Smart & Connected Life > Headphones & Ear Buds How to Turn Off AirPods Auto Switch Stop this annoying automatic switching between devices 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 February 22, 2022 Reviewed by Jessica Kormos Reviewed by Jessica Kormos Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others. lifewire's editorial guidelines 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 IOS: Settings > Bluetooth > i icon next to AirPods > Connect to This iPhone > When Last Connected to This iPhone.Mac: Apple menu > System Preferences > Bluetooth > Options next to AirPods > Connect to This Mac > When Last Connected to This Mac.Only change this setting on devices that you don't want to switch to your AirPods automatically. Are your AirPods automatically switching from one device to another and ruining your listening experience? This article explains why this happens and how to stop AirPods from automatically switching on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. These instructions apply to iPhones running iOS 14 and up, iPads running iPadOS 14 and up, and Macs running macOS Big Sur 11 and up. The instructions cover all AirPods models, including AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. How to Turn Off Auto Switch on iPhone and iPad Apple introduced AirPods automatic switching with iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. It lets your AirPods detect what device is playing audio and automatically connects them to that device for a seamless experience. To turn off AirPods automatic switching, follow these steps: Only do this on devices that you don't want to switch to your AirPods automatically. You may wish to keep auto-switch enabled on the device you use most often with your AirPods. Make sure your AirPods are connected to your iPhone or iPad. Tap Settings. Tap Bluetooth. Tap the i icon next to your AirPods. Tap Connect to This iPhone (or iPad). Tap When Last Connected to This iPhone (or iPad). With that setting changed, now your AirPods will only automatically switch to that device if it was the last one with which they connected. If the AirPods most recently linked to a different device, they wouldn't automatically switch to the one whose settings you changed. Why Turn Off AirPods Automatic Switching? In theory, auto-switching is a helpful feature, so why would you want to turn it off? Well, what if you're using more than one device at a time? In that case, your AirPods may switch devices back and forth randomly, making it hard to listen to either one. It happens in my house all the time. If I'm listening to a podcast on my iPhone while I cook dinner and my partner is watching TV on the iPad, my AirPods sometimes play my podcast and sometimes her TV show, which is annoying for both of us! By changing this setting, you can avoid that. Of course, there are some cases in which you'll want two sets of AirPods to listen to the same audio source at the same time. In that case, check out our tips for sharing audio between two AirPods. How To Turn Off AirPods Auto Switch on a Mac Macs running macOS Big Sur 11.0 also support AirPods automatic switching, so you may want to change your Mac's settings, too. Here's how: Make sure your AirPods are connected to your Mac. Click the Apple menu. Click System Preferences. Click Bluetooth. Click Options next to your AirPods. In the pop-up window, click the Connect to this Mac menu and then click When Last Connected to This Mac. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit