How to Pair Beats Headphones & Earbuds to iPhone, Laptop, Android…

Pairing Beats headphones for the first time only requires you only to power them ON. But if you want to pair them to a different device, you’ll need to read forward, as there are many different methods to activate pairing mode.

You’ll also learn how to connect them to popular devices and fix frequent connection issues.

Step 1: How to Activate Pairing Mode on Beats Headphones & Earbuds

Beats headphones come in various designs, with many having different methods to activate their pairing mode.

Activating pairing mode on different Beats models

There are many different Beats wireless headphones, so we’ll cover them individually.

Note that when pairing them for the first time, all headphones go into pairing mode automatically.

How to pair Beats PowerBeats Pro & Studio Buds/Pro

To pair Beats wireless earbuds you first enable the pairing or discoverable mode:

1. Put both earbuds inside the charging case and keep the lid open.
2. Hold the physical button in the middle of the case until the LED blinks.
3. Earbuds are now in pairing mode.

How to pair Beats Flex Wireless

1. Ensure your Beats Flex are turned OFF.
2. Press and hold the Power Button for at least 5 seconds or until the LED flashes.
3. They’re now in pairing mode.

How to pair Beats Studio3 Wireless & Solo3 Wireless

1. Ensure your Beats headphones are OFF.
2. Hold the power button for 5 seconds or until you see all 5 LEDs on the headphones flash.
3. Headphones are now in pairing mode.

How to pair Beats Solo Pro

1. Unfold them to power them ON.
2. They automatically jump into pairing mode when they don’t find devices to connect.

Step 2: How to Connect Beats Headphones to an iPhone & iPad (iOS)

Connecting Beats headphones and earbuds to the iOS is incredibly simple, thanks to the H1 chip built into all newer Beats products. That means your iOS device will quickly recognize your headphones and offer you to connect.

While Beats Studio Buds don’t have an Apple chip, they should still pair to your iOS device like any other Beats product.

1. Ensure that your iOS device (iPhone, iPad) has Bluetooth enabled and internet connection enabled.

2. Turn ON your Beats wireless headphones.
3. If they’re already connected to a different device, activate their pairing mode by following the instructions above.
4. You should soon see a pop-up widget with an image of your headphones asking you to “Connect”.

5. Tap Connect and follow the on-screen instructions.

Pairing process might be slightly different if you have already paired your Beats headphones with a different device. That said, the on-screen instructions should guide you through the process.

Step 2: How to Connect Beats Headphones to a Windows Laptop & PC

Pairing to a Windows device involves a few more steps (unless you’re using HP or Acer laptops with support for Google Fast Pair, but more on that later).

Remember that while laptops have Bluetooth support, you need to buy a separate USB Bluetooth adapter to add this support to stationary computers.

Windows 11

1. Hover the cursor over the “Wi-Fi/Audio/Battery” section on the left-click on it. It will open a quick settings widget.
2. Left-click on the Bluetooth icon to enable the feature. Right-click on the same icon and click “Go to Settings“.

3. In a new Bluetooth & devices window, click on the “Add device” button (or on a big plus (+)).

4. Before continuing, activate the pairing mode on your Beats headphones.
5. In Windows, select the “Bluetooth” option and wait for the PC to find your headphones. It might take a while, so be patient.

6. Click on your headphones’ name when it appears.

Pairing with Google Fast Pair

Beats Studio Buds and Studio Pro also have Google Fast Pair support. If you’re using newer HP or Acer laptops with Windows 11, you can pair Beats earbuds to them similarly to iOS devices.

1. Enable Bluetooth connection on your laptop (see steps 1 and 2 above).
2. Open the charging case of your Beats earbuds and keep it close to your laptop.
3. You should get a message in the bottom right corner asking you to pair your Beats earbuds with a laptop. Click “Connect“.

Windows 10

Windows 10 doesn’t support Google Fast Pair, so there’s only one way to connect wireless Beats headphones.

1. In the bottom right corner (next to a clock and date), left-click the “Notifications” icon. That will open the “Quick settings” widget.
2. Click on the Bluetooth icon to enable the Bluetooth connection.
3. Next, right-click the same icon and select “Go to Settings“.

4. In a new window, click “Add Bluetooth or other device“.

5. Before continuing, ensure that your Beats headphones are in pairing mode.
6. Return to Windows and select the first “Bluetooth” option. Wait for Windows to find your headphones. It might take a while, so be patient.

7. When your headphones’ name appears, click on it to connect.
8. You’re ready to go.

Step 2: How to Connect Beats Headphones to an Android Phone (Android)

Pairing Beats headphones to an Android device requires using a standard pairing method described below. Unless you have Beats Studio Buds or Studio Pro, which also uses Google Fast Pair.

Let’s first start with a standard method:

1. Unlock your Android device and swipe from the top. Click on the “Bluetooth” icon in quick settings.
   • If you don’t see a Bluetooth icon after the first swipe, swipe again from the top to expand the options.

2. After tapping on the icon, wait for the quick Bluetooth menu to pop up.
   • If it doesn’t, swipe from the top of the screen and hold the Bluetooth icon, which will open Bluetooth settings.
3. Now, activate the pairing mode on your Beats headphones.
4. In the Bluetooth pairing widget, swipe down to “Available devices“.
   • Press “Scan” if your headphones haven’t shown up yet.
5. Click on your headphones when they show up. You’re now connected.

This process is much less tedious if your Beats headphones support Google Fast Pair.

1. Swipe from the top of the screen and activate Bluetooth.
2. Activate pairing mode on your Beats headphones using the steps from above.
3. You should soon receive a pop-up message on your Android device asking you to connect Beats wireless headphones. Tap “Connect“.

Step 2: How to Connect Beats Headphones to a Mac, MacBook (MacOS)

There’s no special treatment for pairing Beats headphones and earbuds to a MacOS device.

However, if you’ve already paired them to an iPhone or iPad using the same Apple ID, they should automatically appear in your Handoff menu (or Control Center). More on that later.

First, the usual way for pairing:

1. Click the Apple logo on your MacOS home screen. In the expanded menu, click “System Preferences…“

2. In a new window, find and click “Bluetooth“.

3. Turn the Bluetooth toggle ON if it isn’t already.
4. Activate the pairing mode on your Beats headphones.
5. Your headphones’ name should soon appear in the Bluetooth window. Click “Connect” next to their name.

Alternatively, if you already paired them to your other Apple device:

1. Click on the Handoff or Control Center feature in the upper right corner of the home screen.
2. Click on the tiny arrow under “Sound“.

3. Under “Output“, you should see your Beats headphones. Click on them to set them as your audio output.

Step 2: How to Connect Beats Headphones to Other Bluetooth Devices

You can pair your Beats headphones to numerous other Bluetooth devices, from Bluetooth MP3 players to TVs, smartwatches, gaming consoles, etc.

Since we can’t cover every device, consult the user manual for instructions on pairing Bluetooth gadgets with your device.

Here, we’ll focus on the most common ones:

How to pair Beats headphones to a Samsung TV

1. Grab a TV remote and click the button with a house icon. That will open the Tizen OS interface.
2. Navigate to the left corner and select “Settings“.

3. Go to “Sound” and select “Sound Output“.

4. Click on the “Speaker List“.

5. Activate pairing mode on your Beats headphones.
6. Look back at your TV. When your headphones appear, select and click on them. Click “Pair and connect“.

7. Finalize the process by clicking “OK” at the end.

How to pair Beats headphones to a Chromebook (ChromeOS)

1. In the bottom-right corner, click (or tap with your finger if you’re on a touchscreen) on a clock to open the quick settings widget.
2. Click on “Bluetooth” to enable it and then on the arrow next to it.

3. Now, ensure that your headphones are in pairing mode.
4. Back on your Chromebook, click on “Pair new device“.
5. A new window will open. Wait for your Beats headphones to appear under “Available devices“.
6. Click on their name when they appear.

How to Verify Beats Earbuds and Headphones are in Pairing Mode

In most cases, a blinking LED indicates that your Beats headphones activated their pairing mode.

• Beats Studio 3 Wireless: All 5 LEDs are blinking.
• Beats Flex Wireless: LED inside the button is gently blinking.
• Beats PowerBeats Pro: LED in front of the case is slowly blinking.
• Beats Studio Buds/Pro: LED in front of the case is gently blinking.
• Beats Solo Pro: A small LED under the right ear cup is flashing slowly.

Connecting Beats Wireless Earbuds & Headphones After Pairing

After successful pairing, headphones should connect to your device automatically. However, if you connect them to another headphones, the automatic approach might not work.

Automatic reconnection

This should work every time if your Beats headphones were the last headphones you paired with your device. This means that you simply:

1. Enable Bluetooth on your device.
2. Turn ON your headphones.

If they don’t connect automatically, you need to do it manually.

Manual reconnection

Manual reconnection means you need to access Bluetooth settings on your device, where you can see all previously connected headphones and tap on your Beats.

1. Enable Bluetooth on your device and access Bluetooth settings (use the pairing steps from above to access those settings based on the device you’re using).
2. Turn ON your Beats headphones.
3. Find your Beats headphones in the device’s Bluetooth settings and tap on them.
4. They should reconnect.

If they don’t reconnect, your Beats headphones might’ve connected to a third device. Ensure that all other devices previously paired with Beats headphones have Bluetooth disabled.

Troubleshooting Pairing Issues on Beats Headphones & Earbuds

Connection issues are sadly an integral part of the Bluetooth experience. They’re sometimes caused by connection interference due to other wireless signals, like Wi-Fi.

On the other hand, they sometimes originate from glitches and errors in programming code that occurred due to faulty startup of the Bluetooth or headphones themselves. Let’s explore solutions.

But first, establish where the problem originates.

• If you’re getting the same issues when connecting headphones to other devices, there’s something wrong with your headphones.
• If you’re only getting issues when connected to a specific device, you might need to troubleshoot that device and not headphones.

Temporary glitch

Temporary glitch occurs when you enable Bluetooth, either when you turn ON your headphones or enable the connection on your playback device. To solve it:

1. Turn OFF and ON your headphones.
2. Disable Bluetooth on your device, wait a few seconds, and enable it again.

Firmware issue

If your Beats headphones’ firmware is faulty, you’re out of luck. Apple has retired the Beats Updater app for Windows and MacOS, so you can’t update your firmware manually. Beats app is also useless, as your Beats headphones need to be connected.

In case your Windows device is the problem, first check for new software updates:

1. Press the Windows button on a keyboard and type “Windows Update” in a search bar.
2. Click “Check for updates” and see if there are new ones for installation.

Another thing you can do is to reinstall Bluetooth drivers on your Windows machine. Note that you need an Administrator access to perform the following task.

1. Press the Windows button on your keyboard and type “Computer Management” in the search bar. Open the result.
2. Click “Device Manager” and click the arrow next to the Bluetooth.
3. Right-click on your Bluetooth hardware and select “Uninstall device“.

4. Restart your PC
5. When you return to Windows, ensure that you’re connected to the internet. Windows should recognize the missing driver and reinstall it automatically.

Nothing fixes the problem

If the connection problem persists, you should probably perform a factory reset on your headphones (see the instructions below). This will return them to a state when the Bluetooth connection still worked. However, you’ll need to re-pair them to your devices.

If even resetting doesn’t help, your Beats headphones are probably faulty and need more in-depth fixing. If the issue didn’t occur due to your mishandling and they’re still under warranty, Beats should repair them for free.

How to Reset Beats Headphones

If nothing else works, resetting your Beats headphones should solve all your problems. Every Beats headphone and earbud uses a slightly different resetting method, so we’ll separate them for better viewing.

Beats Studio3 Wireless

1. Ensure that the headphones are turned ON.
2. Simultaneously press the “Power” and “Volume Down” buttons and hold for 10 seconds.
3. Release the buttons when you see the “Fuel Gauge” LEDs flashing. The reset is now complete.

Beats Flex Wireless

1. Ensure the earbuds are turned ON.
2. Simultaneously hold the “Power” and “Volume Down” buttons for around 15 seconds.
3. When the LED on the Power button flashes red three times, release both buttons. Reset is now complete.

Beats Studio Pro/Buds

1. Open the lid of the charging case.
2. Hold the button in between the earbuds for around 10 seconds.
3. Release the button when the LED in front of the case starts slowly flashing red (3 times). Reset is now complete.

Beats Solo Pro

1. Unfold the ear cups to turn the headphones ON.
2. Simultaneously hold the “Mode” and “Volume Down” buttons for 10 seconds.
3. Wait for the LED to flash red. When it does, release both buttons. Reset is now complete.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About Connecting Beats Headphones

Conclusion

We hope we answered all your questions and that you’re already listening to your favorite tunes on your Beats headphones.

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below.

In the meantime, learn more about Beats and Apple acquisition and check which are currently the best bass headphones on the market.

Peter Susic

From a childhood fascination with sound, Peter’s passion has evolved into a relentless pursuit of the finest headphones. He’s an audio expert with over 5 years of experience in testing both audiophile and consumer-grade headphones. Quote: “After many years, I can confidently tell which headphones are good and which are terrible.” Find his honest opinion in his reviews.