How to fix AirPod not being Loud

I used almost a dozen wired Apple EarPods and have been using AirPods (since the first generation). I can assure you that with time (after around two years), almost all Apple earphones lower their sound output. However, if your new AirPods are facing a volume problem, it could be that their grills are blocked, or you have limited sound output. To help, I have rounded up a list of 12 solutions that will help make your AirPods sound louder and fix volume issues. Don’t be discouraged from trying them on your old AirPods too!

Note: The following solutions apply to all models: AirPods 1st and 2nd Gen, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max. Additionally, you must check these two things before moving to solutions:

• Make sure the volume is turned up. When media is playing, press the volume up button several times from the device’s left side. You may also bring up the Control Center and drag the volume slider up, or summon Siri and ask her to set the volume at 75 percent or 100 percent.
• Make sure AirPods are charged. You can learn how to check the charge status here.

1. Turn off iPhone’s Volume Limit and Sound Check

1. Open the Settings app in iPhone, scroll down, and tap Music.
2. Scroll to the bottom and turn off Sound Check.
3. If you see an additional toggle for Volume Limit, make sure to turn this off as well.
   

1. Launch the Settings app and tap Music.
2. Tap EQ.
3. Select Off.
   

1. Open the Settings app and tap Sounds & Haptics.
2. Tap Headphone Safety.
3. Turn off the toggle for Headphone Notifications.
4. Next, turn off the switch for Reduce Loud Sounds.
   

Caution: I would urge you to take caution before tweaking the above setting. We must listen to music at a decent level. Prolonged use of any headphones at a high volume is risky. Thus, use the slider to adjust the decibels level instead (step 4).

4. Turn off Low Power Mode

Low Power Mode may be reducing the maximum volume output. And for a few users, disabling it has helped restore loud sound output. To turn off Low Power Mode, open the Settings app and tap Battery.

5. Calibrate the AirPods

One of the reasons why your AirPods volume is low is that your AirPods and iPhone may not be on the same page. For example, they may have a different meaning for ‘full volume,’ which could lead to AirPods not using the full volume. Here’s how you can calibrate the AirPods.

1. Make sure AirPods are connected to the iPhone and in ears. Now, turn the volume to zero. Use Control Center for this.
   
2. Next, disconnect the AirPods. For this, open the Settings app → Bluetooth → tap (i) next to the connected AirPods → Disconnect. Even after disconnecting, keep the AirPods in your ears. Also, go back to the main Settings screen and turn off Bluetooth.
   
3. Now, play music via the iPhone speakers. Again, use the Control Center to turn the volume to zero.
4. Finally, turn on Bluetooth and reconnect your AirPods. You may now adjust the AirPods volume as desired.

6. Adjust audio volume balance between the left and right pods

1. Open the Settings app and tap Accessibility.
2. Tap Audio/Visual.
3. Make sure the Balance slider is in the middle.
   

Observation: For some local tracks on my iPhone, when I enabled Mono Audio, it seemed to increase the volume, though the experience may not be delightful.

7. Turn off Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode on AirPods Pro

If you are using AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, turning off Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode might help. For this, open the Control Center and long-press the volume slider. You will see these options. Disable them.

8. Unpair and re-pair the AirPods

1. Open the Settings app and tap Bluetooth.
2. Tap (i) next to the connected AirPods.
3. Tap Forget This Device and confirm.
4. Now, keep the AirPods in their charging case. Restart your iPhone.
5. Finally, take out the AirPods from the case and pair them again with your iPhone.
   

9. Is the music or movie track to blame?

Do you own music that is downloaded from random places or converted from a video file and such? If yes, these tracks will most likely have inferior sound. In these situations, the culprit is the music file and not your iPhone or the AirPods.

Similarly, several YouTube videos might have lower sound. The same is the case with movies, and TV shows files. Try using the VLC app for .mp4, .mkv, and other video files.

10. Clean your AirPods

If the AirPods grills are full of ear wax or dirt, they will hinder adequate sound output. In this case, please use a soft cloth and a soft brush (or a toothpick) to clean the grills.

Did you know that your AirPods also receive updates (though they are not as frequent as iPhone)? To update it, put AirPods in the case → attach the case to a power source → pair the AirPods with your iOS device and keep them closer. Once set up, the AirPods firmware will be automatically downloaded and installed on your iOS device.

Note: Your iOS device must be connected to the internet.

12. Factory reset your AirPods

Finally, if nothing helps, it is time to reset your AirPods. This will bring them to an out-of-the-box state. You can learn how to reset AirPods (1st, 2nd gen, Pro) here. For AirPods Max, please see this.

Did you successfully make your AirPods sound louder and fix volume issues?

If your AirPods are around old, and you do not find any sound improvement even after following all the above solutions, that means it is time to keep listening at a reduced volume or invest in a new pair. Additionally, if you use AirPods with a non-Apple device, it is probable to notice some degraded sound levels.

I hope this guide helped to solve your problem.

Have additional questions? I am all ears. Please share them in the comments box below.

Some related posts you will find useful:

AirPods are one of the most popular Apple products. They’re easy to use, and they work great! However, sometimes there are issues with them that need to be addressed. One common issue is that AirPods go quiet overtime or start having a low volume. Have you ever had this issue?

Why are my AirPods so quiet?

First of all, you need to know there’s not 1 single reason that could be causing the AirPods to have a low volume or sound quiet. Several reasons could be happening, but there’s no way of knowing for sure what the exact cause is without testing out different things on your own first, so we’ll go over those now!

Your AirPods are dusty or have earwax

First of all, most AirPods have a small opening on the back that allows dust and dirt to get inside. Sometimes ear wax from your ears can also be an issue as well. So if you’re having issues with your AirPods being quiet or just not sounding right, try taking them out and looking through the little holes on the backside of each pod carefully. Try blowing air in there with a blow dryer to clean it out first before trying any other methods!

Also, keep your AirPods clean from earwax by using a tissue or a paper towel to clean it out. You don’t want earwax getting inside your AirPods because this will cause the sound quality to be more muffled and have less bass as well!

Low power mode on your iPhone

Sometimes, going into low power mode on an iOS device can limit audio output from certain apps that are using too much battery, which could affect how loud things play even though there are no settings for volume control in the actual app you’re listening to music with.

This doesn’t make sense as AirPods have their own battery, but it’s just how iOS works.

So if Airpods go quiet all of a sudden while being used with an iOS device, check if you have low power mode enabled and disable it to see if the issue is resolved.

Volume limit on your iPhone

Some iPhones may be set to a maximum volume level that could cause this problem as well. This setting exists to protect your hearing. But if you want to change this, go to Settings – General – Accessibility and scroll down all the way until you see Volume Limit at the bottom.

If you’re using your AirPods with an Android device it shouldn’t be an issue, but most devices have an audio limiter to prevent hearing loss.

Your AirPods/iPhone/Mac need to be updated

If your iOS device and or AirPods weren’t updated when new updates came out, the reason why they’re acting up may be due to software issues. If you can update them both with a newer version of iOS, then go ahead and do so!

To check if there are any available updates for either of these devices:

iPhone – Settings > General > Software Update

AirPods – Check what firmware version they have under “Settings” on iPhone/iPad (it’ll say something like BTXX.00X).

Low battery left on AirPods

If your AirPods are completely dead, they won’t play any audio at all. So make sure both of the pods have some battery life left in them before trying to use them! Also, make sure your AirPods case charges properly and has some battery left to charge your AirPods.

Sometimes the AirPods battery is about to die, but it’s hard to tell because they usually last at least a few hours depending on how you use them. Also, it’s common to have 1 AirPod’s battery drained before the other as well. This is normal!

Reset your equalizer settings

For those of you who don’t know what an Equalizer is, it’s a setting that allows for fine-tuning the frequency response of every speaker/headphone to match how we hear sound in real life. So if something sounds too bassy or treble-y and there’s no way to change this through any other means than changing the EQ balance on each specific device, then try doing so by adjusting some sliders around until everything sounds good again! Or just reset them back to normal.

To adjust these settings on iPhone:

• Go to Settings > Music > EQ = select off.

Try selecting a different profile and switch back to “off” and see if that helps.

Bluetooth synchronization issues

If you’re having trouble with Bluetooth on your AirPods, make sure the settings are all correct and that they were successfully paired to both of your devices (iPhone/Mac or PC).

Sometimes you need to disconnect and reconnect your AirPods in the Bluetooth settings on each device to solve the issue. One person from Reddit reported a simple way to fix this problem:

1. With AirPods connected and playing music, turn the volume down to 0
2. Disconnect your AirPods from your Bluetooth settings page without unpairing/forgetting them and keep them in your ears.
3. Play music from your iPhone speakers and turn the volume down to 0 as well.
4. With both (AirPods and iPhone speakers) settings at 0 volume, reconnect your AirPods again and turn the volume up.

Problem solved. This seems to have been reported in the Apple support forums as well, so it’s worth trying if you’re having sync issues.

Make sure both AirPods have the same volume

If one of the AirPod’s volumes level is significantly lower than the other, this may be why they seem quiet. There might be a problem synchronizing both AirPods at the same level.

If you aren’t sure if your AirPods are at the same volume level, there’s an easy way to check it. Take one of them out and put it back in again. Wait until they’re both connected before continuing onto the next step! If one is playing audio much louder than the other, then this will solve your problem!

Try lowering the volume on both AirPods and disconnect them at the same time, then reconnect them both at the same time again to recalibrate their volume levels.

Adjust the volume with Siri

You could always ask Siri to adjust the volume for your AirPods whenever necessary! Sometimes this could help to bump the volume up a little bit and it’s definitely way more convenient than fiddling with the volume buttons on your iPhone.

Siri command: “Hey Siri, increase/decrease AirPod volume by 50%” – this will control both of them at once!

Your AirPods are damaged by water, heat, dust, etc.

Finally, the bad news.

Your AirPods may have been damaged by a liquid or some other substance. This could cause them to malfunction and not play audio properly! If this is the case you should send them back to Apple within your warranty period for repair/replacement.

They can probably save whatever’s left inside of it if they haven’t been destroyed from the outside. Make sure you get an estimate before sending anything though because sometimes these repairs can be really expensive!

The bottom line – why are my AirPods so quiet?

Many people around the web are complaining about quiet AirPods right now but there seem to be several different reasons why it might happen. The most common ones are listed above but if you’re still having trouble, make sure to follow some of the links provided in this article or do a Google search!

Leave a comment below if you have any questions. You can also try asking on Reddit’s /r/AirPods subreddit. Good luck with fixing your quiet AirPods.