Did you lose your AirPods case when returning from the subway? That might be a scary prospect, considering how important they have become in your life.
While locating an AirPods case is not as easy as the earbuds themselves, you cannot rule it out as a lost property just yet.
So, let’s look at the ways to locate your earbuds case.
Here’s a complete guide on how to add AirPods to Find My iPhone.
How to Find Your Lost AirPods Case
As of now, there are 3 generations of AirPods and 2 generations of AirPods Pro. The features that differentiate the pro model from the base one are active noise cancellation and a greater battery life with the included case.
The second-gen pro model also has a U1 chip built into the case. This allows you to track the case the same way you would do to track an iPhone or an Airtag. A built-in speaker also means you can play a sound when you are nearby to help locate it better.
But if you have a vanilla AirPods or first gen AirPods Pro, the case does not give you dedicated tracking. Instead, you can only view the last location of the case when the earbuds are inside them.
Since we will focus only on finding the case, I will assume that you don’t have any earbuds on the case. In that case, you have to access the last known location of the case with the earbuds and search for it manually.
Using the Find My App on iPhone
You can use the Find My app to locate any apple device. This also includes the case for the AirPods itself. But since the case does not come with a dedicated U1 chip, you can only view its last used location.
In the event of losing the AirPods case, locate its position at the earliest. Then you have a better chance of finding it.
Locate your AirPods case using the Find My app on an iPhone using these steps:
- Open the Find My app on your iPhone.
- Tap on the Devices tab.
- From your list of devices, tap on the lost AirPods.
- On the map, you will see the last known location of the AirPods case.
- Tap on Play Sound if the case is left open. (This only applies if you have any AirPods inside the charging case)
- Press on Find to get a turn-by-turn navigation to the Airpod case’s location.
Now you have to follow the map and retrieve the Airpod’s case.
See our most recent post on can you track AirPods with Serial Numbers.
Without an iPhone (Using iCloud on mac or PC)
The Find My iPhone website was available to users long before Airpods came into existence. This serves the same purpose as the app available for iPhone. This website is available to access from any computer, whether it is running on mac OS or Windows.
You can find the location of the AirPod case when it synced the last time with the Apple servers.
Locate the AirPods position using iCloud on mac OS/Windows by these steps:
- Go to the iCloud website and log in using your username and password.
- Click on My devices and select your lost AirPods.
The map will show you the location of the case. Here is my iPhone showing up on the map on the iCloud website. I can choose to play a sound or follow the directions shown on the map.
Once you locate your AirPods case, you need to find it manually by searching the location and hope it remains there.
Follow our guide to know how far can AirPods be away from phones.
Using Lost Mode (iOS 15 and later)
With iOS 15, Apple introduced a lost mode feature that can help you to find your lost Airpods and their case. However, this only applies to the AirPods 2 Pro case.
When you mark a device as lost, Apple can search the entire FindMy network to track the lost device. When one opens the case or the earbuds, the case communicates to the Apple servers using the other person’s iPhone, and you can know the device is found.
Follow the steps to locate the AirPods/case using Lost Mode:
- Open the Find My app.
- Click the Devices tab and tap on your AirPods.
- Press Activate under Mark as lost.
- Tap on Continue on the next screen.
- On the last step, enter your phone and email to contact you in case the Airpods are found.
Now when the AirPods are located, you will get a notification on the Find My app. Using the directions, you can go can look out for the lost earbuds.
Follow our guide step-by-step to find lost AirPods that are offline.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find my Airpods case only?
For an Airpods 2 Pro case, you can use the directions and sound feature. For other AirPods, you can only view their last used location. To view the case’s location, open the Find My app > Devices > Select Airpods > Directions.
How can I find my AirPod case without AirPods inside?
An Airpods 2 Pro has a dedicated chip that you can use to view its location. However, for other AirPods, you can only view the last location of the case. You may have lost it permanently if you cannot find it there.
Can you track a dead Airpods case?
For a case that has run out of battery, the Find My app only shows the last connected location. When you know where it is, you need to search for it manually when you know where it is.
Conclusion
Many people think Airpods cases cannot be found when lost. That is partially true if you have an old Airpods model or the case battery has run out. But at least you know where to look using the Find My app.
That’s all for today. Here to hoping you get back the AirPods case sooner.
Until next time it’s goodbye.
