How-To

How to Know if AirPods Are Charging

By Brian Burgess

Published October 11, 2022

If you own AirPods, you might want to check that they’re actually charging. We’ll show you how to know if your AirPods are charging in this guide.

Are my AirPods charging? You may ask that question when you have your AirPods or AirPods Pro in their charging case. Without a battery indicator, you’re going to want to know the charging status and the level of the charge of your AirPods.

There are a couple of ways to determine if your AirPods are charging. You can do this by using the case or using your iPhone to view their charging status. Knowing the status can help you determine if you’re going to take them out for a long trip or not.

Let’s look at how to know if your AirPods are charging below.

How to Know If Your AirPods are Charging Via the Case

One of the easier ways to check if your AirPods are charging at home is via the case by opening the lid.

Note: The case itself charges when you connect it to a power source.

To check AirPods charging status via the case:

1. Grab your AirPods charging case and flip open the lid.
2. Now, check the status light of the charging case. Its location will vary depending on the AirPods model.
   • 1^st and 2nd-generation AirPods will have a status light inside the case in-between each of the AirPods. 3
   • ^rd generation AirPods and AirPods Pro will have a status light on the front of the case.

What AirPods Status Lights Mean

The status light can change colors, and each one means something different. These include:

• Amber light (with AirPods inside): Indicates AirPods and case are both charging.
• Green light: Indicates the AirPods are completely charged. The same will apply to the AirPods case if you remove the AirPods and the light remains green.
• Flashing amber light: This means there is a potential pairing error or other undiagnosed issues. You’ll need to troubleshoot your AirPods next.
• No light: Indicates the AirPods and case’s battery is completely drained. You’ll need to charge them up.

How to Know If AirPods Are Charging via iPhone

Another way to determine if your AirPods are charging is to use an iPhone or iPad that’s paired with them.

To know if your AirPods are charging via iPhone or iPad:

1. Ensure your AirPods are in the charging case.
2. Bring them near your iPhone (or iPad) and flip open the AirPods case.
3. A notification will appear on your iPhone and will display the current battery levels of AirPods and charging case.
4. If you don’t see the notification, make sure that your AirPods are connected to your iPhone or iPad.
5. Tap Settings from the home screen.
6. Tap Bluetooth.
7. Toggle the Bluetooth switch to the On position.
8. Tap your AirPods from the list of devices.
9. When they connect, tap the information (i) icon.
10. In your AirPods settings menu, you can view the charging information for your AirPods and the charging case.

Getting the Most from Your AirPods

If you need to know the charging status of your AirPods or AirPods Pro, the case’s light indicates their status. You can also use your iPhone to find the charging status in Settings. It’s also worth noting that you can check AirPods battery levels on Android if you’re an Android user.

There are several exciting ways to use your AirPods that you may not know about. For example, you can skip songs with AirPods and enable noise canceling on AirPods.

AirPods don’t only connect to your iPhone or iPad. For instance, you can connect AirPods to Roku or connect AirPods to a Windows 11 PC. And if you tend to misplace or lose them, you can add AirPods to the Find My app.