Airpods Flashing Orange? (What It Means & What To Do)

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  • Discovered your AirPods to be emitting an orange flashing light?
  • Wondering how to remove the orange flashing light from your AirPods? 
  • Find out what the blinking orange light on your AirPods Pro indicates

One of the handiest features of the AirPods and AirPods pro is their LED indicators. These tiny lights are used to relay specific information to the users.

At times the lights on your AirPods may flash orange, and you might wonder what this means or how to fix this issue. We’ve compiled a brief guide to possible sources of your AirPods blinking orange.

AirPods Flashing Orange? Here’s What It Means

If you find your AirPods are flashing orange light, chances are they are experiencing a performance or connectivity issue. The LED indicators on your AirPods come with a system that sends color-coded signals to the user during or between usage.

AirPods and AirPod Pros both feature the same LED color-coding layout:

  • Green – A green light indicates that your AirPods are completely charged and ready for use.
  • Orange/Amber – A static orange or amber light indicates that your AirPods are charging. Your AirPods should only show this light while charging inside their carry case.
  • Flashing White – A flashing white light indicates that your AirPods are ready to pair with your iPhone or other devices via Bluetooth.
  • Flashing Orange/Amber – When your AirPods have a blinking orange light, it indicates an error in either performance or connectivity. Also, your AirPods won’t function in their current state. 

Why Are My AirPods Flashing Orange?

AirPods and AirPods pros are designed to emit a blinking orange light whenever an operational error occurs.

Wireless connectivity can create a small handful of performance issues and hindrances, but thankfully most of these can be solved by the users themselves.

Should you find your AirPods blinking orange, there are a handful of relatively simple steps and checks you can perform to try and remedy the issue. Below we’ve listed three of the most common solutions for fixing a blinking orange light on your Apple AirPods. 

Lost your AirPods? Here’s our guide on how to locate them.

Reset Your AirPods

One of the simplest ways to fix a blinking orange light on your AirPods is to reset and reconnect them. Resetting your AirPods is a quick and straightforward process and usually takes a few minutes to fully complete:

  1. Place your AirPods in their charging carry case and completely close the lid to disconnect them from your iPhone. Wait around a minute or so to allow the AirPods to disconnect completely, then remove them from the charging case again. 
  2. Open the Settings menu on your iPhone and head to the Bluetooth section. Open the Bluetooth menu and look for your AirPods under the list of available devices
  3. There should be a small ‘’i’’ logo next to your AirPods in this list. Click on that logo, and a dropdown menu will pop up. Select ‘’Forget This Device’’ in this menu.                      
  4. Press and hold down the setup button on your AirPods charging case to initiate pairing. Make sure that the Bluetooth on your iPhone is turned on. Your charging case should emit a static orange/amber light
  5. Your AirPods should reappear as an option under the available Bluetooth devices on your iPhone. Select this option on the Bluetooth menu to reconnect to your AirPods. Test the connection and performance using your iPhone’s music or media app.

Reset Your iPhone/iOS Device

At times your AirPods may experience performance or connectivity issues that can be traced back to the playback device they are connected to. In many iPhone-related cases, these performance issues can be caused by a minor operation glitch or a CPU overload or runtime error.

Whenever these issues arise, your AirPods will emit flashing orange light. Fortunately, the solution for these instances is simply reset your iPhone or iOS device and reconnect them to your AirPods.

Follow the steps below to properly rest your iPhone:

  1. Press and hold down the power button on your iPhone until you see a slider appear on your screen. This slider acts as the power switch.
  2. Press your thumb to the control, slide it downwards to turn off your iPhone, and wait a few seconds. Then simply restart your iPhone. 
  3. Open the Bluetooth menu in Settings on your iPhone and reconnect to your AirPods. 

Need to rename your AirPods? Here’s how.

Update The Firmware on Your AirPods

Sometimes you may experience connection or performance issues related to outdated firmware. AirPods occasionally require a firmware upgrade to keep up with any software updates you may initiate on your iPhone.

Whenever your Airpods experience these firmware-related issues, they will emit flashing orange light. Firmware updates generally happen automatically, but there are instances where you may need to force an update manually. 

To update your firmware, follow these steps below:

  1. Place one AirPod in your hand and the other inside the charging case. You will only require a single AirPod to initiate a firmware update. 
  2. Reconnect the AirPod inside the charging case while its lid is closed. Once the single AirPod is connected, take it out of the charging case and replace it with the second AirPod. 
  3. Use the first AirPod for a few minutes on its own, and then take it out of range of your iPhone. Reconnect the second AirPod to your iPhone with the case lid closed. Use the second AirPod for a few minutes before stopping all playback from your iPhone. 
  4. Place both AirPods in their charging case and open the lid. Charge the AirPods in their case for just over an hour. After the first hour, close the lid on the charging case and let them charge for another hour. 
  5. You’ll have to forget and reconnect your AirPods from your iPhone while they are charging. Once they are reconnected, they should have their firmware updated and should perform as necessary. 

So you put your AirPods through the wash? Here’s what to do (and what not to do!).

Wrapping Up

Finding your AirPods with a blinking orange light can be a relatively distressing experience, especially if you’re not sure of the source of the problem. Thankfully there are a handful of simple checks and processes that users can implement to fix a blinking orange light on their AirPods. 

Firstly, it’s always important to go to the primary sources of the issue. AirPods with a flashing orange light are usually experiencing minor performance or connectivity issues that stop them from operating properly. Users can try to rest either their iPhone or AirPods and then reconnect the two for optimal performance. 

At certain times, AirPods may also require a forced firmware update to remedy any operation errors they may experience. Manual firmware updates are fairly easy to execute and only require some patience and attention.

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