How to check AirPods battery on a Mac

Your Mac can show the battery of your AirPods in four places. All four need the AirPods to be connected to this Mac, and none of them stays on screen. Here is each one, and what to use when that is not enough.

Control Center

This is the fastest way, and it needs no setup.

1. Click the Control Center icon in the menu bar.
2. Click Bluetooth.
3. Find your AirPods in the list. The battery level is next to the name.

If you use Bluetooth often, you can put it in the menu bar. In macOS Tahoe, open System Settings, click Menu Bar, and select Bluetooth below Menu Bar Controls. In earlier versions, open System Settings, go to Control Center, and set Bluetooth to Show in Menu Bar. Then the list is one click away.

System Settings

System Settings has the most detail.

1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
2. Click Bluetooth.
3. Look under the name of your AirPods. You see a level for the left bud, the right bud and the case.

This is where you see the left and right AirPods separately. If you wear one bud more than the other, the two levels drift apart.

The Batteries widget

A widget keeps the levels in view without a click.

1. Click the date and time in the menu bar to open Notification Center.
2. Click Edit Widgets at the bottom.
3. Search for Batteries and add it. You can also drag it to the desktop.

The widget shows your Mac and each Bluetooth device connected to it. When you disconnect your AirPods, they leave the widget.

Siri

Ask Siri “How much battery do my AirPods have?”. Siri answers with the level of the buds, and of the case when it can see it.

Check the AirPods case battery

The case is the hard one. It has no Bluetooth of its own, so it reports through the AirPods.

1. Put at least one bud in the case.
2. Open the lid and hold the case close to your Mac.
3. Open System Settings and click Bluetooth.
4. Look under the name of your AirPods for the level of the case.

The case only appears while a bud is in it with the lid open, or just after you take the buds out. With the buds out, the status light on the case shows its charge. Green means fully charged. Amber means less than one full charge remains.

There is more in how to check AirPods case battery on a Mac. If the case empties faster than you expect, see why your AirPods case battery is draining.

AirPods battery not showing on a Mac

Your Mac only shows AirPods that are awake and connected to it. Check these in order.

1. Open the lid of the case, or take a bud out. AirPods shut down when they are in the case with the lid closed.
2. Hold the AirPods close to your Mac.
3. Click Control Center in the menu bar.
4. Click Sound, then choose your AirPods from the list. This moves them to your Mac if they were connected to your iPhone.
5. If they are not in the list, open System Settings, click Bluetooth, and check that Bluetooth is on.
6. If no status light appears on the case, charge the AirPods in the case for at least 15 minutes and try again.

If only the case is missing, a bud has to be in the case with the lid open.

Beats with an Apple chip follow the same rules. See how to check Beats battery on a Mac.

What macOS does not show

These four ways have the same limits.

• Only while connected to this Mac. If your AirPods are playing from your iPhone, your Mac shows nothing.
• Nothing stays in the menu bar. You have to open a menu or look at a widget.
• No history. You cannot see how fast your AirPods drain, or how long a charge lasted last week.

Keep AirPods battery in the menu bar

BatteryBud is a menu bar app that fills these gaps. It shows the left bud, the right bud and the case, and you can pin your AirPods to the menu bar with their percentage.

When your AirPods are connected to your Mac, BatteryBud shows exact levels. When they are connected to something else, or sitting in their closed case, it reads the Bluetooth broadcasts they send while they are near your Mac, in use or in their closed case. Most of those carry exact levels too. When one does not, BatteryBud shows the level in 10% steps.

BatteryBud also keeps a history for each device, and it can alert you when a level drops below a number you pick.

For every other device, see what a battery monitor for Mac shows. If you also want to connect and control AirPods from the Mac, see how AirBuddy and BatteryBud differ.