How to Connect Bluetooth Headphones to Your Phone

Bluetooth is a way for two devices — like your phone and a pair of headphones — to talk to each other through the air, without any cable. Once you set up (or "pair") the headphones with your phone the first time, they will reconnect on their own every time you turn them on after that. You only do the pairing dance once.

Any pair of wireless headphones or earbuds works the same way: Apple AirPods, Bose, Sony, Beats, the little no-name earbuds from Amazon — all of them use Bluetooth. They each have a button or a specific way of turning on "pairing mode," which tells the headphones "be ready for a new phone to find me."

The steps are almost the same on every phone. You turn on Bluetooth in the phone's settings, put the headphones into pairing mode, and tap the name of the headphones when it pops up in the list on your phone. A confirmation beeps in your ear and you are connected.

Pairing mode is where people get stuck. On most earbuds, you open the charging case and hold down a small button on the case for about 5 seconds until a light flashes. On over-the-ear headphones, you usually hold the power button for 5 to 10 seconds past when they turn on — until you hear "pairing" or see a rapid blinking light. Check the little paper card that came in the box for the exact move.

Common pitfall: if your headphones were already paired to another phone or tablet (say, an old iPad), they will try to reconnect to that old device instead of your new phone. Solve this by either turning off Bluetooth on the old device or by doing a full reset on the headphones (the manual explains how).