9 Ways to Fix AirPods Not Charging (2024)

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We love our AirPods but they aren't perfect. Through trial and error with our own AirPods, we've discovered what typically goes wrong and developed our own solutions to find and fix the most common reasons they don't charge properly.

Why Won't My AirPods Charge?

There could be several reasons your AirPods are not charging.

You could have dirty contacts that are making it impossible for the AirPods to connect with the charging case, there could be something blocking your case's charging port, meaning it's actually the problem, or there could be software issues at play.

You may even find that something simple like a dead AirPods case is the issue.

How Do I Get My AirPods to Charge?

These troubleshooting steps will help you determine if you can get your AirPods charged and working again. We've set these up from the easiest issues and solutions to the hardest; step through these until you find the one that works for your particular situation.

1. Charge your AirPods. It sounds counterintuitive, but it's possible you haven't put your AirPods in their case to charge them in a while, even if you thought you did. Just to be sure, drop the AirPods into the case and wait to see if the charging light comes on. If it does, there might not be anything wrong with your AirPods.
   

   If the light doesn't come on, then there is likely a problem somewhere in the charging process for your AirPods, so keep working through these steps till you find it.

2. Check your connections. Are your AirPods making contact with the charging case when you insert them for charging? The small silver tip is where the charging happens, and when you place your AirPods into the charging case, you should feel a satisfying magnetic snap as the AirPods are seated properly.

   If your AirPods aren't seating properly, or if the top of your AirPods case won't close, remove the AirPods to see if there's something blocking them from fitting correctly into the case. If this isn't happening, you may need to replace your battery case, but before you do, try the next steps first.
   

3. Clean your AirPods. If your AirPods are dirty, the connection points that allow for the AirPods to charge might not be completing a circuit. Try cleaning your AirPods and then reinsert them into the case to see if they'll begin to charge.

4. Update your AirPods firmware. If it's been a while since you've updated your AirPods firmware, you may have missed an update, and that could be the culprit. Try updating the firmware, and then go through the steps above to see if your AirPods will charge.

If you run through those steps and your AirPods are still not charging, it's possible there is a problem with the AirPods case.

Why Is My AirPods Case Not Charging?

If you've tried to charge your AirPods and nothing seems to work, you could have a problem with your AirPods case. Try these troubleshooting steps to see if you can find and fix the problem.

1. Check your connections. If you suspect your AirPods case isn't charging, the most likely culprit is something preventing the charging connection. Take the cable out and reseat it to see if your charging light comes on. If not, try using a different cable. Or, if you're charging wirelessly, try using a wired charging connection.

   The most common charging connection issues for AirPods include: the charging cable isn't inserted completely if you're using wired charging, the cable is damaged, or because the case isn't making good contact with the wireless charging base if you're charging wirelessly.

2. Charge your AirPods case. If your AirPods case will charge, make sure it is completely charged. If it is completely charged, the charging light will turn green.

   Understanding What the AirPod LED Colors Mean

3. Check your charging status on your iPhone. While your AirPods case is connected to the charger, open the lid and hold it next to your phone. After a second or two, the status of your AirPods should display on your iPhone. Make sure there's a lightning bolt next to the charge percentage for the AirPods case, which means the case is charging.

   This is also a great place to tell if your AirPods are charging. The percentage of available battery life should be displayed on your iPhone screen, next to the information about the battery case. If the lightening bolt is there, the AirPods are charging. Otherwise, they are either fully charged (in which case they should say 100 percent) or they're not charging. If they're not charging, see above, or continue through the troubleshooting steps below.

4. Clean your AirPods case, including the charging port where the charging cable connects to the case. Specifically, be sure to clean the wells into which the AirPods fit and the charging port at the bottom of the case.

   If you're not comfortable doing this, you can take them to an Apple store for their help in completing the cleaning.

5. Reset your AirPods. If nothing else is working, try resetting your AirPods. If there is a firmware glitch that's keeping the AirPods or the case from charging, a simple reset might do the trick.

When Nothing Else Works

If you've tried everything and you can't get your AirPods or your AirPod case to charge, you have the option to replace either of the AirPods or the charging case.

If your AirPods are still under warranty, Apple may replace the part that's not working.

If they aren't still under warranty, one option is to try The Swap Club's Podswap, a service specifically to replace dead AirPods.