Losing your AirPods is inconvenient and frustrating, but it is easy to do. Luckily, Apple makes it easy to recover your AirPods, but only under the right circumstances. So, can reset AirPods be tracked?
Reset AirPods cannot be tracked because they will no longer be paired to your devices. You can only track AirPods when they are connected to your iPhone or iPad via iCloud and the free Find My app. Your AirPods will appear as a green dot on the map indicating their location if they aren’t reset.
Nobody can remove your AirPods from your Find My app unless they have your account information. However, somebody resetting your AirPods is the equivalent of removing your AirPods from the Find My app in many ways. Follow along as we explore how you can track your AirPods.
Using the Find My App
The Find My app is easy to use as long as you are signed into your iCloud account. This app lets you find any of your connected Apple devices via a map that can display their location. It also lets you mark your AirPods as lost and even provides a message for whoever finds them.
Make sure that you are logged into your iCloud account and open the Find My app. Click on the Devices section and scroll through it to find your AirPods and other connected Apple devices. Select your AirPods and a map should appear that shows their location.
Otherwise, a message will appear that says “no location found” which is the worst-case scenario. This is a sign that your AirPods have been reset either by you, someone who found them, or someone who stole them.
Can Someone Remove My AirPods From Find My iPhone?
Nobody can directly remove your AirPods from Find My iPhone unless they have your iCloud information. Someone can remove your AirPods from the Find My app if they have access to your account information or stole your phone as well. You won’t be able to find your AirPods in the Find My app if they were reset.
Can Stolen AirPods Be Tracked?
Stolen AirPods can be tracked as long as they are paired with your iCloud account. Luckily, most users pair their AirPods with their iCloud accounts as soon as they sync them to their phones. You can only track stolen AirPods as long as they are still synced with your iPhone or iPad.
It becomes harder to track stolen AirPods if they pair them with their phone. Unfortunately, thieves are often likely to pair your AirPods with their iPhone or iPad after stealing them. This complicates things because your phone will no longer be in sync with the AirPods.
How Far Can AirPods Be Tracked?
AirPods can be tracked if they are 40 feet away or closer. This makes it easy to track AirPods within your home or in a confined area, but not if they travel very far. The Bluetooth range for AirPods is typically 40 feet, but it can be less than that if you have a weak connection.
It is common for people to leave their AirPods at the gym, office, or someone’s house. In that case, you won’t be able to track them easily and you may need to retrace your steps. This can be frustrating, but you’ll be able to find them once you’re within 40 feet of your AirPods as long as the battery isn’t dead.
How to Track Your AirPods
You can track your AirPods as long as they haven’t been reset. Someone can only reset your AirPods if they place them in a charger case. AirPods are often stolen and lost, but it’s easy to track them with iCloud under the right circumstances.
Using iCloud
The best way to track your AirPods is by using iCloud if they are connected to your account. Visit the iCloud website and enter your account username and password to get started. Find the “All Devices” tab and scroll through your list of devices that are linked to your iCloud account.
Select your AirPods and a map will appear that shows where they are. Granted, this will only work if they haven’t been reset by a thief or someone who found them. Even still, you will be able to see the last known location from when your AirPods were still connected to your account.
If You Only Need to Find one AirPod or AirPod Pro
You can use the Find My app and iCloud website if you only need to find one AirPod or AirPod Pro. Sign in on the iCloud website or Find My app on your iPhone or iPad. Select your AirPods from the list of devices and look at the location map.
The missing AirPod should appear in its location on the map as long as it isn’t dead. Luckily, the last known location will still appear on the map for 24 hours even if it is dead. It will be tricky to find the missing AirPod if it is in the same building as the one that isn’t lost. In that case, you will simply need to search the area to find it.
How to Stop People from Tracking Your AirPods
People can track your AirPods if they have connected to them in the past. This applies to people that you let use your AirPods as well as people who stole them. They could access tracking information from your AirPods if they synced their iCloud account with them. Luckily, you can stop people from tracking your AirPods using your charger case.
Resetting AirPods to Factory Settings
The best way to stop people from tracking your AirPods is to reset them to their factory settings. Doing so will make it so that they are no longer synced to any of the devices that you have paired them with. This is necessary if someone else used your AirPods or stole them and you got them back.
Other people may be able to track you and your AirPods if they were synced to their device. This is risky, so it’s worthwhile to restore them to their factory settings. Put your AirPods in their case without closing the lid.
Press and hold the button on the back of the AirPod case until the light flashes white. Now, your AirPods will be restored to their factory settings. You will need to sync them to your iPhone or iPad again because they will no longer be paired.
Enable Notify When Left Behind
You can stop people from tracking your AirPods and reduce the risk of loss or theft with the Notify When Left Behind function. This function makes it difficult to lose your AirPods as you receive a notification when you leave them behind. You can access this feature through the Find My app.
Open the app and tap the Notifications tab and look for Notify When Left Behind. Enable this feature so that you won’t lose your AirPods. Of course, this feature will only work if your AirPods are charged.
Can I Track My AirPods If Someone Else Is Connected To Them?
You can track your AirPods if someone else is connected to them as long as they didn’t reset them. This works if the person is connected to your AirPods via Bluetooth. However, you may not be able to track your AirPods if someone else is connected to them if they are out of Bluetooth range in some cases.
The 40-foot Bluetooth range isn’t enough to track your AirPods if someone is connected to them far away from you. That isn’t a problem if your AirPods aren’t reset and if they are connected to your iCloud account. You can track your AirPods if someone is connected to them, and you still have devices connected to your AirPods.
In that case, you can simply use the Find My App and refer to the map to track them.
Can Apple Track AirPods With Serial Number?
Apple cannot track your AirPods with the serial number. They can only help you track your AirPods via the Find My app and iCloud. You can contact Apple about your lost or stolen AirPods, but they will likely encourage you to use the Find My app.
This can be frustrating, but Apple doesn’t do anything else to help you find your device when it’s lost or stolen. Luckily, both the Find My app and iCloud make it easy to track your AirPods without a serial number as long as it hasn’t been reset. You can report your AirPods as lost or stolen to Apple via the Find My app to make them and anyone who comes across them aware of the situation.
Can Law Enforcement Track My AirPods?
Law enforcement can track your AirPods if they have been stolen. They can use the serial number to track your AirPods if they are stolen. With that said, this is often a long shot because law enforcement doesn’t always pursue theft cases of items that aren’t extremely valuable.
Law enforcement is most likely to track your AirPods if they are in a stolen car, purse, or backpack. They can use the tracking features to locate your AirPods as well as the other stolen property. You are most likely to get help from law enforcement if your AirPods were stolen along with other valuable items.
How Do I Know if My AirPods Are Stolen?
The best way to know if your AirPods are stolen is to check the map on the Find My app. Look for the green dot on the map that represents your AirPods. You can tell that they were stolen if you see the green dot in a location that you haven’t been to.
Another sign that they were stolen is if the location quits updating. This is a sign that someone reset your AirPods so that you couldn’t track them. Your AirPods will be disconnected from your iCloud account if someone resets them. Sadly, this is how many people realize that their AirPods were stolen.
Once reset, your iCloud account will no longer recognize your AirPods, and you cannot track them.
Don’t Give Up: Turn on Lost Mode for Your AirPods
Apple makes it easier to find your AirPods with the Lost Mode that they offer. The Lost Mode feature lets you share a message with whoever finds or has your AirPods. You can enable Lost Mode through the Find My app on your iPhone and iPad or through the iCloud website.
Scroll through the list of devices, click on your AirPods, and select Mark as Lost. You will receive a notification when someone finds your AirPods, and you have the option to leave a message. Provide your contact information so that whoever finds your AirPods can return them to you.
Leave a message that includes either your email address or phone number. This way, you can get in touch with whoever finds them and work out a solution to get your AirPods back from them. You will have to rely on the honesty of a stranger, however, so this method doesn’t always work. It is worth enabling Lost Mode because many users have gotten their AirPods back this way.
So, What’s the Best Solution?
Reset AirPods cannot be tracked, but you can track them using the Find My app otherwise. You can find your AirPods if they haven’t been reset if they are paired to your iCloud account. Find your AirPods under the list of devices on the Find My app and see if a location appears.
In some cases, it won’t provide a location meaning that they’ve been disconnected from your account. This happens if you unknowingly unpair your AirPods from your iPhone or connected device, or if someone reset them. Otherwise, you can find your AirPods on a map through the Find My app as long as they haven’t been reset.
You will see your AirPods appear as a green dot on the map which will let you know where they are. Mark your AirPods as lost on the Find My app so that you can receive a notification when they are found. This feature also lets you leave a message with your contact information for whoever has them or finds them. Turn on the Notify When Left Behind function so that you never lose track of your AirPods.
