Usually pairing a forgotten device isn’t much of an issue as you can simply turn off your device’s Bluetooth and turn it back on. However, for devices such as AirPods, headphones etc, you might be faced with a scenario where you mistakenly forget the device from your iPhone and now, airing it seems like a problem.
Maybe that is why you are looking to figure out how to pair a forgotten device on iPhone.
If that is the case, you are in the right place as I will be walking you through the necessary steps you should take to pair it. But before that let’s swiftly break down what you ought to have done before painting can take place.
Before Pairing your Bluetooth device
In some scenarios, you might have forgotten to turn on your visibility or maybe, your Bluetooth isn’t turned on.
Aside from this, you might want to connect each of these Bluetooth devices with another pair of devices to see where the issues are coming from.
If for example, you can’t get your iPhone to pair with your headphone, see if you can pair the headphone with other devices also see if the iPhone is pairing with another device
Depending on where the problem is coming from, I will be listing down all the possible troubleshooting steps you can follow on how to pair a forgotten device on iPhone
How to pair a forgotten device on iPhone
We will be starting by focusing on the third part device if it isn’t pairing with your iPhone
Reset it with iPhone
If your headphones, AirPods or any other Bluetooth device isn’t pairing to your iPhone after you forget the device on your iPhone, you might have to reset it.
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Doing this follows a similar procedure for all devices provided they have a power button.
For most AirPods/headphones, you have to turn off the device.
After doing that, Press the power button and keep holding the button for 2-5 seconds even after it has turned on.
Now, try pairing the device with your iPhone.
Doing this works for most iPhone users. However, if you struggle to connect it, you should go through these troubleshooting steps on your iPhone
Turn Bluetooth Off And On
A simple glitch on the part of the Bluetooth can cause certain issues which can make you stuck looking for how to pair a forgotten device on iPhone.
If you are unsure about how to go about this follow the steps below
- Navigating to Settings.
- Tap on Bluetooth.
- Toggle the switch next to Bluetooth. the switch will turn grey
- Now, tap the switch again to turn it ON
You can also swipe up to access your control centre to turn your Bluetooth off and on.
If this procedure doesn’t work, proceed to the next troubleshooting step below
Reboot your iPhone
Restarting your iPhone can fix software glitches that have been stored up as bugs on your device.
To reboot your iPhone follow the steps below
- Press and hold the power button.
- You will see the slide to turn it off on the screen, simply swipe the power icon from left to right
- Once your iPhone turns off, wait for 40 seconds and turn your iPhone back on
- Turn on your Bluetooth and see if it pairs to the device
If it doesn’t process to the troubleshooting steps below
Forget The Bluetooth Device
sometimes, you might still have the device connected with your iPhone and all you need to do is pair them together. But it doesn’t seem to happen. If you are faced with this, you can forget the device and try connecting it all over again to see if it would work
If you are unsure of how to do that, follow the steps below
- Navigate to Settings.
- Tap on Bluetooth.
- Tap the info icon “i” next to the Bluetooth device you want to forget.
- Now, tap Forget This Device.
- If you are prompted again tap Forget Device.
- Once the device is forgotten you won’t see it under the list of connected Bluetooth devices.
Reset Network Settings
Resetting the network setting on your iPhone clears the data related to Bluetooth devices, Wi-Fi networks, Mobile networks and all other network-related settings will be erased.
Doing this will give your iPhone connectivity a fresh start.
If you are unsure of how o do that follow the steps below
- Navigate to Settings.
- Tap on General.
- locate and tap Transfer/Reset iPhone/System.
- Tap Reset/Reset Options.
- Tap Reset Network Settings.
- You might be required to enter your passcode when prompted on the screen.
- After doing this, your iPhone will reset the network settings and reboot.
Another alternative to this is to simply search for “reset network” on the settings window
After trying all these troubleshooting steps if you are unable to figure out how to pair a forgotten device on iPhone, you might have to update your device’s operating system
Update your iPhone OS
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Apart from factory resetting your iPhone, a simple update can also solve any bugs causing your Bluetooth not to pair with a forgotten device. If you are also stuck with this till now, here is how you can update your iPhone
- Navigate to Settings
- Tap on General
- Locate and tap on Software Update
- Now, download the latest update and restart your device
How to pair a forgotten device on iPhone 11
If you own an iPhone 11 and you just forgot a Bluetooth device on your iPhone, all you have to do is connect it back by turning the Bluetooth of both devices on.
You can do this by navigating to your iPhone Bluetooth
- Locate and pair “new device”
- Tap on it
- Turn on the Bluetooth of the other device.
- Once you see the device, tap on it to pair them together
How to pair a forgotten device on iPhone 12
If you own an iPhone 12 and you have just forgotten the device on your iPhone, all you have to do is connect it back by turning the Bluetooth of both devices on.
- You can do this by navigating to your iPhone Bluetooth
- Locate and pair a new device
- Tap on it
- Turn on the Bluetooth of the other device.
- Once you see the device, tap on it to pair them together
How to connect a forgotten Bluetooth device
If you’ve forgotten the Bluetooth device on your iPhone, connecting it shouldn’t be an issue. For devices such as AirPods or headphones, you might struggle to connect it once you forget the device
if you are stuck with that, follow the steps listed below to connect it
- Turn off the device.
- After doing that, Press the power button and keep holding the button for 2-5 seconds even after it has turned on.
- Now, try pairing the device with your iPhone.
How do I rediscover a forgotten Bluetooth device?
You can simply do that by turning on your Bluetooth device and then tapping on “pair new device”
After doing that, turn on the Bluetooth of the device you want to rediscover
Now, bring it loser
Once you see the device you want to rediscover on your iPhone tap on it and enter the passcode that displays on the other device if it asks for it
Once they are paired, you can easily connect both together by tapping it from your device list under Bluetooth
Conclusion
By now you should have figured out how to pair a forgotten device on iPhone notwithstanding the model you are using. If after doing all these, the issues keep persisting, you might have a technical issue.
You can contact apple support for technical issues if you still have a warranty with them.