There is no denying that Echo speakers and Alexa are essentially synonymous, as the speakers are the primary gateway that makes it possible for us to communicate with the Alexa ecosystem whenever necessary.
That being said, a fact that isn’t too widely known is that using Alexa does not always have to mean using an Echo speaker, as it’s entirely possible to listen to the audio that Alexa outputs to the Echo speaker through your headphones as well.
In today’s article, our topic will be the process of connecting AirPods to Alexa, in particular, which is something that can come in extremely handy in many situations where you won’t be able to use your Echo speakers due to various reasons.
So, how can you connect your AirPods to Alexa?
You can easily connect your AirPods to Alexa by putting your AirPods into pairing mode, opening the Alexa application, navigating to the Echo & Alexa section in Devices, choosing the Echo device you would like to connect to, pressing the Connect a Device button, and choosing your AirPods from the list.
In the upcoming sections of the article, we will dive deeper into the process of connecting your AirPods to Alexa, find out how to quickly switch between AirPods and Echo speakers on Alexa, and finally, go through the troubleshooting steps we recommend taking in cases where you are unable to establish a connection.
How to Connect AirPods to Alexa?
Connecting your AirPods to Alexa is a pretty straightforward process that you can go through within a few minutes at most, as the interface of both the Alexa application and the Echo Show are highly user-friendly when it comes to adding a new Bluetooth device into the mix.
Below, you can find sub-sections for the two distinct methods you can utilize to connect your AirPods to Alexa, in which you will find detailed step-by-step guides that will take you through the process from start to finish.
Connecting AirPods to Alexa with the Alexa App
The most common technique for connecting AirPods to Alexa is to use the Alexa application on your smartphone, as the Alexa application is an essential part of using Alexa regardless of which Echo devices you have.
Here is a step-by-step guide you can follow to connect your AirPods to Alexa with the Alexa application:
- Place your AirPods into the charging case and leave the lid open.
- Press the button on the charging case until the indicator light starts flashing white, indicating that your AirPods are in pairing mode.
- Open the Alexa application on your smartphone.
- Press the Devices button located on the bottom menu bar.
- Navigate to the Echo & Alexa section.
- Choose the Echo device you want to connect with your AirPods from the list.
- Press the Connect a Device button under Bluetooth Connections.
- Choose your AirPods from the Available Devices list and wait.
Once pairing is successful, you should see your AirPods under the Bluetooth Connections section, and the “Connected” text should show up, indicating that the connection is established successfully.
Connecting AirPods to Alexa with an Echo Show
If you are planning to utilize your AirPods to hear the sound that your Echo Show speaker produces, you can use the Echo Show’s own interface to connect your AirPods to Alexa instead, which provides an alternative method to using the application.
Below, you can find a step-by-step guide that will take you through the process of connecting your AirPods to Alexa with an Echo Show:
- Place your AirPods into the charging case and leave the lid open.
- Press the button on the charging case until the indicator light starts flashing white, indicating that your AirPods are in pairing mode.
- Swipe down from the top of your Echo Show’s screen and press the Settings button.
- Navigate to the Bluetooth section.
- Tap your AirPods from the list and wait.
Upon successful pairing and connecting, the Connected text will show up below the AirPods entry, indicating that the connection has been established successfully.
How to Switch Between AirPods and Speaker on Alexa?
While connecting your AirPods to Alexa will definitely prove to be convenient in some cases, you will most likely also come across scenarios where you would like to use the Echo devices’ speakers rather than your AirPods, which will require you to switch away.
The most straightforward way to switch between AirPods and speakers on Alexa is to use voice commands that correspond to disconnecting and connecting Bluetooth devices.
To switch back to speaker mode on Alexa, you will need to say, “Alexa, disconnect”, which should disconnect the AirPods and prompt your Echo speaker to get back to outputting the sound.
On the other hand, to quickly connect your AirPods back to Alexa, you can say “Alexa, connect” instead, which will cause your Echo speaker to connect to the last-connected Bluetooth device.
Alternatively, you can navigate to the Bluetooth devices section (Devices -> Echo & Alexa -> <your Echo device name>) on the Alexa application, tap on your AirPods in the Bluetooth Connections list, and tap the Disconnect Device or Connect Device buttons to make the switch if you prefer not to use voice commands.
Cannot Connect AirPods to Alexa – What to Do?
Even though you should be able to connect your AirPods to Alexa without any issues in most cases, there can be cases where you come across technical problems that prevent the connection from being successfully established.
Here is a brief list of steps we recommend taking if you can’t get your AirPods to connect to Alexa:
- Ensure that the AirPods are in pairing mode, where the status light on the charging case flashes white.
- Confirm that your Echo device’s software is up-to-date.
- Bring your AirPods closer to the Echo device for a reliable Bluetooth signal.
- Restart the Alexa application on your smartphone.
- Try to establish the connection with a different Echo speaker, if available.
In most cases, the steps we have mentioned above should solve the connection problem, as Bluetooth connectivity issues often stem from minor technical problems such as bugs in software, weak signal quality, or issues with pairing mode being active.
Conclusion
While there is no denying that an Echo speaker is the first thing that comes to mind when Alexa is mentioned, the option to utilize the functionality that Alexa offers through AirPods instead is definitely one that introduces a considerable amount of flexibility.
To summarize, you can connect your AirPods to Alexa by either using the Alexa (Devices -> Echo & Alexa) app on your smartphone or your Echo Show device’s interface (swipe down -> Settings -> Bluetooth).
As long as your AirPods are in pairing mode (place AirPods in case, leave the lid open, press button until the indicator light flashes white), you should be able to initiate the connection from Alexa and use your AirPods with Alexa in no time.
Especially considering that switching between your AirPods and your Echo speaker is just as simple of a process as connecting your AirPods to Alexa, you can always switch back to the speaker mode once the need to use your AirPods is over.
Mark’s first real encounter with tech was when he had to format his computer with Windows 98 around the age of 6 to quickly get back to playing Heroes of Might and Magic III without having to send the computer in for a repair, which he strangely found to be rather enjoyable since it was a new challenge for him at the time.
While he has always been particularly interested in the software side of things, which eventually led to him becoming a software developer, he enjoys keeping up with the advancements in consumer electronics and smart home technology when he’s not busy coding.