11 Best Fixes: Why Do My Airpods Keep Pausing Randomly?

There are a few reasons why do my Airpods keep pausing. One possibility is that you accidentally double-tapped the Apple AirPods, which pauses playback. Another possibility is that there’s a Bluetooth glitch.

 Why Do My Airpods Keep Pausing

You can try resetting the apple AirPods or disabling automatic ear detection on your apple device. If the problem persists, it might be worth taking your iPhone or iPad to an apple store to get it checked out.

fixes for why do my AirPods keep pausing:

  1. Unstable BlueTooth Connection
  2. Physical damage
  3. Charge the Apple AirPods
  4. Disconnect Bluetooth Devices
  5. Restart Your Device
  6. Apple AirPods Proximity Sensors
  7. Disable the Automatic Ear Detection feature
  8. Issues due to settings malfunction
  9. Check Your Double-Tap Actions
  10. Update the software of your Apple AirPods
  11. Reset Your apple AirPods and Fix Most Problems

1. Unstable BlueTooth Connection

If you have an unstable Bluetooth connection, there are a few things you can do to fix it. First, check to ensure that your apple AirPods are turned on and connected to your device. 

If they are, try putting them back in the case and reconnecting them. If that doesn’t work, try reconnecting the Apple AirPods to your device.

2. Physical damage (leading to why do my AirPods keep pausing)

Suppose by any chance one or both of your apple AirPods had faced physical damage or came in contact with water. In that case, issues related to why do my AirPods keep pausing or entirely stopping the music might turn into hardware problems.

3. Charge the apple AirPods to avoid why Do my AirPods keep pausing

Airpods being charged.

Before thinking about any other possible issues, you might want to check the battery of your iPad.

  1. Your apple AirPods are running on low battery; hence it is pausing the music as a warning for you to charge the Apple AirPods. 
  2. Place the apple AirPods back into the charging case for at least half an hour. It will reach its vital power energy to operate.
  3. It is recommended to keep the charging case plugged in power until the apple AirPods have been fully charged.
  4. While doing so, check that the LED in your apple AirPods case is blinking in yellow or red. 

4. Disconnect Bluetooth Devices

Bluetooth turned on.

If you’re still wondering why my AirPods keep pausing the music, you must go to the Bluetooth settings of your iPhone. Check if there’s more than one device connected to the Bluetooth of your iPhone.

  1. Guide yourself to the settings app of your iPhone.
  2. Scroll and tap on the Bluetooth option and open the settings under it
Location off Bluetooth option.
  1. Search for the active Bluetooth connections in “My devices.” 
Location off My Device option
  1. Disconnect all the devices connected to your apple AirPods except your apple AirPods. 
  2. Unpair all the previously connected devices by clicking on the forget device option and keep your apple AirPods in my device section only.
  3. This will further assure that your apple AirPods are the only possible device that can be connected to your device’s Bluetooth.

5. Restart Your Device

Iphone restarting.

You must know that the issue might not always come from the apple AirPods side.  Sometimes it can be your device (iPad or iPhone) causing the music to stop or pause randomly due to software glitches or other possible issues. 

Down below is the easy step-by-step process to restart your device:

If you’re an iPhone X, 11, 12, or 13 user:

  1. Long press the side button and the volume up or down button together at the same time until the “power off “slider appears on the screen
  2. Once the power-off slider appears on the screen, slide it, and your phone will turn off
  3.  Wait for a few minutes, and then long-press the side button until the Apple logo appears on your screen.

If you are an iPhone 8, 7, or 6 user

  1. Press and hold the side button until you see the “power off” slider on your screen
  2. Once the power-off slider appears on your screen, slide it, and your iPhone will turn off
  3. After a couple of minutes, press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo on your screen

If You Are an iPhone 5 or any iPhone(released before iPhone 5) user

  1. Press and hold the power button at the top until you see the power off slider on your screen
  2. Once the power slider appears on the screen, slide it, and your iPhone will turn off
  3. Wait for a few minutes, then press and hold the power button at the top again. Let go of the button when the Apple logo appears on the screen.

For iPads with the home button:

  1. Press and hold the home button and the power top button together simultaneously. 
  2. Let go of the buttons when the screen turns off, and the Apple logo appears on the screen.

For iPads without the home button:

  1. Press and hold the top volume button and the power button together.
  2. Let go of the buttons when the “slide to power” slider appears. 
  3. Slide it, and your iPad will be turned off.

6. Apple Airpods Proximity Sensors

Wireless earbuds have built-in proximity sensors that pause your music when you take them out of your ears. This can be annoying as to why my AirPods keep pausing, especially if you’re moving around a lot. 

You can disable the proximity sensors. The steps to disable this Proximity sensor feature is given below:

  1. Guide yourself to the settings app of your phone
Location off  Bluetooth option
  1. Scroll and tap on the Bluetooth option and find your apple AirPods which are connected to the Bluetooth of your device
  2. Click on the “More information” option on the right side of the name of your apple AirPods (represented by the lowercase letter “i” inside a circle).
This is how More information icon looks like.
  1. Scroll and look for the “Pause on Remove” option.
  2. Turn off the toggle switch, and the apple AirPods will not pause the music anymore if you’re 30-60 feet away from your device.

7. Disable the Automatic Ear Detection feature

If you’re having issues with your AirPods and are thinking, why do my AirPods keep pausing or disconnecting? It might be due to automatic ear detection. 

If you turn off automatic ear detection, your apple AirPods will stay connected even when they’re not in your ears.

The easy step-by-step process to turn off the automatic ear detection feature is given below:

  1. Guide yourself to the settings app of your phone
  2. Scroll and tap on the Bluetooth option and find your apple AirPods which are connected to the Bluetooth of your device
Location of my device section
  1. Click on the “More information” option on the right side of the name of your apple AirPods (represented by the lowercase letter “i” inside a circle).
This is how more information icon looks like.
  1. Switch and change “Automatic ear detection” to “OFF.”
  2. Check if you can answer why my AirPods keep pausing.

8. Issues due to settings malfunction

While in the settings window, many people alter the default settings into customized settings, leading to various configuration problems, one being the music randomly pausing.

Hence it is advised to check if any such altered settings are leading to such disruption.

If so, you may change the altered settings to default and check again if the issue persists.

9. Check the Double-Tap Actions

The double tap feature is applicable on the airpods.

This issue will take place rarely if you use apple AirPods Pro, as the gestures the apple AirPods need to activate this feature aren’t that easy to activate accidentally. 

If you’re using the standard apple AirPods, then the double-tap feature could pause playback.

  1. If you have the apple AirPods in your ears very well, but if they’re tucked inside the charging case, you may open the case.
  2. On your iPhone or iPad, guide yourself to the Settings app and open the Bluetooth section.
  3. Click on the “More information” option on the right side of the name of your apple AirPods (represented by the lowercase letter “i” inside a circle).
This is how More information icon  looks like.
  1. On the next screen, you may choose if you want to change settings for your left or right apple AirPods. 
  2. If by any chance, one of your apple AirPods has its double-tap feature set to playback control, then this could be causing the pause issue. 
  3. Try changing the choice to activating Siri or track skipping and check if the issue is resolved.

10. Update the software of your Apple AirPods 

To update your apple AirPods, all you need is an iOS device. It can be an iPhone, iPad, iMac, MacBook, iPad mini, MacMini, or any Apple operating device.

The easy step-by-step guide to updating your apple AirPods is given below:

  1. Turn on the Bluetooth and WiFi on your iOS device.
Wifi and bluetooth turned on.
  1. Pair your apple AirPods to your device
  2. Get hold of the charging case and put the apple AirPods in it 
Airpods being taken out of the charging case.
  1. Keep the charging case close to your iOS device for at least 15 minutes.
  2. The update process with iOS is completely automatic, and all you need to do is simply keep the charging case close to the iOS device for the required time.
  3. If a new software version is available, it won’t take more than 15 minutes to download and install the update on your apple AirPods.
  4. Check if you can answer why my AirPods keep pausing.

Now, is there a way to fix this and check the version of your apple AirPods OS and see if it has been updated or not?

Yes, there is!

  1. You must guide yourself to the settings app on your IOS device and click on the general settings option.
Location of general option
  1. Look for the About option and click on it
Location of About option.
  1. Then click on Apple AirPods

You can look up the latest firmware or operating system on the Internet to ensure that your apple AirPods are up to date!

11. Reset and Reconnect the apple AirPods and Fix Most Problems

If none of those mentioned above fixes worked for you, then it is suggested to try adding the apple AirPods to your smartphone’s Bluetooth list again. I

If you’re having problems with your apple AirPods as to why my AirPods keep pausing, then there’s a good chance a reset will fix them.

To do so, the detailed steps are mentioned below:

  1. Make sure your apple AirPods are in their case and that the case is charged.
  2. Guide yourself to the settings app on your device 
  3. Scroll and click on the Bluetooth option 
Location of Bluetooth option.
  1. Look for your apple AirPods in the “my device” section under Bluetooth 
Location of My Device section.
  1. Tap on the “info” button on the right side of the name of your Apple AirPods
  2. At the bottom of the screen, you will find the “Disconnect apple AirPods” option. 
  3. Click on it and tap on the “Forget This Device” option
Location of Forget this Network option.
  1. Press and hold the button on the back of the charging case for at least 15 seconds
  2. Put the apple AirPods inside the charging case
  3. Wait for your apple AirPods to reappear in the Bluetooth list, then pair them with your iOS device. 
  4. Now try connecting your apple AirPods to your iPhone or other Apple device.
  5. For iPhones, a prompt animation will be displayed on the screen where you need to click on suitable options to enable it to connect with your device.
Animation while connecting airpods.
  1. If they still don’t connect, try putting them back in the case and repeating the reset.

If this doesn’t work, you can try a few other things, like making sure your iOS device is up to date or contact Apple Support. 

But for many apple AirPods users, a reset is all it takes to fix the problem.

Wrapping Up

It is understandable to be frustrated when you keep thinking about why my AirPods pause.

But you must know that this issue is usually not serious and most of the time can be fixed easily. 

Carefully read the above fixes and try the next fix if the previous one did not help. If none of them works, then it is recommended that you must pay a visit to your nearest authorized service center or seek help from Apple Customer Care.

FAQs 

Why Do My AirPods Keep Pausing Randomly?

This happens due to the automatic ear detection feature offered by Apple. Sometimes the sensors in the AirPods incorrectly detect the AirPods being taken out of your ear and therefore pause the music. However, Apple has the option to turn off the automatic ear detection option to prevent any such thing from happening in the future.

How Do I Stop My AirPods From Pausing?

Turning off the automatic ear detection option can solve most issues with the AirPods pausing the music. You may guide yourself to the Bluetooth option. Click on the more information icon beside the name of your AirPods. Turn off the slider for the automatic ear detection option.

How Do I Stop AirPods Pro From Auto Pausing?

Most of the time, this may happen due to an unstable Bluetooth connection. You may check to ensure that your Apple AirPods have been turned on and properly connected to your device. Then you may put them back in the case and reconnect them. If that doesn’t work, you may click on the “forget this device” option and reconnect the Apple AirPods to your device.

Why Does My Music Keep Pausing?

There might be issues with the system which is connected to your AirPods. One of the most effective ways is to restart your iPad or iPhone. To do so, you may long press the home button at the top of the lock button at the side of your device. Once your device has turned off, you may repeat the process to turn on your device again.