AirPods Pro connected to Windows, not recognized as output device

October 25, 2020 12:49 PM

With all the Zoomin' I'm doing these days, I'd like to use my AirPods Pro with my Windows laptop (Dell XPS) and not have wires dangling from my ears on the calls. I can pair and connect the AirPods in "Bluetooth & other devices" but they do not show up as an output device in "Sound". How can I make this work?

The laptop is running Windows 10 Enterprise version 1909. Could the Enterprise version be causing problems?

posted by oakroom to Computers & Internet (1 answer total)

How old is the laptop? My wife's laptop, an Asus from 2016, had trouble with a new Bluetooth headset that used a Bluetooth 4/5 profile. I believe the radio/firmware in the laptop was old enough that it didn't know how to talk new Bluetooth, and the headphones were not backwards compatible. We solved it by purchasing a USB Bluetooth 4 dongle for ~$15. It's marginally less convenient but it's not like we're going anywhere with our laptops these days anyway.
posted by Alterscape at 7:28 PM on October 25, 2020