Airpods connecting to Windows 11, but no sound is coming out and they're showing as a different headset in control panel.

Hello, Maddie W1.

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Based on your description, you seem to be experiencing an issue with your Bluetooth headphones not connecting.

For the issue you're encountering, I have the following suggestions.

1. Try to remove the already connected Bluetooth headphones from the Bluetooth settings and then connect the Airpods again.

2. Check the Airpods and try to disconnect them from any other connected devices so that only Windows is connected to the Airpods.

3. Try resetting the Airpods to their default settings and remove them from the Windows Bluetooth settings along with any other devices.

When connecting Bluetooth headphones, there may be issues with interference. The methods mentioned above might help resolve the problem you are facing.

If anything is unclear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Best regards.

Malygos - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hi Malygos,

I have done all of your suggestions above and they're still not playing audio but saying they're connected. They're also still showing up as being manufactured by Razer, which is a different headset I own, rather than Apple.

Thanks for your suggestions,

Maddie

Hi Maddie.

Thanks for your reply.

You may need to clear all Bluetooth devices connected to your computer. If possible, please provide a screenshot of these devices in the Device Manager. Typically, you can right-click on a device in the Device Manager and select Uninstall (if available, make sure to check "Delete the driver software for this device").

If the above operations do not allow you to use the Bluetooth function, you can try to reinstall the Bluetooth driver provided by the manufacturer.

Additionally, you can also try using the "Troubleshoot - Bluetooth" feature.

Your situation seems more like the Razer headphones are interfering with the connection of the Apple headphones.

If possible, please provide a screenshot of the Device Manager related to this issue.

As well as a screenshot of Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Devices and Printers.

Be sure to remove any personal privacy information from the photos.

If anything is unclear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Best regards.

Malygos - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

I had a similar problem, could pair my airpods as a bluetooth device but could not select them as an audio output.  It was driving me crazy...took a lot of troubleshooting but here's what worked for me:

• Go to Device Manager

• Expand "System Devices"

• Find AirPods Hands-Free AG (Mine was labeled "Airpods Pro Hands-Free AG")

• Right click and open up "Properties"

• Click the "Driver" tab and "Disable Device"

• My PC prompted me to restart but started working right away.

Prior to this, I had done all the recommended troubleshooting and nothing worked!

• Overall PC reboot

• Unpaired and repaired AirPods to PC...toggled Bluetooth on and off and tried this again

• Used windows audio troubleshooter

• Confirmed I have the latest audio driver

• Confirmed I'm on the latest apple firmware for my generation

• Confirmed that I can connect other audio devices (Bose Earbuds, JBL Headphones, JBL Speaker, Amazon Echo) and select them as audio outputs

• Disabled all other Bluetooth devices except the AirPods in device manager

• Troubleshoot live with a Lenovo support rep

Hope that helps!

Hi Keith,

I'm experiencing a similar issue that prevents me from selecting my airpods as an output device. For reference, I am using Airpods 2nd Generation (the basic ones) on a Windows 11 newer computer. When I go to System Devices, there is nothing that refers to my specific airpods such as how you mentioned "Airpods Pro Hands-Free AG".

Any other advice/tips?

Not sure if it would be tucked under a different option in Device Manager but you could also try this...

1. Go to Settings

2. Click "Bluetooth & devices"

3. Scroll down to "More devices and printer settings"

4. Under "devices" double click your AirPods..this should pull up your AirPod Properties

5. Click the "Hardware" tab at the top

6. Then look under the "Device Functions" box for anything that says "Hands-Free"

7. If you see that you should be able to get to the driver tab and then disable it...or click the choose "Change Settings" option and disable

Good luck trying that way...this drove me crazy when it happened to me!

When i go to the driver tab, all options except for "Driver Details" are greyed out and unable to be clicked on

Make sure you click on "Change settings" on the "General" tab before clicking the "Driver" tab

That should pop open another properties menu...then you can click the "Driver" tab and should have the option to Enable/Disable

Thanks. After disabling, it no longer shows the Airpods as an Input option under Sound Settings

Thank God I came across this fix.

For me, it is quite different, under the "Hardware" tab I can't do anything or disable the driver (it's already grey). So I go over the "Services" tab and uncheck the "Handsfree Telephony", then it works like a charm