer. If you don’t see the battery widget, follow the steps mentioned below to add a battery widget and view the battery of your Airpods.
- Swipe right on the home screen to get to the widgets page.
- Scroll down to the bottom and tap on Edit.
- Look for the Batteries widget and tap on the green ‘+’ sign followed by Done to add it to the widget page.
You’ll now be able to see the battery percentage of your iPhone and all the devices connected to it, including the Airpods.
On Mac
If you don’t have access to your iPhone, click on the Bluetooth icon from the toolbar at the top and then select your connected Airpods to see the battery level of the earphones and case.
Also read: How to know if your AirPods are real?
Reset and reconnect your AirPods
If the ‘Airpods microphone not working’ issue continues to hamper your experience even after trying to charge the Airpods fully, you can try reconnecting them to your device and see if that fixes the issue. Follow the steps mentioned below to reset and reconnect your Airpods.
- Open your iPhone or iPad’s settings and tap on the Bluetooth option.
- On the next page, tap on the ‘i’ icon beside the name of your Airpods.
- Then tap on Forget This Device and confirm your action by selecting Forget Device from the prompt that pops-up at the bottom of the screen.
Now put your Airpods back in the case and close it for about 15 seconds. Then open the case, press and hold the setup button at the back until you see an orange light, followed by a white light, which indicates that the Airpods have been successfully reset.
Follow the steps mentioned below to reconnect your Airpods.
- To reconnect your Airpods, switch on the Bluetooth of your iPhone, and open the lid of the Airpods case with both the devices in close vicinity.
- You’ll see a setup animation pop-up.
- Tap on Connect and then on Done.
Also read: Why is your AirPods blinking orange? How to fix it?
Check your Airpods one at a time
People often use only one of the Airpods to take calls and even listen to music, especially when in the office or working otherwise. It’s entirely possible that the earphone you’re using is malfunctioning.
Try using the other to see if there’s a problem with only one of them or both because that will come in handy if and when you contact Apple Support.
You can use a single earphone of the Airpods by keeping the other one in the case.
Use a Bluetooth adapter (Mac)
If you’ve been facing the ‘Airpods microphone not working’ issue while using them with your Mac, and they seem to be working fine with your iPhone, you might want to consider investing in an external Bluetooth adapter as your Mac’s built-in one might be malfunctioning.
Also read: Can you turn off the AirPods case?
Update your drivers and firmware
It has been found by several users online that faulty or outdated drivers, as well as firmware, could be causing the issue. Check to see if there’s a firmware or driver update and follow through.
Contact Apple Support
If none of the aforementioned fixes for ‘Airpods mic not working’ issue works, your last resort remains to get in touch with Apple support.
If your Airpods are in warranty, Apple will replace them for free (mostly) but if the warranty period has elapsed you’ll need to pay for either one or both Airpods, depending on the damage.