There are several reasons why your iPhone or iPad won’t connect to Bluetooth. These include software glitches or a problem with the Bluetooth device. We’ll show you various solutions that’ll help you fix the problem but before you try them, here are a few things to set first:
- Ensure your Bluetooth is enabled
- Charge your iPhone or iPad and the device you want to pair it with
- Ensure the devices are all close to each other
- Stand away from your WiFi router or USB ports as these cause Bluetooth interference
- Turn off any devices that you recently paired with or disable Bluetooth on it
How to fix iPhone or iPad won’t connect to Bluetooth
Enable Bluetooth
As obvious as it seems, you may have disabled Bluetooth and this may cause your devices not to connect. To do this, go to Settings>Bluetooth and turn it on. You can also open the control center and tap the Bluetooth icon to turn it on.
Enable WiFi and Airplane/Flight mode
Sometimes toggling WiFi or Airplane/Flight mode on and off can help resolve the Bluetooth connection issue on your iPhone or iPad. Tap WiFi to turn it on, and do the same for airplane/flight mode icon on the control center or via Settings.
Restart iPhone or iPad and Bluetooth accessory
To restart your iPhone or iPad, press and hold sleep/wake button, and drag the slider to power it off. Once it’s off, press and hold sleep/wake button again to turn it on and restart your Bluetooth accessory too and then try pairing them again.
Hard reset
To do this:
- Press and hold sleep/wake and Home button simultaneously for about 20 seconds until the Apple logo appears.
- Open Settings>Bluetooth
- Turn it off and on again
Forget device
You can forget a device and pair it again by doing this:
- Open Settings>Bluetooth and check the device from the list
- Find the device you can’t connect to
- Tap (i) info button and tap Forget this device
- Pair the devices again via Bluetooth
Reset network settings
To do this:
- Open Settings>General>Reset
- Select Reset network settings
- Enter passcode and tap reset network settings
Update iPhone or iPad software
To do this:
- Connect to WiFi and power outlet for at least 50 percent battery charge
- Open Settings>General
- Tap Software update and then tap Install now
Reset Settings
To do this:
- Open Settings>General>Reset
- Now tap Reset all settings
- Enter passcode and tap reset all settings
This gives restores settings to factor defaults but doesn’t delete any data.
Restore iPhone or iPad to factory settings
- You can do this via iTunes by doing the following:
- Open iTunes and connect your device to a computer
- Select the device on iTunes and tap Restore iPhone or Restore iPad in summary panel
- Click Restore
iTunes will wipe your device and install the latest OS version and after a restart, it’ll set it up as new.
Elsie is a tech writer with 8+ years professional experience. For Tech News Watch, she brings rich experience contributing to topics such as Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS among others. In her spare time, she loves checking out the latest tech trends, gadgets, and news, listening to music and cars.