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Quick Fix! How to stop AirPods from connecting to other devices.

What You Need To Know

  • There are times when you need to stop AirPods from connecting to other devices
  • The AirPods bluetooth connection can be temperamental at times
  • Automatic Device Switching controls if your AirPods will automatically connect to other devices
  • The steps to disable Automatic Device Switching are easy and straightforward

Introduction

The Apple AirPods sleek design, sound capabilities, and integration across Apple products place them at the cutting edge of audio technology.  One cool feature they have is Automatic Device Switching which allows the AirPods to automatically connect to different Apple devices as you use them.

However, there are times when you may not want your AirPods to automatically switch between your devices.  For example, you may not want to interrupt a podcast or other content that you are listening to on your iPhone as you work on your MacBook.  Additionally, you might encounter technical issues with your AirPods audio cutting out – which can also be due to automatic switching being enabled.

Decorative AirPods Photo

How to Stop AirPods From Connecting to Other Devices

The steps to disable Automatic Device Switching are very simple and straightforward.  However, they vary slightly between different types of Apple devices:

On an iPhone:

  • Place your AirPods in your ears
  • Make sure they connect to your iPhone
  • Open Settings
  • Select Bluetooth
  • Tap the “i” next to your AirPods
  • Find the “Connect to This iPhone” Setting
  • Change the setting to “When Last Connected to This iPhone”
Instructions to stop AirPods from connecting to other devices
Bluetooth Instructions to stop AirPods from connecting to other devices
Instructions to stop AirPods from connecting to other devices
Instructions to stop AirPods from connecting to other devices

On a Mac

  • Place your AirPods in your Ears
  • Make sure they are connected to your Mac
  • Open System Preferences
  • Select Bluetooth
  • Click Options next to your AirPods
  • Change the Connect to This Mac setting to “When Last Connected to This Mac”

Remember, that once these settings are configured, you will need to manually connect your AirPods to move across different devices.

Important Troubleshooting Tip!

AirPod Bluetooth connections can be finicky and there is one scenario I found when my AirPods did NOT connect as expected to the most recently used Apple device.

Even though I set my AirPods to Connect to This Mac  “When Last Connected to This Mac” my AirPods would still connect to my iPhone when I put them in my ears.  After some troubleshooting I figured out that once the AIrPods were connected to my Mac I needed to actually play something on the Mac(i.e. Music, video, etc.).  If I played something, they would connect to the Mac the next time I used them.  However, If I didn’t play anything before putting them back in the case, the next time I used them they would connect to my iPhone.

Which AirPods Support Automatic Device Switching?

Luckily most AirPods support Automatic Device Switching.  In fact the only model that does not support Automatic Device Switching is the very generation AirPods.

Here is a list of all the AirPods that do support this feature:

  • AirPods – 2nd generation and later
  • AirPods Pro – all models
  • AirPods Max – all models

You can find additional information about all the AirPods models on the Apple website here.

Conclusion

While Automatic Device Switching is a very cool feature, there are times when you may want to stop your AirPods from connecting to other devices. As we have shown the steps to stop your AirPods from connecting to other devices are very simple to implement and provide you with the ability to control the AirPods audio output.