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How To Connect Bose Earbuds To Your Laptop

By Author Jonah Matthes

Posted on Last updated:

Bose’s latest earbuds manage to be both small and comfortable without making sacrifices in sound quality. However, you won’t be able to test the impressive sound quality if you can’t connect the earbuds to your device. So, how exactly do you connect Bose earbuds to a laptop?

To connect Bose earbuds to a laptop, put the earbuds into pairing mode by holding the button in the charging case or the one on the right earbud (depending on the model). Then, open your laptop’s Bluetooth settings, click “Add a new device,” select your earbuds from the list, and click “Connect.”

That’s an overview of the basic process you’ll need to do to connect your Bose earbuds to your laptop, but it doesn’t cover everything. Let’s go through this process in more detail so that you can get your earbuds up and running as quickly as possible.

How to Activate Pairing Mode

Close up a person's hands holding an empty bose ear pods case with one earpog in their other hand

Before we can get started, you need to know what pairing mode is on your Bose earbuds, as well as how to activate it.

Pairing mode is a feature available on most Bluetooth headphones that allow the headphones to be discovered by new devices. Whenever you connect your headphones to a device for the first time, you’ll have to use pairing mode. This is to prevent random people from connecting to your headphones by accident.

Even though most Bluetooth headphones have pairing mode, the method for activating it varies from pair to pair. For Bose earbuds, this process also differs based on which version of Bose earbuds you have.

Let’s go through how to do this on each model:

  • Bose Sport Earbuds/Bose QuietComfort Earbuds: Press and hold the button located on the charging case until the Bluetooth light begins blinking.
  • Bose Sport Open Earbuds: There should be a button located on the right earbud. Press and hold this for about five seconds until you hear “Ready to connect” from the headphone.
  • Bose Soundsport Wireless: Once again, there should be a button located on the right earbud. Press and hold this for about five seconds until the pairing light turns blue.

Once you’ve activated pairing mode using the methods above, your earbuds will be discoverable by any device with Bluetooth audio connectivity. Now we just need to figure out how to get the device to connect.

How to Connect Bose Earbuds to Your Laptop

Connecting your Bose earbuds to your laptop is actually quite simple. However, it will differ based on whether you have a Windows laptop or a MacBook.

Here are two sets of instructions based on the type of laptop you have:

How to Connect Bose Earbuds to a MacBook

Bose Earbuds with Macbook in the background

Connecting your Bose earbuds to your MacBook laptop is a breeze. In fact, it only takes a couple of steps:

  1. To begin, put your Bose earbuds into pairing mode by following the instructions for your specific pair of Bose earbuds located in the section above.
  2. Open your MacBook and go to the Apple menu at the top of the screen. Here, you need to select “System Preferences” and then “Bluetooth” from the list that appears. This should open up a page that lists all of the devices you could possibly connect to.
  3. In this devices list, you should see the name of your earbuds listed. After you see your earbuds on the list, select “Connect” next to them, and the sound from your computer should start to come out of your headphones.

If you ever want to disconnect your earbuds from your MacBook, you can just put them back in their charging case. However, this will only disconnect them from the computer for the period in which they’re off.

If you want to disconnect them from the MacBook more permanently, then you’ll need to repeat the steps above, except you’ll select “Disconnect” where the “Connect” button was.

How to Connect Bose Earbuds to a Windows/PC Laptop

On a Windows PC, this process is also very simple. Most of the difficulty of connecting a Bluetooth device on Windows comes from actually finding the Bluetooth settings in order to connect the device.

  1. To begin, put your Bose earbuds into pairing mode by following the instructions for your specific type of Bose earbuds located above.
  2. Right click on the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of the screen. This should bring up a list of options; select the one that says “Settings.” This will bring you to the Settings menu, where you’ll select the option that says “Devices.”
  3. After this, you should be on the page for Bluetooth and other devices by default, but if you aren’t, you can simply select it from the list on the left.
  4. Now, you need to turn on the Bluetooth toggle at the top if it isn’t already and then click on the plus sign next to “Add Bluetooth or other device.”
  5. Here, you’ll be given a list of choices of methods to connect devices. Select “Bluetooth” and a list of available devices should appear.
  6. Finally, once your Bose earbuds appear on the list, select them, click “Connect,” and your laptop should connect to them.

After following these steps, you should be good to use your earbuds for your laptop’s audio. If you ever want to disconnect your Bose earbuds from your laptop, you can just put them back in their charging case.

However, this will only disconnect them from the computer for the period in which they’re off. If you want to disconnect them from the laptop more permanently, then you’ll need to repeat the steps above, except you’ll select “Disconnect” where the “Connect” button was.

How to Connect Using the Bose Music App

The Bose Music App is a great way to connect your Bose Earbuds to your phone. The app can be downloaded on both Android devices via the Google Play Store or on iPhone via the App Store. The app is compatible with Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, Bose Sport Earbuds, and Bose Sport Open Earbuds (all on Amazon).

To connect your Bose earbuds to your phone using the Bose Music App, just follow these steps:

  1. First, begin by opening the Bose Music App and allowing the app to use your Bluetooth Permissions, if they’re requested.
  2. Either sign in to your Bose account or create an account if you don’t already have one.
  3. Next, you should be on the “My Bose” screen. If you’ve connected your earbuds using this app before, they’ll be listed here. However, if you haven’t, then you’ll need to tap the “+” icon to add a new device.
  4. At this point, put your Bose earbuds into pairing mode by following the instructions for your specific pair listed above.
  5. After hitting the “+” icon, select “Headphones,” and your Bose earbuds should appear in the list of available devices. Once they have, select them.
  6. The app should then tell you that your connection has been successful.

After this point, you should have successfully connected your Bose earbuds to your phone. The best part about doing this through the app is that whenever you want to connect them again, all you have to do is turn them on and a popup will appear on your phone asking if you’d like to connect.

How to Connect Using the Bose Connect App

Close up of blue Bose earbuds in their case

Bose actually has a second app that can be used to connect a pair of Bose headphones to an Apple or Android device. This app is known as Bose Connect, and it can be found on both the Google Play Store and the App Store. So, the main question is: Why would you use Bose Connect rather than Bose Music?

The answer to this is simple: The apps are compatible with different kinds of Bose earbuds. Bose Connect works with Bose QuietControl 30 Earbuds, Bose SoundSport Earbuds, Bose SoundSport Free Earbuds, and Bose SoundSport Pulse Earbuds.

To connect a pair of Bose earbuds to your device using Bose Connect, you just have to follow these simple steps:

  1. Begin by opening the Bose Connect App and allowing the app to use your Bluetooth permissions, if requested to do so.
  2. Turn your Bose earbuds on and put them in pairing mode by following the steps for your specific device listed above.
  3. Place your earbuds close to your device and they should appear on the list of available devices.
  4. Once they appear, select your Bose earbuds, and they should connect to your device.

After this point, you should have successfully connected your Bose earbuds to your phone. Whenever you want to connect them again, all you have to do is turn them on, and a popup will appear on your phone asking if you’d like to connect.