For any Chromebook with Bluetooth functionality, it’s very quick and easy to connect your wireless headphones to a Chromebook. This Chromebook guide goes over step by step on how to connect Bluetooth headphones to Chromebook and also troubleshoot if your headphones are not connecting properly.
I use my Audio Technica headphones and Samsung earbuds with Chromebook and they work fine with some exceptions sometimes obviously.
Right off the bat, I want to make it clear that some users will face regularly issues connecting, reconnecting, or pairing their wireless headphones. There is no one fix that applies to everyone if you are someone that is facing these issues.
This guide applies to all the Chromebooks regardless of the manufacturer, for e.g. Acer, HP, Dell, Samsung, LG, Google, etc.
However, please go through the frequently asked questions section down below and see if you can get your Chromebook to recognize your Bluetooth headset. For other questions or queries, please leave them in the comments section down below.
How To Connect Bluetooth Headphones To Chromebook
In a nutshell, to connect Bluetooth headphones to Chromebook, do the following:
- Bring up settings by clicking on the icon at the bottom-right corner of your Chromebook.
- Check and enable Bluetooth if it’s not ON already.
- Put your Bluetooth headphones in pairing mode.
- Click on “Bluetooth” > “Pair new device”.
- Wait for Chromebook to detect your wireless headphones, find them under “Available devices”.
- Click on the headphones to pair them to your Chromebook.
- You will see a “connected” message at bottom of the screen once the pairing process is complete.
That’s how you can pair your Bluetooth headphones to your Chromebook.
I use the same process to connect by Audio Technica wired headphones that I converted to a wireless version using an Audio Technica ATH-M50x Bluetooth adapter.
If for some reason you are facing Bluetooth issues, you can try to powerwash Chromebook which fixes a lot of issues.
Let me explain every step mentioned above in detail and for reference check the screenshots for every step reference if you get confused.
How To Pair Wireless Headphones To Chromebook [With Pictures]
Before getting started, you should know the process of putting your headphones in pairing mode.
I won’t be able to guide you with that since each and every Bluetooth headphone will have a different process to put them in pairing mode.
Almost all Chromebooks have Bluetooth features these days, please check if yours has this feature or not. Alternatively, I show you how to check that in the process down below if you would like to follow and see for yourself.
To pair your wireless headphones to Chromebook, do the following:
- Open up the settings by clicking on the battery/time icon at the bottom-right corner of your Chromebook’s screen.
- To enable Bluetooth, click on “Bluetooth”. If it’s already ON, you will see an “ON” text right under the Bluetooth logo.
- Click on “Bluetooth” > “Pair new device”. If the menu closes suddenly, open it again and follow the same process.
- It opens the “Pair new device” window. Now if you have your headphones in pairing mode, it will appear under “Available devices”. You can see my galaxy buds appear in the list, and so does “BAL-M50x” which are my wireless Audio Technica headphones.
- To pair it with your headphones, click on the name that represents it from the available devices list.
- Give it a few seconds and you will see a message that will confirm that your Bluetooth headphones have been successfully connected to your Chromebook.
That’s how you can pair a wireless headphone to a Chromebook via Bluetooth.
Why won’t my Bluetooth headphones connect to my Chromebook?
If it’s your first time pairing them, make sure they are set on pairing mode before moving further. If you have paired them in the past and they won’t connect to your Chromebook, make sure there are no other devices that also recognize your Bluetooth headphones.
The Chromebook not recognizing Bluetooth headphones seems to be a much larger issue and this has actually been acknowledged by Google in the past.
Some of the reasons that I can think of as to why this happens are :
- Your chrome OS is out of date and needs to be updated since it will download new drivers as well.
- All Chromebook manufacturers use different Bluetooth adapters, thus there might be conflicts regarding the hardware and the software provided by Google and your manufacturer.
- Chromebook’s Bluetooth features are not the best in class and will run into issues time and again. Please double-check all the hardware you would like to use before deciding which one to get.
One thing I would like to point out though is that the current Bluetooth headsets are not so straightforward these days. It is not a simple connect and forget scenario like it used to be in the past.
I constantly face issues with Bluetooth headsets and speakers on my Windows computer. This is no fault of the headsets but the Windows operating system itself.
Sometimes though, I need to make sure that there are no devices with Bluetooth enabled in close proximity when I try to connect Bluetooth headphones to Chromebook.
For some users, it will be a lot of hit and trial to figure out their scenario and why your Chromebook is not detecting or connecting to your Bluetooth headphones.
Chromebook Bluetooth problems – Frequently Asked Questions
If you are facing trouble connecting your Bluetooth headphones to your Chromebook or your Chromebook won’t recognize your headset the second time, below mentioned solutions should fix them.
For someone that is facing other issues or has other queries, please leave them in the comments section down below.
How do I get my Chromebook to recognize my Bluetooth headset?
To make sure your Chromebook recognizes your headset, make sure the Bluetooth on your laptop is turned ON first. If it detects other devices but not your headphones, in particular, make sure your delete your headphone’s paired list and try again.
Can you use Bluetooth headphones with Chromebook?
You absolutely can use Bluetooth headphones with your Chromebook. I used my Samsung Buds most of the time without any issues.
Can AirPods connect to a Chromebook?
Yes, AirPods can connect to a Chromebook. Just put them in the case, which puts them into pairing mode, and follow the steps I’ve mentioned above to pair them to your Chromebook.
do all Chromebooks have Bluetooth?
I am comfortable saying that almost all Chromebooks have Bluetooth these days. And if for some reason yours does not, you can pick up a universal receiver for very cheap off amazon or any online retailers.
