How to make AirPods louder

AirPods are a great way to enjoy music, podcasts, audiobooks and even phone calls while remaining hands-free and avoiding getting tangled up in wires.

With no cable, though, it means there are fewer places to put buttons, which can be confusing if you want to increase the volume coming out of the Apple earphones. You may also be restricted to a maximum volume which is designed to protect your hearing, but instead just mars your ability to listen to your media of choice.

Here are some tips on how to pump up the volume on AirPods.

Turn up the volume

If you’re new to AirPods, then it might not be immediately obvious how you increase the level of the audio you’re listening to. There are no volume buttons or gesture controls that will alter the levels, but you’ve got a few different options.

Use your iPhone

The most straightforward method is to simply use the volume up and down buttons on your iPhone (or iPad, iPod or Mac if that’s what you’re using). This will automatically adjust the volume on your AirPods if you’re outputting audio to them.

Use Siri

Another route is through Siri. Simply say “Hey Siri” then, when you have its attention, command it to increase the volume. If you have the 1st-gen AirPods then Siri can be accessed by double-tapping on either AirPod, then you can make your request.

Use your Apple Watch

One of the simplest but best features on the Apple Watch is that you can quickly change the volume levels on your headphones by rotating the Digital Crown dial. Just make sure that the app playing the audio is open on your watch at the time.

Check for volume limits

Another reason why you may be experiencing less volume than you’d hoped is that you might have Headphone Safety switched on. This is a system setting that’s there to protect your ears from loud noises.

While it’s fun to have your favourites tunes blasting in your ears, you should be aware that hearing damage is an easy thing to achieve and tinnitus (or a constant ringing in your ears) is not something you want for the rest of your life.

Still, if you want to kick up the sounds, then go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety then ensure that the Reduce Loud Sounds feature is switched off.

Try updating or resetting your AirPods

If you still struggle with the volume on your AirPods it might be worth updating them or giving them a factory reset to check whether a bug has crept into the setup.

You can read our step-by-step guides showing how to update AirPods, how to reset AirPods and how to reset AirPods Max to factory settings.

Contact Apple Customer Support

With all of the options above explored, should your AirPods still not be working properly then we recommend you get in touch with Apple Customer Support and book a visit to the Apple Store to have an engineer take a look. Hopefully they’ll diagnose the problem quickly and get your AirPods fully functional once more.

Read how to book an appointment at an Apple Store’s Genius bar to find out what you have to do.