Check out these four essential things you must do before selling or giving away your AirPods. These tips should also be followed if you’re returning your AirPods or sending them for recycling.
The tips here apply to all models, including AirPods Pro and AirPods Max.
1. Dissociate your AirPods from your Apple Account
Unlike the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro, your AirPods are not secured by Activation Lock. However, they are still tied to your Apple Account, and removing them ensures the next user can make full use of them, including the ability to see the AirPods location or play sound using the Find My app on their devices.
Therefore, before you sell your AirPods to someone else, gift them away, or send them off, simply forgetting the AirPods in Settings > Bluetooth > info icon ⓘ > Forget This Device isn’t enough. You must take a moment to disassociate them from your Apple account:
1) If you have not yet forgotten AirPods from your Apple device, make sure they are nearby and connected to the iPhone, iPad, or Mac where you’ll use the Find My app in step 2. I would recommend keeping both buds in their charging case with the lid open. Note that you can remove AirPods from your Apple account even if they are not connected to your device, but when they are connected, the dissociation happens quickly.
2) Open the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac and go to the Devices section.
3) Select your AirPods.
If you have the newest AirPods Pro and they are outside the case, you may be prompted to select your case or the left or right pods. You can select either the charging case or one of the AirPods.
4) Tap Remove or Remove This Device. If you’re on a Mac, click the info button ⓘ in your AirPods overlay on the map to see this option.
5) Tap Remove > Remove and wait for the process to complete. It shouldn’t take more than 15 to 20 seconds.
Now your AirPods and charging case are unlinked from your Apple Account and ready for a new owner. Unlinking ensures the next owner can pair them with their iPhone, iPad, Mac, or other Apple device, and these AirPods will now show up in their Find My app, associated with their Apple ID.
Furthermore, the above steps will also unpair your AirPods from all your Apple devices. You don’t have to go to the Bluetooth settings of every device you own to forget these AirPods.
Related: How to reset AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max
2. Clean the AirPods
AirPods go directly into your ears and get your earwax, body oils, and dirt smeared all over their grills, tips, etc. To ensure a hygienic experience for the next owner and prevent AirPods allergies, you must wipe your buds properly with a dry cloth. We also have a detailed guide on safely cleaning your AirPods tips and its charging case.
3. Get the extras in order
- AirPods (except the latest AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 3) come with a Lightning or USB-C cable.
- AirPods Pro also come with extra tips. AirPods Pro 1st generation have three sizes of ear tips: Small (S), Medium (M), and Large (L). AirPods Pro 2nd generation comes with four sets, with an additional extra small (XS) pair. And AirPods Pro 3 has five sets of ear tips, including a new extra extra small (XXS) size.
- When it comes to AirPods Max, it comes with a Smart Case, which puts the headphones in an ultra‑low‑power state to save battery.
So when selling or giving away your AirPods, it would be nice for the new user if you included the charging cable, Smart Case, and extra ear tips. Adding in the outer box is also encouraged and can help the resale value.
Furthermore, if you don’t plan on purchasing the same set of AirPods and have some accessories, like a case or strap, you can give those away with your AirPods or increase the price accordingly.
Related: The best Apple AirPods accessories
4. Transfer or cancel your AppleCare plan
If you have purchased an AppleCare plan for your AirPods, you can do one of these two things:
- Transfer your plan to the new owner. When you do that, you can inform them of this and increase the price.
- Cancel your plan.
After you have taken care of the above tips, your AirPods are ready to be used by the next person.
On a related note – things to do before you sell or give away your: