Smart & Connected Life > Headphones & Ear Buds How to Connect AirPods or AirPods Pro To Your MacBook Pairing Apple wireless earbuds to a Mac laptop By Sam Costello Sam Costello Facebook Twitter Writer Ithaca College Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on March 5, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Headphones & Ear Buds Eco Tech Electric Vehicles Working From Home Headphones & Ear Buds Smart Home Smart Watches & Wearables Travel Tech Connected Car Tech iPods & MP3 Players What to Know Turn on Bluetooth on the Mac, press and hold the Setup button on the Airpods case, and click Connect in Bluetooth preferences.To change output to the Airpods, go to System Preferences > Sound > Output > Show volume in menu bar. This article explains how to connect AirPods and AirPods Pro to MacBooks. Before You Begin: What You Need To connect AirPods to your Mac, you need the following things: Any recent MacBook model. AirPods (For AirPods Pro, the Mac needs macOS X 10.15.1 (Catalina) or higher.) For second-generation AirPods, the Mac needs macOS X 10.14.4 (Mojave) or higher. For first-generation AirPods, the Mac needs macOS X 10.12 (Sierra) or higher. How to Connect AirPods to Your MacBook Connecting AirPods or AirPods Pro to a MacBook is like connecting any other Bluetooth headphones to your Mac. Here's what you need to do: Click the Apple menu in the top left corner and select System Preferences. In System Preferences, click Bluetooth. In the Bluetooth preferences, click Turn Bluetooth On. Leave this window open. Put both AirPods in the charging case and open the lid. Hold down the setup button on the back of the AirPods case until the status light starts to blink white. Apple When the AirPods appear in the Bluetooth preferences window on the Mac, click Connect. When the AirPods are connected to your Mac, they'll move to the top of the list of Bluetooth devices. You can now use them to listen to the audio. The Options button in the Bluetooth preferences window lets you control the features of the AirPods. Click it to control what action a double-tap of each AirPods triggers, whether to automatically use AirPods as microphones and more. How to Change Mac Audio Output to AirPods Usually, your MacBook will automatically connect to your AirPods and set the audio from the computer to play to them. If that doesn't happen, here's what to do to send audio to your AirPods: Select System Preferences under the Apple menu. Click Sound. Click the Output tab. Check the box next to Show volume in menu bar. When the volume control appears in the top right corner of your MacBook, click it and then click your AirPods. How to Connect AirPods to Other Devices AirPods don't just work with the iPhone and MacBooks. They work with basically anything that supports Bluetooth, including Windows 10 PCs and the Apple TV. If your AirPods don't connect to any of these devices, some simple AirPod troubleshooting tips might help you get them back online and get your audio flowing again. If You've Already Connected AirPods to an iPhone If you've already connected your AirPods to an iPhone, your Mac may automatically detect and connect to the AirPods without you having to do anything at all. If your iPhone and Mac are both signed in to iCloud using the same Apple ID, the Mac may also connect to the AirPods on its own. In that case, select the AirPods from the Bluetooth or Volume Control menus in the top-right corner to play audio to them. If that doesn't work, or if these AirPods are brand new and haven't been connected to anything, follow the instructions above. AirPods Won't Connect to MacBook? Here's the Fix Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit